I am absolutely gutted.At the eleventh hour,after much stress,time spent sorting out numerous problems,expense and patience, the buyer has decided, (due to personal circumstances) to withdraw his offer on my house.
We have patiently waited ( originally since October,then the 2nd time , he offered on 9th December.
We have signed our contracts.
The people we are buying from has signed their contracts,had to get a bridging loan and move out on the presumption that the sale was going through( not a wise move , I know)

I have a place at Westways school, which is not now guaranteed.My husband and I have are absolutely so upset by all that we have been through,and one person has the power to influence so many other peoples lives.
It is about time that the Government put a stop to all of this.
People are put under so much pressure when this happens.
We now have to decide what to do, bearing in mind the cost that we have incurred..Do we pick ourselves up,dust ourselves down and start all over again.
Or do we think we really do not want to be a part of this system that really does let down the people who actually make the system work in the first place.

I'm sorry for you. You have, here and there, on the forum, told us how much this was meaning to you. It is a really sh**ty part of "the system".

I still believe that non-refundable deposits (2.5%?) should become part of the system.
It is not impossible for people to start doing this to "seal" an offer. Some do!

I have more than one relative who have completed sales and rented for a short while just in order to be sure that when they find a house they want and offer for it they know that they can go through with it from their side. They also usually get some discount in return for this guarantee.

The Scottish system does avoid this but having also gone through it, I feel that it allows you to go through a lot of expense in surveys and mortgage arrangement without knowing whether you have any real chance of success in your offer or not (sealed bids).

In America & Canada, you pay a lot more to the agents but they do a lot more for your money and, in many cases, will not bring an offer to you unless there is proof of ability to purchase.

It is a sad reflection on us when all the normal conditions of contract to sell are avoided in the market which will involve the largest transaction that most of us will make in our lives.

Try and take it easy.

I believe somebody as been successfully sued for pulling this stunt before.

So sorry to hear about it happening to you, espadrille.

Strix is right - don't get mad, get even. Take legal advice and then take them for all you can! Sorry to hear about your troubles! :sad:

K x:

I am so sorry to hear your bad news, this must be the thing people dread the most when selling, I have watched and read your postings, as we were selling about the same time, but I took heart when you said you'd sold, so you must be gutted.
Things will change, don't get disheartened, we had to withdraw our house which is close by yours, but we will try again soon. I hope things change for you soon.

Perhaps we should adopt the Spanish approach - over there when you agree to buy a house you pay a 5% (I think) deposit. If the buyer then pulls out, the vendor keeps the deposit and if the vendor pulls out they must pay buyer back both their original deposit and the same again :)

Originally posted by evildrneil
Perhaps we should adopt the Spanish approach - over there when you agree to buy a house you pay a 5% (I think) deposit. If the buyer then pulls out, the vendor keeps the deposit and if the vendor pulls out they must pay buyer back both their original deposit and the same again :)

Apparantly there is also a 3 month cooling off period though when either party can change their mind!! This is after you have moved in! I would imagine there is some of finnancial penalty involved though.

"Strix is right - don't get mad, get even. Take legal advice and then take them for all you can! Sorry to hear about your troubles!"

Not true
Any party can walk at any time up to contracts being exchanged.

Cheers

d

The case I'm referring to was won on the basis of a verbal contract being entered into. It does exist. It depends on how much hassle espadrille wants to go to, on top of trying to move house.

you can't however walk, after signing and exchanging contracts, at that point it becomes binding.
If someone subsequently becomes unable to fulfill the contract you could seek damages. I've no idea what sort of compensatory damages a court would award you though, or if it would be worth the effort.

I am so sorry too, buying and selling properties in this country can be a total nightmare, as you know we deal in private sales and can tell you that we wish there were laws to protect everyone, its such an emotional time and its sad to say many people do get let down.
let me know if there is anything we can do.
We give all forum members a reduced price.

Caron caron@2roost.com

please clarify, have you and the people you are buying from both signed and exchanged contracts? Or have you just signed but not exchanged contracts?

Provided you haven't exchanged you're not legally obliged to go through with the transaction to purchase the house you've agreed to...

