Sale of house has fallen through

Did the buyer give a reason for withdrawing the offer? If so, is it something you can rectify? Selling a house is a very stressful thing - I went through it a year ago and found it very stressful despite having done it many times before!

My DH and I used to buy run down properties, renovate and then sell on - we soon learned to spot the people who would immediately make an offer and then just before exchange would threaten to pull out unless we dropped the price - we always told them to take a hike!

As Chocolatelovinggran has said there are reliable genuine buyers out there. Most estate agents are crying out for properties so hopefully you will soon find another buyer

Oh dear, yes, it happened to me. And many others if you look on the long 'Help Calm me - house buying and selling stress' forum in House and Home.

Mine was so far towards the end, that I actually had a rep from a removal company with me when my Estate Agent came round, to tell me that the purchasers had pulled out. She asked for one month to try to re-sell it - I was dubious, and exhausted, but agreed. Four days later she sold it at a £4,500 than the one that pulled out.

I did pull out of the flat I had been intending to purchase at that point, but then another one that I had looked at months earlier (but was slightly out of my financial reach) reduced its asking price by ten grand and then (after a quick dash to re-view it) agreed a further ten grand deduction.

So, that withdrawal by those purchasers ended up very happily for me, getting the preferred flat for myself and nearly fifteen grand better off!!!

It is difficult at the time, to be optimistic - but do try. Hopefully, you will end up joining those of us who survived that horrible experience.

Good Luck

Oh Vintagejazz, I am sending you best wishes for a new buyer to come forward quickly. Horror stories abound of delusional people offering to buy houses they can't afford/ aren't able to move etc, but honest, reliable purchasers are out there, and, hopefully, looking at your property online as we write.

Yes, it was an impulse offer. We put our house up for sale and somebody took one look round it and offered the asking price. Six weeks later, he got cold feet and pulled out. We reduced the asking price by a lot and sold again once we'd done this.

Now, 10 years later, we have decided to down-size to a bungalow. Our house is now under offer but we can't find a bungalow in our area/price range. Goodness knows how long our buyer will be prepared to wait.

So, good luck with selling your house Vintagejazz, and good luck to us, too. We need a bit of it, don't we?

Beware of liar buyers. Those who say they are cash buyers and are not, those who look and offer and cannot afford. There is not enough sifting and checking by estate agents. The selling/buying process in this country needs overhauling

Vintagejazz, yes - and it worked out just fine. We got another buyer, kept our seller happy (and waiting) by increasing our offer, received far more and made quite an unexpected profit!

Happened to us last year, and yes, we were upset at the time as it meant we also lost our bungalow. It feels very personal and I remember being more angry than I'd been for years.

However, a few months down the line and we have moved very happily. It does make you take viewers with a pinch of salt though.
Hope it all works out for you soon.

Thank you for all the kind and reassuring posts. They have cheered me up xx

So sorry to read this Vintagejazz. I hope you get another offer very soon. Try and relax until exchange when they can no longer withdraw without huge penalties.

Happened to me twice. The second time was the worst. The 'cash' buyer had been evading my EA for proof of funds, and I got the call at 7 pm one night, the EA manager had stayed behind at work to phone me. He'd withdrawn by email with some rubbish excuse about waiting to hear about a promotion. I'd sold much of my larger furniture for peanuts because people said 'if he's a cash buyer he'll want to complete very quickly'. It turned out he didn't have any cash at all, his ex wife in Sweden had it.

Keep going, it will happen, good luck.

I had people pull out a couple of times, it is all part of selling your house, people pull out for all sorts of reason, try not to get too stressed. I had a very good estate agent who as soon as one pulled out he sent other people to view. Eventually I sold my house for more than the initial offer.

Oh dear - I am sorry to hear this. I went through it in 2019/20 more than once - I won't tell you how many times! In the end I let it all wash by me and just hoped that it would all come right one day - it did! I had stopped expecting it to happen by the time it did. Don't abandon hope.

We had ‘buyers’ who quite simply disappeared and we gave them the benefit of the doubt for long enough for our vendors to lose their purchase and then pull out too! However, the people renting opposite us came up with a slightly cheeky offer and we took it (losing a few thousand) and found our present home, which is much nicer than the one that we lost.
So my fingers are crossed for you. It could turn out ok in the end. Good luck ?

vintagejazz it's understandable that you feel upset, accept that and then concentrate on finding another buyer

Delve a bit further this time, can they afford it, what's their history for eg have they just started looking etc

You can advertise you house for sale at a reasonable fair price on www.purplebricks.com they are not the average estate agent its worth checking them out

One last thing, you are very lucky to have a house for sale, I had to sell my house and never was able to buy another because of my Husbands illness

www.gransnet.com/forums/house_and_home/1301322-Help-calm-me-House-buying-and-selling-stress
This is the very long thread about other peoples stress and nightmares!
I’m sorry you are having a horrible time.

Sorry about this but Yes and yes. Buying or selling a house is one of the most stressful things to cope with, just behind death and divorce I read.