# House sale probably fallen through



## Janeym8 (Mar 8, 2013)

Just had an email from couple buying our house to say they are no longer being offered a mortgage so cant buy our house aaaarrrrrggggg
Just paid a non refundable deposit on storage to hold our stuff prior to moving 
The womans in tears as they really want our house
Looks like Spain moving further away from us


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## Alcalaina (Aug 6, 2010)

How frustrating! We had a similar situation when the guy who bought our house had his mortgage application rejected. Fortunately his family rallied round and I think they got it in his father's name eventually. 

Let's hope your buyers manage to find an alternative solution or someone else comes along quick. :fingerscrossed:


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## zenkarma (Feb 15, 2013)

Janeym8 said:


> Just had an email from couple buying our house to say they are no longer being offered a mortgage so cant buy our house aaaarrrrrggggg


Oh dear, sorry to hear that. Wonder why their mortgage was turned down?

We all learn by experience unfortunately (sometimes the hard way) but here's a few tips for the future:

Always ask the estate agent representing you whether the prospective purchaser can raise the finance to purchase the property when you consider any offer made. I grilled mine fairly rigorously on this before I accepted the offer. If you're not convinced or are unsure the buyer can raise the finances, insist on keeping the property on the market until the mortgage is approved so you can keep backup plans in place. But make it crystal clear to estate agent and buyer than you will not be considering any other offers whilst it stays on the market.

Never put any plans in place to move house until you exchange contracts. That's the point of no return really and that's when you commit yourself to either buying or selling. The deal can fall through at any point up to exchange of contracts, almost for any reason and frequently does. If I had a pound for every time someone told me that I'd be rich! But it is true, don't get too excited until you exchange contracts.

I'm about three days from completion on my property sale!

Best of luck finding another buyer and don't get too despondent about it all, it's all part and parcel of selling a property. Just remember, don't get too excited until you exchange contracts.


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## Megsmum (Sep 9, 2012)

Oh Sorry to hear Janeym8. selling its so flipping stressful. Ours went through really easily and I found that a strain. Not much comfort but at least houses are moving quicker than before now.

We are in rented and waiting to move in 6 weeks. I really do wish you a speedy sale, I know this is a horrid time


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## Janeym8 (Mar 8, 2013)

Put deposit on storage today only because we couldnt be guaranteed storage if we waited
Not doing anything until its all completed legally,except for above for reason stated
Just a bit down about it to be honest but we did think it was all going too well


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## Goldeneye (Nov 12, 2011)

Were they turned down for a mortgage or just not a mortgage up to the amount they needed to purchase your house.. If it was the latter perhaps some creative thinking is in order..


In Canada, sometimes the seller 'carries' a second mortgage on the place to make up for the shortfall.. If you have equity might be worth checking into... Just make sure it is done legally so you.. Seller financed mortgages .. disadvantage as 2nd mortgage. You would be 2nd in line should the buyers default on the payments, the bank being the 1st in line...


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## Janeym8 (Mar 8, 2013)

Goldeneye said:


> Were they turned down for a mortgage or just not a mortgage up to the amount they needed to purchase your house.. If it was the latter perhaps some creative thinking is in order..
> 
> 
> In Canada, sometimes the seller 'carries' a second mortgage on the place to make up for the shortfall.. If you have equity might be worth checking into... Just make sure it is done legally so you.. Seller financed mortgages .. disadvantage as 2nd mortgage. You would be 2nd in line should the buyers default on the payments, the bank being the 1st in line...



Not sure what their problem is,think they might have been turned down
Our estate agent told us everything was ok and "just a formality" when they put their offer in
Fingers crossed they can sort something out
We will speak to our solicitor and find out


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## 90199 (Mar 21, 2010)

Janeym8 said:


> Not sure what their problem is,think they might have been turned down
> Our estate agent told us everything was ok and "just a formality" when they put their offer in
> Fingers crossed they can sort something out
> We will speak to our solicitor and find out


We went down that road, took four and a half years to sell, but eventually it sold


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## jojo (Sep 20, 2007)

Can you not rent it out and rent in Spain???

