Too Good to be True

I knew it! Buyer bottled out. Rubbish excuse about waiting a month for her money to transfer from Australia & concern about a possible change in the exchange rate. None of it stacks up & one of the agents was far blunter than me. She's a recent divorcee & I guess is feeling fragile. I can understand that, being a single woman negotiating the housing market too. But it stinks!

Our system is not fit for purpose. An accepted offer, negotiated through agents, should be a binding agreement & there should be a penalty if you default. My offer on the house in Oxford was accepted, so I've lost that & had to pass on the bad news to the elderly lady who was also hoping to move nearer to her daughter. The knock on ripple effect goes all down the line.

No wonder buying & selling houses is so stressful. It's worse now because of the financial situation & there is a distinct lack of a moral framework to many people's way of operating. It is very difficult to trust the word of anyone involved in property. All you can do is try to maintain your own moral code & deal as honestly & fairly as you can.

Need to focus on the positives. It would have been much worse if it had happened when I was in Nepal & I'm lucky to live in a lovely house in a beautiful location with fantastic friends & neighbours. But, how do I explain that to 7 year old Sam & Theo who came on the second viewing with me & were very excited at seeing what would have been their bedroom in Granny's house?

Blind Panic - Homelessness Looms

If there is a God, and I'm not convinced, I sometimes think that he's a very perverse old b.....!

Why have I had an acceptable cash offer on my house 10 days before I go to Nepal, when the house has been on the market for months?  So I rush to Oxford & trawl round the myriad agents in North Oxford - they must breed like rabbits. In two and a half days I saw everyone & did 2 sessions of multiple viewings. I also found a property that meets most of my spec' & made an initial offer, which was turned down.

North Oxford is a very rarified area in terms of the property market & much else. Not at all like rural Gloucestershire. Oxfordians expect to get the asking price or above. They do not expect to negotiate, even with a cash buyer who is not in a chain - (called a "hot buyer" which tickled me immensely). People with cash are commonplace. An agent said he never managed to tick his targets in terms of arranging finance. Many properties don't ever reach the market & are sold to people waiting in the wings. Property that does reach the market usually goes quickly.

It's the story of my life in microcosm. If I want to buy something I never get a deal, it's always more expensive than I want to pay. But if I want to sell I have to bring the price down & be prepared to bargain. I'm thinking antique furniture, now euphemistically called brown furniture & cars I've tried to sell. Not to mention my house. S...Law always operates in my life!

So, now waiting for a further offer to be considered. It would just be wonderful, if not miraculous, if just for once everything went smoothly & my sale went through without a hitch & I got the house I've offered on. I won't hold my breath. Past experience demands caution & being prepared for the worst.

If any of my readers have more faith than me - a quick prayer wouldn't go amiss!