House sale fallen through
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What does it mean if your house sale has fallen through?
If your house sale has fallen through, it means that the transaction to sell your house has failed to complete as expected. This can happen for various reasons such as:
- The buyer pulling out
- Issues with financing
- Problems discovered during surveys or inspections
- Disagreements over terms, or legal complications
As a result, the sale process stops, and you must either renegotiate with the buyer, find a new buyer, or reassess your selling strategy.
Make no doubt about it, the list of issues that may impact you when your house sale falls through can be extensive and expensive. However, it doesn’t have to be like that. Selling your home with Zapperty can put you back in the driving seat and guarantee your sale.
Beat the property chain
Sell your house fast with Zapperty
Free cash offer
get a no-obligation quote in 60 minutes or less.
Faster than other ways to sell
get your funds in 7 days instead of waiting months.
No estate agent or solicitor fees
more cash in your pocket when you need it most.
No ‘property chain’
don’t rely on someone else to sell their house to close your deal.
No need for repairs or refurbishments
we buy homes ‘as is’.
Completely private
no-one needs to know you’re selling your home.
No worry, no hassle, no last-minute haggling
our formal offer is guaranteed 100%.
Why do house sales fall through?
It rarely makes headlines, but house sales falling through is a major problem in the UK. In 2023, 35% of home sales collapsed before completion. The fact is, the traditional way of selling homes is rarely trouble free, but there are moments in the process when the chance of collapse are at their highest:
- At the start, when the buyer has problems getting a mortgage.
- In the middle, after the survey, if issues with the property have been found.
- At the end, just before exchanging contracts, when the buyer has a change of heart, or the seller gets a better offer.
Save your sale with a cash completion and no property chain.
Six common reasons
why house sales fall through
Gazumping
The seller gets a better offer after they have agreed the deal but before exchanging contracts. The seller drops out to make more cash unless the buyer stumps up more money. This is very common in a hot property market
Mortgage problems
In a perfect world, potential buyers would not place an offer on a house unless they had funds guaranteed to buy it. However, the world doesn’t work like that. Often, buyers place an offer and then find they can’t get financing. This causes the deal to collapse.
Chain breaks
Most homes are sold as part of a property chain, with each buyer/seller relying on other deals in the chain to make their own sale go through. However, if one buyer or seller drops out, the chain can collapse like a row of falling dominoes.
Issues with the property
The survey finds a problem with the property, such as subsidence, and the buyer pulls out. Or the mortgage company rejects the transaction because the house isn’t worth the selling price. Either way, the sale falls through and the chain is snapped.
Conveyancing issues
Conveyancing delays can occur for many reasons, and usually they don’t impact the sale. However, when delays become too extreme it is common for transactions to fall apart. Long delays happen most when a home is being sold because of probate or divorce.
Buyer gets cold feet
In the UK there is little to stop a buyer changing their mind until contracts are exchanged. Buyers can pull out of a deal for many reasons; emotional, financial, timing, etc, but the impact is always the same – the house sale falls through.
How to prevent your
house sale falling through
Most house sales collapse because of a problem with the buyer, not the seller, but there are still some steps you can take to reduce the chances of your transaction falling through:
Get home seller’s insurance protection
This may not stop your deal from falling apart, but it can limit your costs if it does. Remember, even if the sale collapses, agents, surveyors and lawyers will still need paying – and the impact could leave you seriously out of pocket. Home seller’s insurance can cover you for these costs.
Work with a reputable sales agent
A trustworthy agent will strive to secure the best price for your property and screens buyers to minimise sale disruptions. Ensure they value your home accurately without inflating its worth for their gain. Research and ask for references when selecting an agent. Alternatively, sell your property quickly and hassle-free with a cash house buyer like Zapperty, bypassing agents for a swift and straightforward process.
Ask for a non-refundable deposit
It’s common practice in places like the US, but not so much in the UK. This increases the likelihood of a successful transaction as buyers are more committed. If the buyer backs out, you retain the deposit as compensation.
Ask for proof of finance
While your estate agent might handle this, ensuring buyers have verified funds is crucial—pre-approval doesn't guarantee financing, and issues like property problems or deposit delays can disrupt mortgage agreements.
Keep the details of all interest buyers
It never hurts to have a plan B. Retain the details of all interested buyers. If your first choice drops out you have a ready list of new buyers you can turn to. This can be especially useful in a hot property market when there are more buyers than houses for sale.
Be sensible with your asking price
Setting an excessively high price could lead to delays in finding a buyer or mortgage lenders rejecting the deal due to valuation discrepancies. Your estate agent can assist in determining a suitable price, or you can receive an offer in principle from Zapperty within 60 minutes for a fair and swift transaction.
What to do if your house sale fell through
When your house sale falls through it can be frustrating, but it’s not the end of the world. You can still take steps to get your sale back on track:
- Contact the buyer to see if there is a way to fix the problem. If there isn’t, at least find out what went wrong so you can avoid the same thing happening again.
- Relist your property as soon as possible.
- Go back to any other potential buyers who showed interest.
- Adjust your price if that was the reason the sale fell through.
- Fix any issues with your property if they caused the deal to collapse.
- Forget the property chain and waiting 6 months to sell your property. Sell with Zapperty and close the deal in 7 days. That’s first enquiry to money in your bank in only one week!