House Sale Fell Through?
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House Sale Fall Throughs Are Frustrating
When your home has been on the market for a while, it can feel fantastic to receive an offer on it finally. It means you are one step closer to moving to your dream home. However, the house sale could fall through, putting you back to square one and significantly out of pocket.
Unfortunately, this happens often, seemingly without warning. While you cannot always prevent a house sale from falling through (most issues are out of the seller’s control), there are things you can do to limit the damage.
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Has Your House Sale Fallen Through?
A house sale falling through often wastes time, energy, and money, but it doesn’t mean your property is unsellable. It just means that the buyers you found weren’t right for you.
If your buyer pulled out last minute there are two things you’ll need to do right away:
1. Get your property relisted or reach out to us here at We Buy Any Home for a free cash offer on your property. The latter option may facilitate a faster sale.
2. Discover why the property sale did not go through. Talk to the buyer/seller to find out more information.
On average, about 25 – 30% of home sales in
the UK will fall through or experience a chain break.
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Most Common Reasons Your House Sale Might Fall Through
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Gazumping
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Mortgage Problems
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Break in Property Chain
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Problems with House Survey
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Conveyancing Delays
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Buyer Changes Their Mind
If you’re buying a property, there is always the risk of gazumping. This is when a seller accepts a new higher price on the property. A seller is always going to want to get the best price for their home, and if somebody comes in and beats your offer, then your offer will be turned down, even if it was previously accepted.
Up until the house contracts have been exchanged, there is always the risk of gazumping. If you’ve made a fair offer on the home, there is a far lower chance of this occurring.
Gazumping
If you’re buying a property, there is always the risk of gazumping. This is when a seller accepts a new higher price on the property. A seller is always going to want to get the best price for their home, and if somebody comes in and beats your offer, then your offer will be turned down, even if it was previously accepted.
Up until the house contracts have been exchanged, there is always the risk of gazumping. If you’ve made a fair offer on the home, there is a far lower chance of this occurring.
Mortgage Problems
In most cases, a house sale can only proceed when the buyer (or seller) can get a mortgage from the bank.
In theory, a person should only make an offer for a property when they know they’ll have the funding in place, or at least a deal for the funding such as a firm mortgage offer. However, some people don’t do this. They assume they’ll get a mortgage, only to get rejected.
In other cases, the mortgage provider may refuse to provide a mortgage for a particular property, likely because they feel the property isn’t worth as much as being paid.
If there are no funds to purchase a property, or any other mortgage problems, then the house sale will fall through.
Break in Property Chain
Most home sales are part of a chain. This means that several home sales need to go through. If a single home sale fails, then the chain can be broken. This can lead to many other home sales falling through.
Unfortunately, this is one of the situations that is rather tough to prevent. Of course, if you sell to first-home buyers then there is very little chance of the chain breaking, at least on your end. Alternatively, you could sell your property to a company like We Buy Any Home where there is no chain at all which removes the risk.
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Problems with House Survey
Mortgage providers will require a house survey to be carried out before funds can be released. Sensible buyers would want to have one carried out anyway.
The house survey exists to determine whether there are any issues with the property such as structural damage, issues with the electrics, and many other things you probably haven’t even thought about.
Most of the time, issues will be identified on the survey, although they’re rarely big enough to warrant the buyer pulling out from the transaction. However, some buyers will pull out. They may realise that the property is too expensive to repair or isn’t worth the price the buyer is charging.
Sometimes, a buyer may make a new, lower offer on a property in light of the survey report. However, this is not guaranteed. Cladding issues can arise in flats, which is why home purchases have stalled in recent years.
Conveyancing Delays
The conveyancing process is long and complicated; delays can happen even with experienced conveyancers. Most of the time, these delays are acceptable. They won’t cause any issues with the sale of the property. However, there are situations where the conveyancing delays are so extreme that buyers and sellers may have no choice but to pull out of a sale.
Conveyancing issues are more likely to occur in situations that involve probate or divorce house sales.
Buyer Changes Their Mind
Until contracts are exchanged, the buyer is free to change their mind whenever they want, and for whatever reason. The longer the house sale process goes on, the more chance there is of the buyer pulling out before exchange. This can cause the house sale to fall through.
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What Can You Do If Your House Sale Falls Through?
It happens, and it doesn’t necessarily mean your house is unsaleable. It just means that something went wrong with the process and may have been out of your control.
You can attempt to contact the buyers to see if there is a solution however, there rarely is. At the very least, you can get more information on why the house sale fell through. You can use this information to prevent the same problem from occurring.
We suggest that you relist your property as soon as possible. If you had previous offers on your property, ask your real estate agent to contact those people to see whether they are still interested.
If your property is fairly priced (and the real estate agent will help with this), you will eventually get through the sales process. Your house sale falling through is nothing more than a setback.
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How To Prevent Your House Sale From Falling Through
Not all fall-throughs can be prevented. It happens. However, we do want to share a few tips that should, hopefully, make the chances of it happening far lower.
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Home Seller’s Protection Insurance
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Work With a Reputable Estate Agent
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Ask For a Non-Refundable Deposit
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Ask For Proof of Finances Early On
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Look For More Than One Potential Buyer
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Price Your House Fairly
This isn’t necessarily going to protect you from your home sale falling through, but it should protect any loss of cash. Home Sellers’ Protection Insurance will help cover the cost of any paperwork, solicitor fees, or real estate agent fees that need to be covered, even though the property sale fell through in the end. Remember – people must get paid, even when a sale isn’t completed.
Home Seller’s Protection Insurance
This isn’t necessarily going to protect you from your home sale falling through, but it should protect any loss of cash. Home Sellers’ Protection Insurance will help cover the cost of any paperwork, solicitor fees, or real estate agent fees that need to be covered, even though the property sale fell through in the end. Remember – people must get paid, even when a sale isn’t completed.
Work With a Reputable Estate Agent
An estate will be tasked with showing off your property and achieving its best possible price. They’ll also be vetting potential homebuyers. The estate agent’s job is to check whether homebuyers have the funds. An estate agent won’t catch every potential issue with a homebuyer, but they’ll catch many of them.
In addition, a reputable estate agent will ensure that your property is priced fairly in light of the local market, property issues and more.
Unfortunately, many estate agents try to sell a home for above its value to get more commission, for example. This can cause issues in the long run, so be wary of this when choosing an agent if you go down this route.
Ask For a Non-Refundable Deposit
Before you accept an offer from a homebuyer, make it clear that the offer will only be accepted should a non-refundable deposit be paid. This may put off some homebuyers, but those who are serious about purchasing your home should have no issues paying the non-refundable deposit, and there’s less chance of an issue causing the transaction to fall through since the homebuyer now has cash on the line.
Should the home sale still fall through, at least you’ll have the non-refundable deposit to help cover any fees associated with the sale of the property.
Ask For Proof of Finances Early On
Your estate agent should deal with this to some degree. However, you should always ask for proof of finances before accepting an offer (or shortly after); if the buyer is unwilling to provide you with proof of finances, you can reject their offer and check out another potential buyer.
Remember – just because a buyer has proof of finances, it doesn’t mean that finances won’t pose an issue later on. For example, if the conveyancing process lasts too long, their mortgage offer may be withdrawn. The same could happen if the property has significant issues or the buyer’s circumstances change.
Look For More Than One Potential Buyer
It is always worth having a backup buyer. This way, if a property sale falls through, you can head straight to the next buyer. This is more likely to be successful during the earlier stages of the selling process. Later on, the backup buyer may have decided to look elsewhere. They can’t hang around forever, unfortunately!
Price Your House Fairly
If your house is priced at market value, then the sale is less likely to fall through. Your real estate agent should provide you with guidance on the market value. Follow their advice. They’re trying to get you the most from your property, while also reducing the chances of a sale falling through.
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Cost of a Home Sale Falling Through
Remember – if a house sale falls through, you’re still on the hook for any fees up until that point such as conveyancing fees. This is why you must have insurance in place.
Some estate agents may work on a ‘no sale, no fee’ basis, but we wouldn’t count on it. They may still ask for some cash from you, even if they were the reason why the sale fell through in the first place.
Look Into Faster Home Sales
Need to sell your home quickly? Tired of your home sales falling through? There are other options. If you need to sell your home quickly, reach out to us for a free cash offer. We could purchase your home in as little as 10 days for up to 85% of the market value, allowing you to move into your dream home without the risk of your home sale falling through or forking out on expensive fees.
Popular Areas We Buy Any Home with No Chain Breaks
We operate across the United Kingdom including England, Scotland, and Wales. We can buy your house fast, whether you’re in the northernmost parts of Scotland or enjoying life on the beaches on the south coast.
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Frequently Asked Questions about House Sale Chain Breaks
Want to discuss a little further? Freephone 0800 774 0004 or call our office 0203 789 2401
How often do house sales fall through?
Surprisingly often.
It is estimated that anywhere from 25-30% of house sales will fall through. The rate is slightly higher when the economy is going through a rough patch.
What are my options if my property sale has fallen through?
Talk to the buyer to find out why they pulled out of the sale. You should then relist your property as soon as possible to help restart the sales process.
What can I do if my house sale keeps falling through?
You can reach out to the buyers to find out why they have pulled out of the sale. This should give you information on how to prevent future home sales falling through. Alternatively, you can sell your home to We Buy Any Home. Get a free cash offer today.
Will I lose my new home if my house sale falls through at the last minute?
In some cases, yes. If you do not have the funds in place, or you cannot find a new buyer for your home, then you could lose out on your new home. This is why you must take steps to reduce the chances of a home sale falling through.
Do solicitors charge if a house sale fell through?
Yes. Solicitors will charge a fee if a house sale falls through. This is why you must purchase insurance to cover potential costs.
Can you sue if a house sale falls through?
It depends. If contracts have been exchanged (which happens near the end of the process), you could sue. The buyer will already be on the hook for 10% of the purchase price, plus costs. Before contracts have been exchanged, you’re unlikely to have a case.
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