Ready to exchange and a much better property has come on the market for the same price

[curtainst]

The house I'm buying needs quite a bit of updating. Everything is decades old and shabby, although well maintained and serviceable. I'm happy with it and we're scheduled to go ahead. Lo and behold a new house comes on the market, the exact same house a hundred metres down the street, with everything updated and brand new. Kitchen, bathroom, flooring, ceilings, lighting, new doors and windows etc. At the same price. What do I do in this scenario? I feel like I'm being shortchanged by this. Should I go to estate agent and negotiate a reduction? Or is that considered unethical at this stage when everything's ready to go? Or do I drop out and go after the other? Or see if house 2 will accept my offer first (it's their asking price so I think they will!) and then break off with current seller? FTB here and very clueless.

Loads of EA"s are going bust at the moment, maybe that had something to do with it?

Everyone is playing games arent they? Except for the seller of OPs house

OP made an offer and sellers thought it was going through and now OP is sniffing around another

Second house sellers are open to offers it would seem despite having sold to a prospective buyer

EA of first house is peed off now that they've realised what OP is doing and either unilaterally or with sellers permission put the house back on the market

What a mess. OP has now lost the house, unless she can make amends somehow

By the way of course there is no expectation to delcare that you pulled out of a house sale within the last 12 months, what rot.

Agree with all of what you say @soupyspoon

It's a question for both buyers and sellers in initial documentation when agreeing the transaction - I'm not suggesting you're asked while viewing, but when it proceeds and you have to provide proof of funds etc before the sale is agreed (at which point if there were multiple offers, it can dent seller confidence). Perhaps that's a new development, and perhaps it's not everywhere, but it was asked of me on both my sale and purchase three years ago. No need to be rude about it!

My point generally is that both buyer and seller trust in each other is important to a transaction being successful, especially when it is basically done on honour right up to exchange in our system. As the OP has now found out!