to possibly "gazump" my neighbour ??

[kitty4paws]

Situation, our next door neighbour (NDN) has put his house on the market. NDN has told us that he has had interest from another neighbour in the street.

W have been planning to put our house on the market but due to work commitments are now goign on the market next week.

AIBU to apprach other neightbour to say we are going on the market and if they are interested and save the estate agent fees.

If it works out like that then we would split the saving ( £1000 + each) between ourselves and the buyer.

What would you do ??

Am I undercuttign my NDN or just givvign the other neighbour the choice ?/

I'd hate for them to be kicking themselves if the bought NDN house and then when we go on the market "think S**T we prefered your house"

??

[thereistheball]

Yes I think YABU. You see who is interested in your house when you put it on the market. Trying to poach someone else's buyer is out of order.

[nomorebooze]

make them aware and let them do any talking etc! i would avoid being so blunt, very tricky situation. It also sounds like there are no offers on the table anyways so this makes it easier.

[tyler80]

If neighbour (potential buyer) hasn't made an offer on the house next door then I don't think you are poaching anyone

[minipie]

Has the buying neighbour actually had an offer accepted by your NDN?

If so, I'd leave well alone. If they see your house come on the market and decide they prefer it then so be it, but you don't want to interfere in a sale process that has already started.

However, if the buying neighbour has not made an offer on the NDN house, then they are not yet "someone else's buyer".

In those circumstances I would:

• tell NDN that my house was going on the market next week too - so they don't think you kept anything from them

• mention to other neighbour that the house is going on the market, in case they wanted to have a look round before it does (I would not say anything about saving/splitting agent fees etc - they might not even like the house)

I presume your house is very similar and similar price to NDN house?

[burnthedummy]

YABU. My neighbour had the good grace to wait till we had sold before putting theirs on the market. I like to think I would do the same. How would you feel if someone did that to you? Your neighbour will find out and you may still have to live next to them for the next six months. It really is not worth the hassle

[saslou]

I would do it but only if I was prepared to take the consequences. These would be that the neighbour does not prefer your house or buys neither in the end, leaving you with a NDN with whom you are on very bad terms. Do you think they would do this to you? If your house is very likely to sell and you will be moving away, you might not care about cordial relations with your NDN, but it's something to consider. Can see why you are tempted.Estate agent fees are pricey

[nomorebooze]

plus if its goes on the market with an estate agent soon, it takes things out of your hands and you will sleep better knowing there is no accusations of foul play!

[minipie]

By the way, watch out for the small print in your estate agent contract.

If it says "sole selling rights" that means they get their fee even if you sell the house directly to someone.

hopefully however it will say "sole agency" which means you don't pay if you introduce the buyer - though you may need to prove it was you not the agent.

[JGBMum]

Hmmm, our NDN did this to us when we had a buyer for our house (price agreed etc), she approached the buyer directly and offered them a preferentail rate to buy their home instead - and boasted to me that she had done it.

Luckily, the buyer had a look round, but decided he preferred our house. It did mean relations were very strained with the NDN afterwards though till we moved.

TBH the buyer was a mutual acquaintance and it was kind of awkward as their chain fell through, and as we knew them, we felt we should give them a few weeks grace to get the chain back again even though we had received another offer on our house.

I would mention to your NDN neighbour (and to the other neighbour if I saw him/her casually) that you will be putting your house up for sale shortly, but then leave well alone.

[kitty4paws]

Some great replies,

We have been thinking of putting our house on the market for sometime, NDN put their house on AFTER we had started the process.

(We are going to move to my late mothers house whilst we sell ours, vacant posession, and then buy my Mothers house, relatives are all ok with this but have been "in negotiations" for at last a month over this)

I don't see why I have to wait untill my NDN sells before I can put my house on the market, it coudl take ages and they may even change their minds as NDN wife is expecting a baby (5 months pg) and if they don't sell soon will come off the market untill after baby is born.

I don't want to annoy NDN which is why I asked here for opinions.

[5DollarShake]

The thing is, if you're putting your house on the market next week, then the other buyer and your NDN are not going to exchange and complete before then, so it's hardly going to be a case of, 'shit we preferred your house', since they wouldn't be in a binding situation.

They're able to withdraw their offer to NDN and make the offer to you instead, and at least that way you haven't stepped on anyone's toes.

[kitty4paws]

p.s.

to my knowledge there has not been an offer accepted , just "talking"

[5DollarShake]

Also - I very much agree that you don't need to wait until your NDN has sold their place before putting yours on the market - that really is taking courteousness too far!

Selling can really take a while in this climate, and you do need to look after yourselves as well. I honestly think only the terminally offended would be put out by you putting your house on the market at the same time as then.

[mrsmeadwead]

I wouldn't worry about waiting for your neighbour to sell their house first. On my street, 2 next door houses were for sale at the same time, and they both sold within a couple of weeks of each other.

[elvislives]

I'm amazed that some people think you should wait for a neighbour to sell before putting yours on the market.

We relocated last year. I knew I'd got the job but DH didn't want to instruct an EA until the security checks were done. Our neighbours put their house on the market about 2 weeks before we'd planned to. I was a bit peeved about it, but then they didn't know we were going.

[bibbitybobbityhat]

Put your house on the market, by all means, but I do think approaching the other neighbour directly is very underhand.

[WhereYouLeftIt]

Just a thought - are you committed to the estate agent (contract signed) or could you just consider sticking a big for sale sign in the front garden and see if the other neighbour approached you? A printer will do a very professional looking sign for you for a small sum.

[kitty4paws]

I had thought of trying to sell privatley first , sign out side, leaflets in the local paper. ( hubby is a photograher and designed so could get the leaflets to look pretty good) Would cost waaaaay less than the estate agent, tempted to "give it a go" and if it doesn't work then at least I know for next time.

[saslou]

I didn't use an estate agent when I sold my last house. It meant I could be a bit more flexible wrt sale price as I didn't have to account for fees. It may help you sell your house more quickly. I found when I was selling that the EA undervalued the house imo so they could sell it quickly and charge a flat rate. Well anyone can sell a house if it's undervalued, so took the view that I wouldn't be paying them to do minimal work. I got more in the end than they valued it for and avoided fees. I think it is worth a try as people viewing your neighbours house will see your own for sale sign and may contact you directly