House buying process suffers withdrawal symptoms | Money | guardian.co.uk

House buying process suffers withdrawal symptoms | Money | guardian.co.uk

Last week I wrote off more than £700 when I pulled out of the purchase of a house. The sellers, who had accepted my offer several weeks ago, had changed their minds: they needed me to pay an extra £5,000 or they couldn't afford to move.

My offer had included a promise that after the survey was done I wouldn't go back and quibble on price – I knew work needed doing and had a building survey done so I knew which work to prioritise. (That cost me £375 on top of the £360 for the lender's mortgage valuation.) When the surveyor suggested I asked for £3,000 off to fix the roof, I carried on with the purchase at the agreed price. But when I was told the sale couldn't continue unless I stumped up another £5,000, I decided to withdraw my offer.