Sale fallen through - historic subsidence

[Pot Bellied Fool]

Absolutely gutted!

Our sale of our old (now vacant) flat has just fallen through for the second time.

First time was a flaky buyer who pulled out over daft stuff but this time I thought she was solid. A returning ex-pat, no chain and it's a lovely flat, ideal for a first time buyer. Only £130k, not daft money and we had a few bidding against each other.

Says it wasn't disclosed (I beg to differ) that there was some subsidence a few years ago. Not overly severe and was investigated and remediated by the insurance company for which we have 'Certificate of Structural Integrity'.

Don't want this to happen again - really do need to get it gone so I can stop paying the mortgage! (And get the little equity there is out would be nice too). Rental isn't particularly an option due to mortgage costs, it would turn a small profit but by the time the tax implications & hassle is taken into account, I'd sooner have it gone.

Any fantastic ideas on how to proceed? Gutted... Got to tell my wife now...

[bennno]

Speak to the agent as its their job to work out the sales strategy.

[Mandat]

Go back to the other interested bidders?

[silentbrown]

bennno said:

Speak to the agent as its their job to work out the sales strategy.

This.

(If underpinned you'd have needed to disclose this on the TA6.
Ditto that you'd claimed on your buildings insurance.

If it wasn't declared on the TA6 you're probably lucky they pulled out before discovering this!)

[Pot Bellied Fool]

silentbrown said:

This.

(If underpinned you'd have needed to disclose this on the TA6.
Ditto that you'd claimed on your buildings insurance.

If it wasn't declared on the TA6 you're probably lucky they pulled out before discovering this!)

It didn't need underpinning, just some above ground remediation. I declared it on one of the forms certainly (not sure which one without looking it up) but we've supplied all reports & documents etc to the Solicitors and been upfront about it.)

I've pinged a message to the EA and will be going into eyeball them tomorrow. Just needed to vent

So just how far under market rate do auctions and the "We buy any house in 28days" crowd tend to be?

[LR90]

Pot Bellied Fool said:

So just how far under market rate do auctions and the "We buy any house in 28days" crowd tend to be?

Don't. Really. Just don't.

[fat80b]

Pot Bellied Fool said:

It didn't need underpinning, just some above ground remediation. I declared it on one of the forms certainly (not sure which one without looking it up) but we've supplied all reports & documents etc to the Solicitors and been upfront about it.)

We were on the other side of this and we found out on the morning of exchange about an ongoing subsidence claim. I think the vendor thought we might be too far in to back out.

In our case the only insurer that would offer cover was the existing one and they wanted £1500 per year for buildings cover. No-one else would touch it.

We ended up walking away having remortgaged our existing place in order to finance the new one, meaning we had moved from the nationwide svr rate of base +0.75% onto a let to buy mortgage - lost >£20K in the process. If she had told us a couple of days earlier, we wouldn't have.....

One option might be to speak to the purchaser to find out what their actual issue is - i.e. is it because they can't get insurance at a reasonable cost or is it something else / potential resale value etc?

It might be cheaper at this stage to offer to pay for their insurance for the next 10 years or something (as a discount) in order to get them back to the table. Worth a go perhaps?

[Mandat]

I've read reports that offers can be 25-30% below market rate, plus also some unscrupulous buyers try to knock a further discount on the day of exchange, knowing that the seller is desperate to sell.

With regard to your ongoing mortgage payments, surely you'll be getting this money back (minus the interest payment) once the sale completes.

[rustyuk]

I've sold two houses with historic subsidence claims and both times I've told the buyers in person at the start of the process.

Both sold without issue and no reduction in value.

[Pot Bellied Fool]

rustyuk said:

I've sold two houses with historic subsidence claims and both times I've told the buyers in person at the start of the process.

Both sold without issue and no reduction in value.

Thanks. That's good to know.

Feel a little less panicy today. It's a real ballache as I'm stuck paying an IO mortgage on it for various historical reasons but it's now back on the market. EA is confident and has been told in no uncertain terms to make sure this time that they tell any bidders about the history! It's not that bad and it's not that frightening if you know what you're looking for but when it only appears later on in the process then it's not unreasonable to get worried that we were trying to hide it.

We're not but EAs just want to get bids in and worry about it actually going through later! And as the EA said today when we went in, FTBs (who are the primary market for this flat other than empty nesters possibly) are often nervous and worried about every little thing that a survey throws up.

Oh well - onwards!

[Juan B]

Can feel your frustration.

We're on our third buyer now on a flat we don't live in. Paying mortgage, council tax, bills etc. Not even in the country. Accepted an offer a year ago within a week of listing, two months later they pulled out. Accepted another, then after 10 months she pulled out for no given reason. Now onto our third buyer.

It was built over 150 years ago, is in a conservation area, lovely building with tall ceilings and period details etc. Which everyone loves until they realise it doesn't perform like a new build.

Got a few letters from the companies you mentioned, fast cash sale etc, guy on the phone said if you've got any interest at all then we're not really for you. Think they said their max. offer would be low 200's or something on a 290k listing.

