3 reasons why house sales fall through

Unless you’re a first time buyer, more often than not if you’re buying a property, you’re also selling…. And so is the person you’re buying from… and selling to. The dreaded property chain can be complicated and lengthy, but what can go wrong and why do house sales fall through? The HomeOwners Alliance explains three reasons why and what you can do to protect yourself.

Sold sign
What do if your house sale falls through

1) The seller gets a better offer

You’ve put in the offer, conducted the survey and invested financially and emotionally into your dream home, but along comes a better offer from another buyer. Sadly gazumping happens quite a lot and it isn’t illegal.

But what can you do about it?

  • Once the house is under offer, get it taken off the market 
  • Get your paperwork ready - the quicker you can get to the exchange stage of the process, the more protected you are
  • Take out Home Buyers Protection insurance - while this won’t stop you getting gazumped it will help soften the blow by getting your costs recovered

2) The mortgage falls through

Finding a property takes time and it’s not uncommon for mortgage offers to expire or financial circumstances change by the time a buyer finds and makes an offer on a property.

But what can you do to avoid this?

  • Get a mortgage agreement in principle
  • Ensure your mortgage offer will cover the agreed offer price
  • As soon as you’ve made an offer, get your agreement into a formal mortgage offer
  • Work with a mortgage broker to have a specialist working for you

3) The buyer gets a bad survey report

While few houses come out of a survey unscathed without a few defects to fix, significant problems can put off potential buyers. Damp, structural issues, problems with the roof are all issues that can cause a buyer to withdraw their offer. But a bad survey doesn’t have to be the end of the transaction.

Here’s what to do:

  • Sellers should ensure the condition of their property is reflected in the sale price - if you want full price, you’ll need to ensure there aren’t any nasty surprises for the surveyor to uncover
  • Buyers should not despair - a bad survey doesn’t have to mean the end of the sale. Get specialist advice and quotes on fixing the faults, it may be you can renegotiate the price minus this amount.

As well as these top three reasons for house sales falling through, there can be other factors. Chain breaks, conveyancing delays and gazundering all top the list of reasons for failed property transactions

If you are thinking of buying or selling your home, you may find some of these services useful: