What can you do if a house sale has fallen through at the last minute?

It is inevitable that at least 30% of property sales fall through, and usually the circumstances are unforeseen too. When an offer is made on a property, the buyer and seller is not committed until exchange of contracts, which is legally binding.

Moreover, a high proportion of property buyers are in a chain, and therefore this increases the probability of property sales falling through. If this happens to you, what should you do?

Jason Harris-Cohen of Open Property Group said: Think about:

• Price
• Promotion
• Product

Is your property priced to sell?

Firstly is your price correct for the current market conditions. In volatile times, property prices might have adjusted since the property was first listed. Therefore, consult with at least two agents and ask if the market/economy has changed since you first listed your property for sale.

You might need to amend your asking price (hopefully upwards) but possibly down, in order to generate new interest in the property.

How is your property being promoted?

You might need to reconsider the marketing strategy in order to stimulate new demand for the property. Ask the agent for a full summary of their marketing plans, and where do they advertise your property to find potential buyers?

As a minimum, the property should be listed on Rightmove and Zoopla

Can you offer any incentives to generate additional interest such as:

• Legal fees paid
• Stamp duty paid
• Vouchers
• Furniture package
• Discounted price

According to RightMove:

3 reasons you should list your properties on Rightmove

1. Be seen by the biggest and most engaged audience of home hunters
   • They get over 130 million visits every month, leading to over 4 million enquiries to agents and developers¹
   • 77% of the time spent on the top 4 property websites is on Rightmove²
2. Target sellers and landlords
   • Many buyer enquiries also say they have a property to sell
   • 36% of landlords found their last lettings agent by searching on a property site³

¹ Rightmove data, April 2016.
² Comscore, March 2016.
³ Rightmove.

Is the product in saleable condition?

Please consider how your property is presented? It could yield results if you enhance the presentation. This could be done by improvements such as:

1. Cutting the grass and tidying the gardens
2. Replace the kitchen
3. Replace the bathroom
4. Change the flooring
5. Redecorate
6. Can you get any planning to add value ie an extension or loft conversion
7. You could add furniture to an empty home to ‘dress it’ and enhance the presentation to give that homely feel

Our house buying service

Open Property Group offer a house chain repair service to assist homeowners who need a fast sale when a property chain collapses.

We provide:

1. Instant cash offers
2. No solicitor fees
3. No agency fees
4. Choose a moving date to suit you
5. Countrywide house buying service

Contact Open Property Group today for your free, no obligation property offer.