When you are selling a house and a buyer back out of the process, it can be very frustrating, and you may feel like you have wasted a lot time and money. It can also feel uncertain if you have an onwards chain that may be at risk of collapsing.

Being aware of reasons why buyers back out of house sales is beneficial, as should anything happen and you get wind of their potential pulling out, you may be more ready to come up with solutions for them and keep the ship afloat.

Whilst it may seem that pulling out is more frustrating and disheartening for house sellers, it can be equally frustrating and disappointing for buyers. In reality, no one wants to waste each other’s time, efforts or money.

Reasons why buyers back out of house sales

Mortgage issues and financial difficulties

Buyers can be issues with obtaining a mortgage, whether that be inability to borrow the amount for the purchase or not having sufficient evidence to prove income.

Other factors and financial issues may include personal emergencies that the buyer needs to spend a significant amount of money on, that they were planning to use as a deposit. E.g.

significant car repairs, being robbed etc.

Changes in personal circumstances

People can have big changes in personal circumstances that they did not foresee before looking to buy a property, that may increase the risk of them pulling out of the house sale. These can be things like: family issues or illnesses, relocation for a job, or other emergencies. These events can cause the buyers to prioritise these other things, and put the house sale second in line, causing them to pull out.

Breaks in chain (onwards and backwards)

It may be that the chain has been broken with the buyers, and your property sale was dependent on them selling theirs. It is frustrating if you are in a chain, as this can impact your further house purchase. It is important to see why the chain has broken and if there are any ways of remediating it and getting it back on track.

If it can’t, then the chain could potentially be rescued if a new buyer is found for your property in a very short space of time.

If your buyer has pulled out and you need to find another buyer quickly, explore whether selling via modern online auction may be the right route for you? We sell properties in as little as 28 days; we sell them for FREE (absolutely no charges to the seller) and we have a back out rate of less than 1%.

How is our back out rate so low? When an auction cycle ends, the legal contracts exchange, the buyer pays the reservation fee and deposit straight away. At that point, the buyer is financially invested in the property, and very unlikely to back out. Our clients are also experienced investors and landlords, who know what they are doing and rarely back out if they have committed to something. 

To find out more information on how we can sell your house and guarantee no buyer back outs, contact us below and speak to one of our auction experts.

Survey and property valuation concerns

Some people opt for more rigorous surveys than others. Despite the level of survey that they may choose to do, results can come back less positive than anticipated. It may be that significant work needs to be done to the house, e.g. new roof putting in, that the buyers may not be prepared to do. At this stage, there may be negotiations on the price in light of the additional works, and if the seller and buyer are not able to come to a reasonable agreement, then the buyer may pull out.

Property market conditions and price changes

It may be that market conditions quickly change, and more external factors can have influence over whether the buyer decides to withdraw. If the market is looking to become unfavourable and there is a chance the property will go down in value, then the buyers may not see it as a good investment anymore. Some significant events that could change the market conditions are: nearby floods or fires, wars, government announcements/budgets or government pulling out investments from the area.

Cold feet and emotional attachment

People can get anxious and stressed about buying or selling. People have doubts and don’t like changes. Buying a house may seem a big risk for them. They could also be very emotionally attached to their current house due to having spent a lot of years there and lived through a lot of good memories there.

They may decide to pull out of the house due to the uncertainty, thinking it may not be the right time or simply scared to make a wrong decision. They may not even have been serious about buying a house in the first place.

Legal and contractual obligations

There are a lot of obligations for the prospective buyer to consider when buying a property. There are also deadlines and expiry dates e.g. for mortgage offers. If obstacles are encountered during the process that take a lot of time to resolve, then this may impact the whole property purchase. These can be things like: dispute over property boundaries, issues with the contract terms, obligations or issues with any tenants in the property or other obligations that can impact the sale.

Conclusion

By being aware of these reasons for buyers pulling out of house sales, sellers can arm themselves ahead of time with additional information and solutions to any problems or reasons that the buyer may bring up, when they are looking to pull out.

If you have had a buyer pull out of your property sale recently, and you are looking to get the chain back on track fast, then give one of our auction property experts below a call or email, to see how we can secure you a sale in as little as 28 days. We are able to provide one of the most proactive house selling services in the UK, where we work our socks off everyday to get it sold.

Did we mention we are also able to do this for free and have a track record of fewer than 1% of buyers backing out?