You’ve met the potential purchaser, accepted their offer and even seen a memorandum of sales but you get the call every seller dreads – your buyer pulled out of property sale. You may not be able to predict when a purchaser may withdraw or why they pull out, but you can have a plan in place in case it happens.
If you have accepted an offer for your property, the first thing an estate agent does is draft and issue the memorandum of sales, with both solicitors involved receiving a copy. It’s worth remembering, however, that the memorandum of sales isn’t legally binding.
If you’re the seller, the time between the memorandum of sales being issued and the exchange of contracts is the most fragile. Although the memo is an official document, it provides little protection and it won’t prevent your buyer walking away. Only when contracts are exchanged does the purchase become legally binding and the risk significantly reduce - but it does not disappear completely.
In some circumstances, a buyer will pull out of a property purchase after exchange has taken place, even though they may lose their deposit and have to pay the seller compensation. Sadly, some situations are unavoidable and the closer to completion a buyer withdraws, the more difficult it is for the seller to retrieve the situation.
There are many reasons why a buyer may decide to stop the transaction and withdraw from the purchase of your property. These include:-
Without a buyer, the transaction is temporarily suspended and that can become a critical issue if there is a chain - the biggest risk is that the seller loses their onwards purchase. A High Street agent will advise the seller to go back on the open market and start again from square one. Marketing resumes, viewings recommence, potential buyers will need financially qualifying and a new survey commissioned – all of which could take weeks or even months.
Losing your buyer is heartbreaking as an isolated incident but if you are close to exchange or completion on an onwards property, the collapse of your sale could jeopardise your future plans and cost you thousands of pounds.
Selling to a professional cash buyer is a smart solution in cases where the buyer has withdrawn. Open Property Group has helped many vendors who have lost their buyer sell a house fast as we are a guaranteed buyer with the funds to act immediately. As well as completion within seven days, if required, we promise:-
If you’ve lost your buyer and need to get your sale back on track quickly, contact us. We can achieve completion within seven working days so you can stick to your plan, starting with an attractive cash offer.
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