[Byker28i]

Yup, I think they trawl the estate agent sites looking for new properties for sale. When selling our welsh home, we had three unsolicited offers from similar companies for £50k below asking price, about a 22.5% deduction

[FlyVintage]

Byker28i said:

Yup, I think they trawl the estate agent sites looking for new properties for sale. When selling our welsh home, we had three unsolicited offers from similar companies for £50k below asking price, about a 22.5% deduction

Unfortunately, that’s usually just the start of screwing you down. You’ll be contractually obligated to pay their (overpriced) legal fees too so they can do a final “chip” just before exchange. Of course then you’re stuck between accepting or paying a big bill to pull out. It’s a well trodden path and they have zero morals.

[SiH]

LR90 said:

Pot Bellied Fool said:

So just how far under market rate do auctions and the "We buy any house in 28days" crowd tend to be?

Don't. Really. Just don't.

Yes, don't. They're parasites who tend to prey on the vulnerable and desperate. They'll give you a low-ball offer which you might just consider based on how quickly they can complete the transaction and then at the last minute they'll tell you the market has softened and they've reconsidered their offer to gouge you even further. There's a reason why the one near me has got a Cullinan and a Urus parked outside.

Yes, it's a legitimate business model and no, people aren't forced to go ahead with the sale but they do take advantage of people, including those that find themselves in undesirable circumstances.

[pghstochaj]

SiH said:

LR90 said:

Pot Bellied Fool said:

So just how far under market rate do auctions and the "We buy any house in 28days" crowd tend to be?

Don't. Really. Just don't.

Yes, don't. They're parasites who tend to prey on the vulnerable and desperate. They'll give you a low-ball offer which you might just consider based on how quickly they can complete the transaction and then at the last minute they'll tell you the market has softened and they've reconsidered their offer to gouge you even further. There's a reason why the one near me has got a Cullinan and a Urus parked outside.

Yes, it's a legitimate business model and no, people aren't forced to go ahead with the sale but they do take advantage of people, including those that find themselves in undesirable circumstances.

I have seen this first hand with my sister. In a divorce, her ex-husband insisted on selling quickly. The house was on the market for £270k with limited interest so really it should have been reduced to £250-260k. The company came in and offered £230k for a 3 week (I think?) sale. This was surprisingly high so he agreed.

About 12 weeks later no progress had been made - I think because they were trying to find a buyer to pass it onto directly. Then, just before Christmas they did a second survey. They found a "crack" in the loft brickwork and reduced their offer down to "£170-180k" (obviously this was not related to the brickwork which at most needed repointing, that was just their justification).

This then came back formally at £180k (I assume it was part of the game to give the higher number in the range of 170-180 to soften the blow), take it or leave it, but we remind you that you have signed a commitment to us for x months regardless of this reduction so don't go thinking you can go elsewhere.

It sold for £180k.

They then sold it for £218k 6 months later (they tried to sell it at £260k initially, then dropped quite quickly until it sold). At that point it had been empty for 12 months or so, so its sale price was harmed by that.

6 months later it is now on the market for £250k....

[netherfield]

Friend of Mrs N has been going through something similar, details sketchy, but mortgage provider wanting their money.

The 'we buy any house' people are talking some £40k to £50k off the numerous estate agents valuations of £350k.

[InformationSuperHighway]

pghstochaj said:

SiH said:

LR90 said:

Pot Bellied Fool said:

So just how far under market rate do auctions and the "We buy any house in 28days" crowd tend to be?

Don't. Really. Just don't.

Yes, don't. They're parasites who tend to prey on the vulnerable and desperate. They'll give you a low-ball offer which you might just consider based on how quickly they can complete the transaction and then at the last minute they'll tell you the market has softened and they've reconsidered their offer to gouge you even further. There's a reason why the one near me has got a Cullinan and a Urus parked outside.

Yes, it's a legitimate business model and no, people aren't forced to go ahead with the sale but they do take advantage of people, including those that find themselves in undesirable circumstances.

I have seen this first hand with my sister. In a divorce, her ex-husband insisted on selling quickly. The house was on the market for £270k with limited interest so really it should have been reduced to £250-260k. The company came in and offered £230k for a 3 week (I think?) sale. This was surprisingly high so he agreed.

About 12 weeks later no progress had been made - I think because they were trying to find a buyer to pass it onto directly. Then, just before Christmas they did a second survey. They found a "crack" in the loft brickwork and reduced their offer down to "£170-180k" (obviously this was not related to the brickwork which at most needed repointing, that was just their justification).

This then came back formally at £180k (I assume it was part of the game to give the higher number in the range of 170-180 to soften the blow), take it or leave it, but we remind you that you have signed a commitment to us for x months regardless of this reduction so don't go thinking you can go elsewhere.

It sold for £180k.

They then sold it for £218k 6 months later (they tried to sell it at £260k initially, then dropped quite quickly until it sold). At that point it had been empty for 12 months or so, so its sale price was harmed by that.

6 months later it is now on the market for £250k....

In this example did they do any work to the property? Or simply just buy low and sell high(er)?

They are clearly making their money on the buy side if so.