‘We sold to our fifth buyer’ – social media debate rages
Strong views expressed online after more reports pour in about buyers pulling out of property deals at last minute.
Debate has broken out on social media about the scourge of buyers quitting property purchases.
Strong views are being expressed on Twitter about how sellers are left picking up expensive bills for solicitors after a deal falls through.
There are calls for home buyers to be subject to the same binding rules as in Scotland, where there are financial penalties for pulling out after an offer has been accepted.
“Buying and selling a house should be legally binding at the acceptance of offer stage,” says ‘Bono Listen‘ @anon_opin.
“Pulling out once the other side has spent a fortune on legal fees and invested emotional energy into a transaction just because you’ve had a change of heart should be f*!* illegal.”
‘Damien’ @DamienMust agrees and puts a price on the decision to back out of a purchase: “Hear, hear. You should always be able to pull out though, but it’s 15% whoever pulls out!”
The Secret Conveyancer says: “For this to work sellers would need to provide up front information similar to the Home Information Packs which cost sellers up front. If you want a better process it will cost the consumer more up front and more overall, and people won’t pay”.
In Scotland, ‘missives’ are signed by the buyer and seller committing both sides to the deal. Breaking the deal can result in financial costs for the offending party.
“We sold to our fifth (!!) buyer. Had four people before that make offers then either pull out or just disappear”.
UK Host Family says: “We sold to our fifth (!!) buyer. Had four people before that make offers then either pull out or just disappear without any communication. Even the guy who did buy it was a pain!
“Finally got moved, but will never be doing it again – not worth the hassle. Emotionally draining.”
Gazeal is the solution to this issue, we provide free Legal packs for sellers and then an option to ‘lock in’ the deal at sale agreed stage.
If transactions were completed quicker, there would be less opportunity to for people to change their mind and there would be more financial commitment from the buyer. Transactions are taking longer and longer. It’s time the industry woke up to the fact it is unnecessary and unacceptable for transaction times to be so long, It a simple solution to a simple problem. It is in the agents interest to get the deal done first time and quickly. The question is who benefits from slow transactions and sales falling through?