If you've signed and exchanged contracts higher up the chain, but not with the person who originally agreed to buy your house then I would think your conveyancer has got some explaining to do....

There is very little that can be dome until contracts are exchanged. If the purchase of your new house was dependant on you selling the current one, then I hope you haven't exchanged further up the chain, otherwise you could be leaving yourself open to legal action if you have to pull out.

The sad thing in this country is, the financial status check is a farce, and more often then not is completed in a very lax manner so people are offering on houses they can't afford to buy or are relying on something else to happen before they can buy.

The new govt' proposals for sellers packs are a step forward (although estate agents will have you think otherwise), but it does save alot MORE people time and expense, albeit an extra cost for the seller, im sure there will be companies ten-a-penny lined up to offer it as a free service and then deduct the cost from the sale price at the end.

Its sad, because in the weeks it can take to get an exchange, you can find other houses on the market you might like more and then just pull on the one you originally offered on, if you didnt exchange...

I think the way forward is more interaction between seller and buyer.

yes,thanks to ou all for all your kind words.
what happened was that we and the party above us had signed our contracts and the person at the bottom who was buying mine was working abroad and kept on delaying due to being unable to get back here to sign.
He then announced on Friday evening after months of us waiting that he had to pull out.
The people we are buying from have moved out of their house and taken other steps financially to purchase their house and were doing this all on the assumption that the whole thing would complete.

I think that there has to be some finacial commitment at the beginning of the process which makes it more difficult for people to back down and then they are less likely to do this.
We are now in it to re market and we have a potential buyer .
The problem is if we do not get this house, we have paid a total of 750 in searches and surveys and also the cost of all the work done by my solicitor.
I hope this will help people out there who get excited when they think that when the agent sticks up SOLD that it is is actually sold.

That is really when all the hard work begins!

well, fingers crossed we will start all over again,getting a new survey and trying yet again to exchange with another buyer.

The update is

We are going in the property guide again this weekend and have to start all over again.
It is really soul destroying as there is now a possibility that the people in the house we are buying will get another buyer.
They are at Crookes and houses usually sell well there.
They will have an ad in also, so it will be a tense time for all concerned.
As we have been out of it for a bit( having thought we had sold), not sure how the market is at the moment.Does anyone have a feel for how it is now?
My agent seems to think that it has picked up steadily..
Any comments are appreciated

I must point out that the agent will always say the market is picking up, in which case that all being true and applying to your property then your house should be MORE attractive now then it was with you first agreed a sale.

Make sure you are getting the most from your agent, ensure adverts are correct, people are getting viewing when convenient, and get talking to prspective purchasers.

good luck!

:clap:

"I think the way forward is more interaction between seller and buyer."


__________________________

I totally agree, thats why we set up our business and I can tell you in some areas we are selling more properties than any agent.
At the end of the day-its a transaction between two parties, why have a middleman get in the way?
If you are dealing direct you are less liely to get messed around as you have had a closer relationship with the buyer and are always in control of getting an update and information straight from the horses mouth, we have found that some buyers using an agent can use the agent to hide behind .
I wish you well and can assure you , you will eventually sell.

Good luck, I am always here to help, Caron

Thanks Caron for your help yesterday.
Customer service is key.If all the estate agents in Sheffield had that attitude,we wouldnt all be so stressed about the process of moving.
What theyhave to do is put themselves in the vendors shoes and really try to understand what the vendor is going through.It is in the top 3 of the most stressful situations that we can go through in life,alongside divorce and death!

It is refreshing to speak to a like minded lady on the forum!

We have decided to go with 220,000 and hope that now spring is here,people will feel more like getting out and looking.
If we have no joy, I will be in touch

Thanks Again

Just a note to say that we have just accepted an offer from a first time buyer , but I am not yet getting too excited.

They do say,Once bitten , twice shy.

So watch this space...

hi espadrille,

i've been following your trials, and it's good to hear that you've got another buyer.

so good luck!

Espadrille, can you provide details about your house.

Friendly first time buyer here who takes into consideration the feelings of others! :)

Donna

They do say,Once bitten , twice shy.