Jo xxx


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## Janeym8 (Mar 8, 2013)

jojo said:


> Can you not rent it out and rent in Spain???
> 
> Jo xxx


Unfortunately not we need the funds from house sale to move over and buy or we would as our son and his family would love to live here


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## snikpoh (Nov 19, 2007)

Janeym8 said:


> Unfortunately not we need the funds from house sale to move over and buy or we would as our son and his family would love to live here


You'll find that most people will advise you to rent first - for a number of reasons.


You might buy in an area/place that you later don't like
Now is not necessarily the best time to buy

In hindsight, I don't think we should have bought. The problem is, what happens to the property when we got too old? Or even when we die? The children, in all probability, will either not be in Spain or at best, will be living somewhere else in Spain. 

Yes, I suppose, they might be able to sell it but then one day, pigs might fly!


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## Megsmum (Sep 9, 2012)

snikpoh said:


> You'll find that most people will advise you to rent first - for a number of reasons.
> 
> 
> You might buy in an area/place that you later don't like
> ...


advising people to rent is great, if they can afford to do that,, we like Janeym8 had to sell to free up the capital to buy and live, its just not viable for us to keep the uk house and rent in Spain.


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## snikpoh (Nov 19, 2007)

cambio said:


> advising people to rent is great, if they can afford to do that,, we like Janeym8 had to sell to free up the capital to buy and live, its just not viable for us to keep the uk house and rent in Spain.


I agree. 

My advice now would be to sell in UK but still rent in Spain. In hindsight, that's what we should have done.


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## zenkarma (Feb 15, 2013)

cambio said:


> advising people to rent is great, if they can afford to do that,, we like Janeym8 had to sell to free up the capital to buy and live, its just not viable for us to keep the uk house and rent in Spain.


Why can't you rent the UK house out for £x and rent in Spain for €x?

That gives you the best of all worlds. You maintain a UK property which should increase in value whilst it's rented and use the rental income from that UK property to fund the rental of a Spanish property would give you the flexibility of moving around if you want to.

The most important thing being, you're not sinking a lot of money into the unstable Spanish property market which could well fall even further and not only that could and can prove almost impossible to sell.

It's a brave soul indeed who's investing money in Spanish property at the moment. Much braver than me!


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## oronero (Aug 24, 2012)

zenkarma said:


> You maintain a *UK property which should increase in value* whilst it's rented and use the rental income from that UK property to fund the rental of a Spanish property would give you the flexibility of moving around if you want to.
> 
> The most important thing being, *you're not sinking a lot of money into the unstable Spanish property market* which could well fall even further and not only that could and can prove almost impossible to sell.
> 
> It's a brave soul indeed who's investing money in Spanish property at the moment. Much braver than me!


Recently it was reported in the press that property prices in the UK had risen and that the Nationwide Halifax were predicting an 8% rise this year! BBC News - UK house price predictions for 2014

With wages in the UK rising below the reported inflation rate of around 2% ( BBC News - Economy tracker: Inflation ) and housing estimated to rise at 8% I would say that there is no stability in the UK hosing market, rather that it is 'heating up' again to give the feel good factor just prior to the next general election in 2015.

Soon after the elections interest rates will start to rise, people in the UK will start to watch property sales slump, prices fall and then we will really see how bad it can be as the UK bubble bursts!


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## zenkarma (Feb 15, 2013)

oronero said:


> Recently it was reported in the press that property prices in the UK had risen and that the Nationwide Halifax were predicting an 8% rise this year!


Don't say that! I've just sold my UK house!



oronero said:


> ...I would say that there is no stability in the UK hosing market, rather that it is 'heating up' again to give the feel good factor just prior to the next general election in 2015.


