Property Chain Break

While most property sales do complete successfully, an alarming number of deals break down. A broken property chain can leave a deal in tatters and leave you heartbroken, in a seemingly impossible situation.

If this has happened to you, there is still hope. 

With a fast cash sale, it is even possible that you can continue with an existing deal to buy another house. You can obviously start the process of listing your property with an estate agent again. Alternatively, using cash house buyers like PropertyBuyer.co.uk enables a quick sale and removes the possibility of a broken chain scuppering your family move.

What Is A Broken Property Chain?

Property chains can be long and complex. A single chain involves the sale and acquisition of multiple properties by several parties: there could, potentially, be half a dozen or more links in the chain. Your move could come to a grinding halt if one of these deals falls through, so, how does a property chain work?

A property chain begins with somebody that is buying a property but does not need to sell an existing property. It ends with a person that is selling their home but not buying another. Every other transaction in between is a link in the property chain and has the potential to derail the whole process.

For a property chain to complete successfully, everything has to happen in sequence. Buyers need to find somebody to purchase their property, who will also need to find somebody to buy their own property. Most buyers also need to arrange a mortgage and everything is reliant on solicitors and surveyors completing their steps in the process. 

Unexpected survey findings, problems finalising a mortgage deal, and unavoidable family divorce or break-ups can all cause the chain to collapse. These collapses are not only heartbreaking but they can prove timely and very costly. 

If your property chain has collapsed, find out if we can help and get an offer. 

At PropertyBuyer.co.uk, we're cash buyers. We do not have a chain and we have the cash waiting, which means that we aren't reliant on mortgage companies or underwriters. We can repair a broken chain and ensure that you complete your house move. 

How Often Do Property Chains Break?

Estimates suggest that as many as 1 in 4 sales fall through between the offer acceptance and completion stages. This figure includes sales that fall through because of gazumping and gazundering, as well as problems with mortgage applications. The collapse of any sale has a knock-on effect on the chain both before and after the collapse. Because there is no limit to the number of deals within a chain, a single broken link can lead to the failure of half a dozen or more property deals. 

If your own property sale has fallen through, it could be as a result of vendors or buyers that you never come into contact with, so, why do house chains collapse?

What Reasons Cause A House Sale To Fall Through At The Last Minute?

Even a simple property deal involves multiple parties. As well as the vendor and the buyer, most deals will involve two mortgage companies, solicitors, surveyors, and estate agents. The number of parties involved is significantly larger when you are part of a chain. The more parties involved, the greater the chance of a breakdown of a property chain, and the greater the likelihood of delays. 

It's important to understand the cost to sell a house, in the event that your house sale has fallen through, it could cost thousands, depending on how far through the process you were. You may still have to pay solicitors' fees, mortgage fees, and survey fees totalling a significant amount of money, while also finding yourself back at square one in the process.

Secured Finance

A lack of funding is one of the most common reasons for a property sale to fall through. If a property buyer is unable to get lending facilities from a mortgage company or high street lender, this will force them to pull out of a deal. 

The buyer usually receives a conditional mortgage offer before they agree a purchase. However, this is not a formal offer and the mortgage company will want to complete a valuation and other checks before making a formal offer. The mortgage lender might disagree on the value of the property. Their offer might expire and they are unable to renew the offer at the same beneficial rates. In either case, the lack of funding means that the deal and the chain will break down.

Change In Personal Circumstances

Unforeseen circumstances do happen, and some can have a detrimental effect on the proposed purchase or sale of a house. A buyer might suffer a family bereavement or redundancy. Other possible changes in circumstances include divorce or a separation from the partner they were buying the property with. A change in job can lead to emigration or relocation, which would mean that the buyer is no longer in a position to complete the purchase. 

Gazumping, Gazundering And Gazanging

Gazumping occurs when the seller accepts a higher offer from another bidder after they have already accepted your offer. The process, although heartbreaking and potentially costly, is legal and it can be difficult to prevent. The seller wants to get the most money possible for their property. It can be difficult to avoid gazumping, other than by ensuring that the deal goes through as quickly as possible.

Gazundering is the opposite of gazumping. It occurs when you are selling a property and means that the buyer attempts to lower their offer at the last minute and just before the exchange of contracts. This leaves you with a choice of accepting the lower offer or pulling out of the deal, both of which will leave you with unexpected costs and difficulties.

Gazanging is a relatively new term in the property market. It refers to the seller decides, at the last minute, that they don't wish to sell the property. It tends to happen during market uncertainty or difficult economic circumstances and leaves you in a very difficult position.

Survey Report 

A survey determines whether is any fundamental problem with a property. There are different levels of survey available, and if the buyer's surveyor determines that there is a major problem, it means that they are likely to ask for a reduction in the property price or they might pull out of the deal altogether. The only way to avoid this problem is to have your own survey conducted and make any required repairs to the property before you market it. Alternatively, be open about the problems and offer a reduction in the value, determined by the cost of repairs required.

What To Do When A House Sale Falls Through

Sometimes it's impossible to rescue a deal, no matter how hard you try. It can be heartbreaking and it can leave you in two minds whether you should try again. 

If your house sale falls through, you will find yourself back at square one. Any other interested buyers are likely to have found other properties and you may need to go through the process of listing your home, showing your house to prospective buyers and then completing the conveyancing process again. What's more, you will have the added stress that the same thing could happen again, and you may have already lost out on the property of your dreams. 

Fortunately, there are options. 

If you need to sell your house fast to complete the purchase of your next home, or you want to eliminate the possibility of a repeat performance, with PropertyBuyer.co.uk you can sell your house fast for cash. We have no chain because we are cash buyers. We don't need to sell a property, won't leave you hanging for weeks or months on end, and we can complete the deal within seven days. What's more, because we don't charge any fees, you will receive nearly as much as you would by using an estate agent. 

Use An Estate Agent To Sell Your Property

An estate agent will have a network of potential buyers lined up. They will value your property according to prevailing market conditions and they will market your property on the open market. The modern estate agent not only lists your property in their own window, but they also advertise on property listing websites. 

They do charge a fee for the services that they offer, however, and if you have already been through this process, the fees can feel overwhelming, and they can reduce a large chunk of the money that you had set aside for your next home. The process of selling through an estate agent will take months to complete, by which time you could have lost out on the house of your dreams.

Sell Your Property Privately

It is also possible to sell your home privately. In essence, this means that you take on the role of the estate agent during the process. You set your own asking price, advertise your property, arrange viewings, negotiate with prospective buyers, accept an offer, and then instruct a solicitor or conveyancer to complete the deal on your behalf. This can eliminate the estate agent fees, although it will attract advertising fees, and it will often take longer to complete the process yourself so it will be several months before you can move.

Use A Property Buying Company To Buy Your House For Cash

A final option is to use a property buying company. These companies have cash waiting so do not need to arrange mortgages. They should charge minimal or no fees, and they can eliminate the majority of the waiting time usually associated with selling a property. At PropertyBuyer.co.uk we buy any house and can complete a deal within seven days because we have the cash waiting. What's more, we are not part of an ongoing chain, which means that you don't have the anxious wait for the sale to complete.

You Can Still Sell Your Property Even If Your House Sale Falls Through

Unfortunately, property chains break. The situation leaves sellers in a difficult situation, unsure of what to do when a house sale falls through. With PropertyBuyer.co.uk, you can sell your house fast for cash and possibly still complete on the purchase of your next home, without having to go through the same process that ultimately failed last time around.