A house we recently sold (not in Sheffield) was sold six times and five times the buyers pulled out at the last minute. In the end it took over a year to sell.

The most frustrating thing was that it was a different reason each time.

The first time it fell through we thought it was the estate agents fault so we switched estate agents. Our new estate agents sold it again almost instantly, our original estate agents then came knocking on the door with another buyer asking us to gazump our buyer. They offered significantly more money but we did the right thing and told them to get lost. We made the buyer and new estate agent aware that we had turned down a higher offer. They then messed us about for another 6 weeks before pulling out. That was totally soul destroying!

The rest of the times it fell through were equally as bad for us (they always fell through right near the time when we were due to exchange contracts after weeks of waiting). Renting seems much more of an attractive option after all that.

The laws around the buying and selling of houses definatly needs to be changed (to protect both buyer and seller).

It would be so simple to implement a system where a % deposit had to be paid when an offer was accepted and unless mutually agreed this was lost if the buyer pulled out. You could also include a penalty for if the seller pulled out. There should also be a deadline imposed for rejecting or accepting an offer rather than holding out for a "bidding war". I am sure there are major flaws in this but it wouldn't be too difficult to implement some sort of system.

We have agreed a sale but, just in case it falls through.
It is at Meersbrook on a tree lined Road,Large garden wth childrens tree house, large attic bedroom.@ double bedrooms, bathroom and a seperate shower room and toilet.
Large well fitted kitchen with integrated appliances,Dining room with newly installed living flame fire with integrated lighting.Front lounge with attractive feature fireplace.

I hope it all goes well this time.The buyers seem committed but anything can happen..
We have agreed a price, but Iwill not post this on the website

Hi Espadrille.thanks for your call, I am delighted that you have found a buyer , good luck with it all and remember us next time you sell:)
Caron

Thanks Caron

Dont hold your breath though.
You never know what may happen

Thanks

I know, is seems to be a nightmare at the moment xx

We are still waiting .The last time we sold,it was over the Christmas period and of course,everything took so long as things shut down for a week.This time, it is over the Easter period and things have shut down for half a week.
There is a condition this time,we have to exchange within 4-6 weeks of date we agreed the sale.I cannot wait for it to get moving and us also!!
Sometimes, I find it hard as I am not a patient person.
Mortgage lenders have a lot to answer for as they take such a long time to send the surveyor out to do the valuation.
Then you have to wait for the report..and the searches to come back...and then the contracts to be exchanged..then a completion date to be agreed..
So fed up now..Just hope it doesnt drag on any longer as time is running out

yours really is an interesting case.Your solicitor obviously told you not to sign the contract with the person you were buying from until the person who was buying from you signed his.Why did you go against his advice.Caveat Emptor

As others on this thread have already mentioned, when you sign the contract is completely irrelevant. It's exchanging contracts that counts. It's after that point that you stand to lose a deposit of 10% of the purchase price, and compensation for the others' losses, if you then pull out. If you're in a chain, the solicitors will make sure that everyone exchanges at the same time so no-one's left out on a limb. Unless of course someone decides to go ahead on their purchase with a bridging loan, as Espadrille's seller seems to have done. But they should have been warned of the possible conequences.

In my conveyancing days, admittedly a long time ago now, clients used to come for an hour-long interview (longer if necessary) to go through all the paperwork and have explained to them just what they were signing and what the consequences were. Nowadays, as I discovered when we sold our late parents' house, conveyancers seem to send out important legal documents like contracts and transfer deeds with little pencil crosses and a brief letter basically saying "just sign here"! I hadn't felt like doing the conveyancing when I'd just had a baby and lost both parents all within a few weeks of each other, but I ended up re-drafting all the documentation anyway because the pre-printed form the solicitor used for the transfer wasn't adequate for the complicated title, and they hadn't even got the names of the parties right anyway. And then at the end the solicitors' completion cheque bounced!! But that's another story...

Anyway, it is a very stressful time and you have my sympathies, Esapdrille. Sorry if I've rambled. This is a topic to make one get a bit carried away!