I'd say you were spot on!



oronero said:


> Soon after the elections interest rates will start to rise, people in the UK will start to watch property sales slump, prices fall and then we will really see how bad it can be as the UK bubble bursts!


I'd say you were spot on again!

That's why I said _should_ increase in value. It's hard to say for sure because a lot depends on where they are etc. But one thing is for sure, UK housing will be a far more stable investment than Spanish at the moment.

The UK government has said it's put measures in place to ensure the market doesn't overheat and create another bubble whether you believe that or not. I can only assume that they will squeeze the banks on their mortgage lending to slow the market down if they need to.

Prices have been rising, most sharply and markedly in London and the SE, but not an awful lot elsewhere really.

Like you, I fully expect interest rates to rise (in all honestly they should have risen already) but timing when that is going to happen is proving somewhat tricky.


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## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

A possibility that might be considered and is one that we used ourselves to enable purchases to continue while waiting for a buyer, is to extend the mortgage on the property in UK. This, of course, only works if there is sufficient equity in the UK property and you have sufficient income to support the new mortgage payments. But it is worth looking into.


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## Megsmum (Sep 9, 2012)

zenkarma said:


> Why can't you rent the UK house out for £x and rent in Spain for €x?
> 
> That gives you the best of all worlds. You maintain a UK property which should increase in value whilst it's rented and use the rental income from that UK property to fund the rental of a Spanish property would give you the flexibility of moving around if you want to.
> 
> ...


because i do not want the hassle of renting out my uk property, and as I said we have sold, can afford to buy and bank a substantial amount of money.

The old chestnut of the Spanish property market falling is on relevant if you see a house as an investment, for us it is a home, I do believe that there are those who want to rent and that is fine, there are those who wish, like us to buy, no one is right people do what they need to do for them selves. We are not frightened of the property market falling even further, if it rises or if it falls it does not matter its our home:eyebrows:


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## Janeym8 (Mar 8, 2013)

We thought long and hard whether to buy or rent and decided to buy straight away although the place we wanted might be lost to us by the time our place sells so we can get the funds
We heard from lawyer today our house sale has definately fallen through so we are pretted gutted about it
Thanks for all advice/opinions

Jane x


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## jojo (Sep 20, 2007)

Janeym8 said:


> We thought long and hard whether to buy or rent and decided to buy straight away although the place we wanted might be lost to us by the time our place sells so we can get the funds
> We heard from lawyer today our house sale has definately fallen through so we are pretted gutted about it
> Thanks for all advice/opinions
> 
> Jane x


When this has happened to us in the past, my husband always says "it happened for a reason" - something better will come along and happen, you just wait and see!!!!!

Jo xxx


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## zenkarma (Feb 15, 2013)

cambio said:


> because i do not want the hassle of renting out my uk property, and as I said we have sold, can afford to buy and bank a substantial amount of money.


Fair enough.

Renting in the UK and in Spain isn't for everyone. But I think it's fair to put that up as a viable alternative and in my opinion it's a pretty shrewd move. But as you rightly say - it's not for everyone and renting a property and managing that rental yourself has its own problems attached.



cambio said:


> The old chestnut of the Spanish property market falling is on relevant if you see a house as an investment, for us it is a home...


Again Fair enough.

But it's hardly an 'old chestnut' is it? It's a very real fact that Spanish property on the mainland coast has fallen 50-60% from peak on official figures and probably more on unofficial ones.

That's a pretty big financial hit to take if your plans change and you are forced to sell your Spanish property for whatever reason.

Yes a property is a home first and foremost, but it's also a significant financial investment and shrewd, wise financial planners take that into consideration.


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## oronero (Aug 24, 2012)

zenkarma said:


> Yes a property is a home first and foremost, but it's also a significant financial investment and shrewd, wise financial planners take that into consideration.


If the property is viewed as a home it is a cost, not an investment....it only becomes a financial investment if you are hoping to make money from it.


