My idea to make house sale/purchase less stressful!

[XmisterIS]

We are buying a house together - upsizing, because we are like two sardines in a tin can where we are now.

We were 24 hours away from exchange on a place when the nutcase woman that lives there decided to pull out because, apparently, it was "all too much" for her. I felt sorry for the people who's house she was buying - apparently they were actually in the solicitor's office, signing off all the final paperwork when he got a call to say that she had pulled out. And not a word of apology, either. She absolutely could not see that she had caused a whole hell of a load of grief for all concerned. The estate agent she was with has refused to ever work for her again.

Anyway, fast forward a couple of weeks and we are now in the process of buying another house - luckily, our buyer is the complete opposite of the woman who pulled out - he is sticking with us because he knows he won't get anything sooner.

Nevertheless, we are now in the same position as before - got to pay for another survey (another £750) and more money for searches on the new place. All in all we will be almost a grand out of pocket.

So it got me thinking - it would be too much upheaval to go for the Scottish system, and from what I hear, it's far from perfect. So I have thought of a solution which I still can't find fault with and I am seriously thinking about starting some sort of mini campaign on FB, or somewhere like that, to further the cause.

My solution is this - when you sign the contract (which you can do right at the start of the process), then if you pulled out for no good reason before exchange, then you would be liable to pay costs up to a certain amount (e.g. £1000 apiece) to the buyer/seller on each side of you. You wouldn't lose your deposit though, unless you pulled out after exchange (as is currently the case).

That way, we would at least have got our survey money and searches costs back.

It would have the added benefit that when someone comes to sell, they would be thinking about if they really wanted to do it right at the start - rather than leading all concerned on a merry dance and then pull out at the last minute.

[Mr Fro]

That's a pain in the chuff bud - good news thst your buyer is sticking with you though.

I like the sound of your plan, it would put the timewasters off a bit...

[BikerMooFromMars]

Knowing little about housebuying except that it's not something we'll be doing any time in the near (or possibly distant) future!, and things like people pulling out at the last minute and causing a lot of heartbreak and upset, that would be a damn fine idea. Where's the petition, I'll sign it! Aswell as that dude who suggested cycle lanes be motorcycle lanes because bicycles pull away slower and are largely ridden by noobs (I may or may not have adapted that slightly...)