What to Do After a Chain Collapse

Establish what failed

Ask your estate agent and solicitor for a clear account of the problem. A buyer’s funding difficulty, an unresolved survey issue and a seller changing plans call for different responses. Keep confirmed facts separate from another party’s suggested explanation.

• Which link failed, and is that decision final?
• Does the problem relate to your property or someone else’s circumstances?
• Are any documents or investigations still useful for a new buyer?
• What does your own onward seller need to know?

Check your commitments before changing route

Ask your solicitor about your legal position and your agent about the existing agency agreement. Identify any fees, notice requirements or exclusivity terms before instructing someone else. Avoid promising a replacement completion date before a new purchaser and your advisers have assessed it.

Compare the available next steps

Use the cause of the failure to choose which options to investigate. A new offer will not necessarily remove a survey or title problem.

• Restore the chain if the obstacle has a credible solution and the parties remain willing.
• Remarket with the agent, using the feedback from the failed sale.
• Ask an auctioneer about suitability, preparation, charges and the auction method.
• Consider an investor proposal after checking funding and remaining conditions.

Put a price on the trade-off

List the extra holding costs and disruption you actually expect, then compare them with any lower offer. Do not count sunk costs twice or treat a hoped-for date as certain. Keep the price, conditions and likely net proceeds side by side.

Ask whether a replacement buyer is truly independent of a chain

Ask whether another sale, refinance or funding approval is needed. Have your advisers check the evidence. A buyer described as an investor or cash buyer can still have conditions and can still fail to complete.

Discuss a possible introduction

Tell us the postcode, why the previous sale stopped and your timeframe. Lucennio Property Limited can discuss investor suitability without charging you a seller fee. We cannot guarantee to restore your onward purchase or meet its deadline.