Buyer red flags

[Huggernaut]

Our sale is about to fall through.

We have had difficult buyers throughout the process. They are a young couple who are ftb. Their demands have been genuinely ridiculous but we have worked with them for the sake of being pragmatic and to get the sale through.

We were ready to exchange three weeks ago but then it all went quiet. It turned out that they had gone on holiday and hadn't let anyone know. They returned last week and are ignoring calls.

The sale is clearly dead in the water and the signs have been there since day one.

Emotion aside, I wish we'd paid some respect to the red flags early on in the process and cut our losses early (rather than 8 months later).

Has anyone else had red flags about a buyer before they've messed about and collapsed a sale? Feeling really disheartened and frustrated and don't want to make the same mistake again.

Biggest red flags for buyers are probably failing to instruct solicitors promptly and getting a survey done.

The point at which they are putting money into the sale normally tells you that they are serious and are not messing about.

Show me the money ... start spending some money or you're not serious.

Red flags for us were buyers who said they were at the point of exchange on their property and would move in with family when they completed the week after exchange.

Turned out, twelve weeks later, that they hadn’t sold their house at all and didn’t have enough funds to buy ours. We’d been suspicious for weeks, but were fobbed off. I reckon the agent didn’t do due diligence and ascertain proof of funds at the start.

We sacked the agent, went back with another and sold, properly this time, within a few days. Don't give up, the next one might fly!

I recently had a similar experience with a first-time buyer. She didn’t have a survey but then raised endless queries about the most minor things. My solicitor was so frustrated with her. After saying she wanted to exchange before Christmas, she then went completely silent and my solicitor chased hers for about a month with no response.

But against all the odds, the sale did eventually go through after I gave a deadline to exchange and said I would remarket if it wasn’t met. I think the estate agent worked some magic and gave her a stern talking-to (although they told me after we completed that they thought the whole thing would fall through). So don’t lose heart - it could still happen.

I feel you @Huggernaut ...the process in England/Wales is so shit!

The red flags in our last sale (2024) were a combination of crap EAs and young second time buyers who initially said they'd sold their house (true), but in order to make us an acceptable offer needed to sell a parcel of land.

Despite having told our EAs that we only wanted proceedable buyers, they repeatedly failed to check this couple's financial position to the extent that we resorted to doing detective work in an attempt to (unsuccessfully) establish this.

Weeks into the process they did have a level 3 survey, but we were still none the wiser as to whether they had the cash to back up the offer we'd - conditionally - accepted. Meanwhile, we told our EA to continue with viewings (which were infrequent due to the rural location) and when these had dried up, the couple suddenly announced they'd had the cash all along!

In our case, the sale did go through - we'd stuck with them as there were no other serious contenders for our (fully restored period) house, but not before they'd raised fifty four enquiries during the conveyancing process. By the time it was over - and we'd had to take an additional 10k off after a septic tank survey, despite their assurances they'd not try to negotiate the price down as they had plenty of cash to replace it - I would have cheerfully chucked them in the bloody septic!

I had buyers once who wanted to have the house blessed before they moved in and would I mind leaving for an entire day and night with my dog and cat so they could do that. Then after exchange declared they could only move when their shaman told them it was an auspicious day to do so. They'd sold themselves to me as really relaxed but motivated. Turned out to be the worst buyer I've ever had to deal with with all their weird and unreasonable demands.
I said no to everything, obvs.

Our buyers advertised themselves as first time buyers so no chain. Turns out their deposit was coming from the sale of their parents house who were downsizing. So there was a chain, in effect, AND the parent couldn't sell their house for what they hoped to they asked us to split the difference! Luckily we called their bluff and it went through but was much longer and drawn out than it needed to be

We already have red flags about the people who have offered on our house, they haven’t responded to our counter offer for three days and are ignoring EA calls and emails. Doesn’t exactly fill us with confidence about how they will be if this sale ever goes through.

Omg they sound as unhinged as our buyers. There's been no talk of shamans but genuinely ludicrous demands that make us wonder what the hell they are thinking.

Over 100 enquiries raised by them, so many that we gritted our teeth with but got on with it, all for them to disappear at exchange.

We spent the weekend sorting the house out ready for re-marketing so we are ready to go. Not looking forward to viewings again, especially with three school age DC but even if the buyers were to reappear now I'm not sure we would be willing to trust they won't mess about any further.

As @LibertyLily said, the system is well and truly shit.