Here is the update.
Our purchasers surveyor came on Thursday and told my husband that he has given the house a clean bill of health!
He says that the house was built extremely well( it is about 120 years old ).Of course we have not seen the report yet and hopefully our buyers will just wait for their offer letter and go ahead really quickly.
My solicitor is waiting eagerly for the day that we can exchange and take it through to completion.
It seems absolutely ages since we packed up all our belongings and they are still stored in the cellar in boxes.
Mentally, I think I prepared myself for the fact that there was a possibilty that we may not actually move so that I was not hurt anymore.
The whole scenario has been really frustrating but was caused by a combination of thinks ,some of which could not have been avoided.There is much talk about the state of the housing market.Things like this happening do not make good reading for anyone wondering whether to make the leap and go through the process.
I am sure that we have been unlucky and that this is a bad example, but I look around and I can still see houses that have been on the market for some time and wonder what the reason is for that.
I think that people really do need to think long and hard before they go ahead and offer to buy someones house.
Peoples lives are affected so much by their actions.It is really unfair if there is a possibility that the purchasers are not 100% committed to go the whole way through the process.
I do not know what the answer is but I guess that conveyancers are also fed up of waiting to get paid for something they took on 6 months ago!

Well, it is now 4 weeks since the sale was agreed and we are still waiting.
I cannot describe the frustration that I feel regarding this whole process.
Please, if you are thinking of buying a house,read my thread before you take the plunge!!.
Be prepared to be very,very,very patient.
If it goes smoothly, it will be a big bonus!
I know that in America, it is all a much faster process,as is everything else, I know but we really do need to look at the system..
Maybe I shall begin a campaign for changes to the law.I am sure that others have had similar frustrating experiences!

I'm buying a house and it also is taking ages - mainly down to my employer and my mortgage provider - so I can empathise.

Wouldn't it better for everyone (except possibly surveyors) if surveys were done by the seller and then the info freely distributed to potential buyers. I'm sure this would limitate to some extent the possibility of buyers pulling out.

Originally posted by Jayne
I'm buying a house and it also is taking ages - mainly down to my employer and my mortgage provider - so I can empathise.

Wouldn't it better for everyone (except possibly surveyors) if surveys were done by the seller and then the info freely distributed to potential buyers. I'm sure this would limitate to some extent the possibility of buyers pulling out.

now thats an interesting question....! if you have a look at the ODPM website it is this kind of thing which will be required before you market a property.

:)

I was wondering why no one had ever thought of it before? This should hopefully makes things better.

Quote from the office of the deputy prime ministers website:

The Home Information Pack
The current home buying and selling process is wasteful, fraught with delay and failure and gives consumers a raw deal.

The key problem is that buyers and sellers do not have access to key information when making their initial decisions and often have to negotiate without facts that only become available later in the process. The Home Information Pack will make the whole process clearer by making key information available from the beginning. From 2007 the law will require that anyone selling their home will need to provide, on request, a home information pack to potential buyers.

It is just a pity that that pack is not available now.
It is no use if it is not implemented until 2007!!
Well, I have spoke to my purchasers( I find that this way is best as all the other so called professionals are always in meetings withan answerphone on.)Financial advisors have a lot to answer for.
He thinks that all the paper work should be ready by the end of this week,so we should be ready to exchange contracts.
I think I will go out and celebrate when this happens...

It is just a case then of agreeing a completion date and we should be on our way.

Glad to hear things are finally moving along for you :D
We managed to find one at walkley, the valuation and survey were done yesterday. We dont expect anything major to be uncovered. is it a long process ? luckily our vendors are keen to move things along so we hope for it to be sooner rather than later

If you want to argue your case with anyone, take it up with the NAEA who are opposing the new ODPM Sellers Pack.

They think it will ruin a 'fluid market' which is working fine as it is... hmm.

I have read this discussion thread with interest, as it has at times given the impression that buyers are the charletons in this horrendous process, which is not true.

We are moving from London to Sheffield and had an offer accpeted on a house in January. At the time of making the offer we were very clear with the vendor and the estate agents that we wanted a quick exchange and wanted completion by the end of March.

Our surveyor acted the week after we made the offer and we had the finances in place from the first week in February, so a move by the end of March did not seem unreasonable. In fact my work required me to move at that time.