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## zenkarma (Feb 15, 2013)

oronero said:


> If the property is viewed as a home it is a cost, not an investment....it only becomes a financial investment if you are hoping to make money from it.


We'll have to agree to disagree on that one because my definition of investment is different to yours.

I have a holiday home in Almeria. It was purchased to function as a holiday home, but it was also purchased as an investment. Despite Spanish property values plummeting it's still made money because it was purchased before the market peaked.

I don't think you can be so rigid in your definition. Property can serve many functions depending on the aspirations of the individual.


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## oronero (Aug 24, 2012)

zenkarma said:


> We'll have to agree to disagree on that one because my definition of investment is different to yours.
> 
> I don't think you can be so rigid in your definition. Property can serve many functions depending on the aspirations of the individual.


I don't think that either of our definitions of investment are that far apart... It's just that *cambio* said he is buying property for a home, not for necessarily a financial gain so it is not an intentional investment in the financial sense.

Remember when making financial investments there is always the risk that prices can go down equally as go up....just look at shares!

Investments for financial gain are really no more than a gamble on what will happen in the future, some of it comes good and some of it goes bad...life!


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## oronero (Aug 24, 2012)

Some people decide to invest time and energy in to bettering the life of other people, it is not always about money either.


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## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

Even if you buy for home - it is still an investment that pays you dividends in the form of the rent that you don't have to pay when renting. Like most investments if you want to sell it is only worth what somebody is prepared to pay for it.


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## Janeym8 (Mar 8, 2013)

I think we all expect our homes to increase in value so in that respect it is an investment
Also i agree that renting in either country,isnt for everyone and its not something we expect to do but who knows what the future holds.a lot of our plans are changing despite being all agreed on before house sale fell through,think we are just going over all options for us at the minute

Jane


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## Megsmum (Sep 9, 2012)

Janeym8 said:


> I think we all expect our homes to increase in value so in that respect it is an investment
> Also i agree that renting in either country,isnt for everyone and its not something we expect to do but who knows what the future holds.a lot of our plans are changing despite being all agreed on before house sale fell through,think we are just going over all options for us at the minute
> 
> Jane


Hi Jane

I do hope it turns again for you soon, I now realise how lucky we were with out sale and buyers I really wish you luck x


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## zenkarma (Feb 15, 2013)

Janeym8 said:


> Also i agree that renting in either country,isnt for everyone and its not something we expect to do but who knows what the future holds.a lot of our plans are changing despite being all agreed on before house sale fell through,think we are just going over all options for us at the minute


That really sums it all up in a nutshell.

The key (in my opinion) to moving to and setting up house in Spain is to build in flexibility just in case your plans change for whatever reason. If you rent, you have that flexibility, if you buy you don't. It's as simple as that really.

If I'd bought a property in Spain and set up a solar panel system for electricity generation and the Spanish government then imposed the 'home power electricity generating tax' which they've just done—I'd have been pretty annoyed! You just don't know what this crazy Spanish government are going to do next!

If you're renting you can get out, if you've bought a property—you can't, at least not very easily and probably without taking some kind of financial loss even if you did find a buyer.

At the end of the day you pay your money and you take your choice. I just think it's important that people understand the risks attached with buying property in the Spanish property market at the moment.


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## jojo (Sep 20, 2007)

I wouldnt want to make folk change their plans, but when we were first planning to move to Spain, we were going to sell our UK house and buy in Spain. The UK house wouldnt sell in the allotted time, so we rented it out and rented in Spain. I didnt want to do that. I wanted to sever ties with the UK and be a home owner in Spain ( i didnt want to ever come back to the UK). But then the recession happened and I cant tell you how glad I am our plan didnt materialise - we'd have been well and truly stuffed!!!!! I sometimes wonder whether we'd have tried harder if we had sold the UK and owned in Spain, but I think it would have well and truly wrecked our family and our finances

Jo xxx


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