Hi, I was hoping someone could give me some advice on this. My buyer has dropped out due to mortgage problems and i am worried i may lose the house that i wanted to buy. My EA is trying to find another buyer for my property quickly , but when should i tell the EA for the house that i am buying? My agent has said to keep quiet for a few days to see if we can find another buyer to keep the chain going. Is this normal? What would other people do in this situation? Thanks
It depends how in demand your property is/was. If you sold it straightaway, I'd keep quiet for a few days.
But if it was unsold for a while with no-one else interested, then I'd be honest and explain that I'd still really like to buy their house etc and hope they take pity on you and agree to wait a while for you to find another buyer.
They may appreciate your honesty. But if they start to think you're messing them about, they may decide not to sell to you anyway.
Do as your EA says, wait for a few days. There is no point unnecessarily worrying the vendor if you don't have to. We had to do this when our buyer dropped out just before exchange (the day before August Bank holiday, so lots of alternative buyers around - not!) but we got another buyer within three or four days and told the vendor then. Best to go in with the bad AND good news if you can.
We hustled the new buyer, and completed only a week later than intended.
Our buyers buyer dropped out yesterday after 9 weeks and we were due to exchange tomorrow!!!! There are 5 people in our chain and the one who dropped out was the bottom one,we are all ready to complete, apart from of course the first one now. EA and sols have told us all to sit tight for a while and see if the first people can sell again. They sold in 10 days the first time and so we are all keeping fingers crossed that we can all wait,as we have all spent alot of money to get this far!!! I am in turmoil but there is nothing we can do but hope.
I'd stay quiet for a couple of days max. it's just not fair really on the others in the chain and if you do find another buyer really quickly than you can always take up where you left off. I'd also say something pretty quickly too as your next buyer may come back with a lower offer than your previous one so you may need to try to renegotiate the price of the house you are trying to get.
The same thing has just happened to my daughter, the EA told her to sit tight for a week or so, and now there are other offers, so hopefully she wont lose the house she is after.
my buyer dropped out twice! the first time i didn't tell the people i was buying from. they had said, when i put my offer in, that they were chain free and moving into rented then they said they were going to buy so i was expected to wait on them. wasn't too happy. anyway, when the 1st buyer dropped out, they were still looking and communication was slow so i didn't tell them and found a buyer within a few weeks and they were none the wiser. the 2nd time was the day before exchange, by this time i had been in a lot of contact with the vendor's estate agent and had built up a rapport with them so came clean. they knew i was serious about the house and a solid option as i'd been patient up to this point so they said they would persuade the vendor to hold on for me, which they did, and i found another buyer within a couple of weeks so it all ended well but the whole thing took 6 months!
Since this all happened the day before exchange everybody had to know as solicitors were arranging transfers of deposit monies.We are all happy to wait I think for the moment as if the house we're buying went back on the market he could have the same problem again.Lets hope they continue to think so .Its just amazing that someone can back out after 9 weeks after saying that he was fine to send deposit monies
This happened to us and we found out that the reason our buyer pulled out was becuase he had put offers on 2 houses and was stringing us both along - he then decided a week prior to exchange that he didn't want either.
ooh, bad luck. It does happen though. I agree that waiting a few days to see what happens seems sensible. If more than a week goes by without a hint of a re-sale, or your house was very slow to sell the first time, then there is more need to tell the vendor.
Try to put yourself in their shoes. Would you rather know, or not? At what point would you expect to have been told by?
Now if you treat them as you would prefer to be treated yourself, you couldn't go far wrong.
good luck.
Ary.
-------------------------------------- ***Do not, I repeat Do NOT feed the Trolls! *** *** All Hail the mighty hamsters! ***
Been told by my buyers that they are having viewings again, so everybody keep your fingers crossed. ANYBODY KNOW ANYBODY WHO WANTS TO A BUY A BUNGALOW IN THE CATERHAM AREA????
oh dear. But if they find a replacement buyer soon that they will come back to you, right? Waiting in a chain is horrible, but hang on in there. there is a light at the end of the tunnel. some of us have see it
Ary.
-------------------------------------- ***Do not, I repeat Do NOT feed the Trolls! *** *** All Hail the mighty hamsters! ***
I have been speaking with estate agents all day who have got all parties in the chain,to wait for our buyer to get another buyer.We have all agreed to keep each other all informed of everything thats going on. I hope my buyer gets another buyer soon,as that is my worst nightmare having to put the house back on the market and keep it immaculate again with 3 young children at home So fingers crossed for us.
Well hopefully good news guys. Our buyers have had another buyer offer today and considering he viewed their property 6 times,they think he is sure about it. Lets hope this one goes through. We'll still be worried until he exchanges but fingers crossed.
All Hail the mighty hamsters! 