I chased my solictor every other day for updates as to where we were upto and what else was needed. In fact things seems to be progressing well, and our solicitor indicated that our vendors wanted to complete by Easter - Result or so we thought.

We then received a phone call the day before we were due to exchange to say the vendors were now looking for the end of May. We expalined this was not good enough and reached a compromise on 18 April. Then as we approached exchange again, we received another phone call asking for the end of May. I will not go into all the tooing and froing here except to say that we asked our solicitors to let the chain know we were pulling out, as I needed to arrange rented accomodation, and the refusal of the vendors to return their solictors phone calls and ours indicated the deal would not happen. e did this and eventually got a response from the vendors and have now reluctantly exchanged although the grounds on which we put the offer in have been totally undermined by the vendors.

This was a stressful process compounded by both Solictors and Estate Agents and in my view fess shoudl only be payable after completion not before. There has to eb a better way of doing things

It sounds as though there are a lot of disgruntled people involved throughout the whole process of buying and selling.

We still have not exchanged contracts..so again watch this space!

there are alot of vendors who put their houses on the market just to test the water, and alot of buyers who make snap decisions to buy and then go home and have second thoughts...... both need a good slap, infact when you go and see the vendor, give them a good hard slap, and then they can slap you back.... if you both have red faces at the end...hey presto thats your buyer.......

....well anything is better then the current system right!

This is so true, we come accross all sorts of situations, the whole process would be a lot easier if every one was honest, up front and patient.
Buyers want the lowest price, sellers want the highest price, we advise everyone to be as realistic, and expect the unexpected!

"Sell privately , cut out the middle man and their expensive fees"

[QUOTE]Originally posted by 1Man&hisBMW

Well, at the moment, I am ready to give someone a slap but not sure how many people I should slap to make it all go quicker.
There really are too many people involved and it is getting to me now.Well it would wouldnt it after more than 6 months!
Still hoping to complete by 29th but again, watch this space

I once had to pull out of house buying the day before contracts were signed.

I lost my job & income.

Out of my controll.


I'm glad they didn't sue me.

Their personal circumstances may be genuine. Like mine.

Originally posted by Don_Kiddick
I once had to pull out of house buying the day before contracts were signed.

I lost my job & income.

Out of my controll.


I'm glad they didn't sue me.

Their personal circumstances may be genuine. Like mine.

That is a genuine case though.Most people just mess people around and then at the last minute change their minds if they see something better,or dont really look at the consequences of the finacial committment and then get the jitters.
When we bought our first house,over 20 years ago, I remember having to put down a deposit ( cant remember how much but I know it was a lot at the time to me) and I feel that this is something that ought be brought back.People are less likely to put in offers whenever they feel like it, if there is a consequence to ther action.This is such as imple change and would not involve much beurocracy so I can seee why it cant be brought in quickly.
The buyerthen gets the deposit knocked off the price they pay so it is not ass though it cost them any more money

If all goes to plan, we exchange on Monday,complete on Friday..All thanks to a great conveyancer..David Ruddle at Taylor and Emmet, Ecclesall Road

Contracts have been exchanged.
We move in tomorrow...at last!

Just a message that may close this thread..
WE HAVE MOVED!!!!

We had trials and tribulations though.
My husband had to take out the glass in the front window to get the suite through as it is so big.
He had difficulty getting it back in and ended up breaking the glass.
The purchaser required an immediate replacement so we had to wait at the house to replace the glass.
This meant I had to do all the lugging of the boxes.
And to top it all off, the removal van broke down!!

Any way, we are now in and have set about stripping walls and taking up paths.
there is such a lot to do but at least we can now get on with it!
We do noyt yet have internet access so I will only be on The Forum briefly.If anyone can recommend an internet provider , please let me know

Thanks

Originally posted by espadrille
Just a message that may close this thread..
WE HAVE MOVED!!!!
We do noyt yet have internet access so I will only be on The Forum briefly.

You have done ever so well to do a posting without Internet access, what did you use a carrier pidgeon modem? :hihi:

Glad it went well anyway, we had to saw our wardrobes in half to get them upstairs last year when we moved.