Any estate agents around who could confirm if my estate agent is talking a load of cobblers or not?

[SarahFarahy]

We are trying to buy a probate sale property. It is due on the market in the next week, we have been in touch with the solicitor who is going to email us as soon as she instructs an agent.

Our estate agent has the following things to say about buying a probate property:

Properties being sold by an estate must be advertised for 14 days in the paper and then another 14 days for some unspecified reason she couldn't remember. Previous to this she told me to ring the (newly instructed) agent as soon as they got the listing as if we could put in a very good offer before they marketed it they might accept it to avoid marketing costs.

They are a nightmare she has lost countless sales/chains because of them

They are ALWAYS subject to gazumping

Their agency will not put an 'under offer' sign on our for sale sign until we have found somewhere to move to (I have half a mind to go and just remove the sign myself - we are advertised as under offer on rightmove and I am fed up of seeing it!)

Dh and I are already tense about the whole situation, speaking to her makes it ten times worse. I appreciate she may be right (although in our experience she isn't, the last two properties we bought were probate sales and very straight forward purchases. ) - does anyone have any weight to add to either side?

We have twitchy buyers behind us (who are having to wait - although we made it clear when they were viewing that we hadn't secured a property to buy). Any thoughts?

[StepAwayFromTheThesaurus]

My experience is that probate sales are often subject to gazumping. There's a legal duty to obtain the best price so it has to be marketed right up til the end and the EA will tell viewers what price the need to beat. Same with repossessions.

[GETTINGLIKEMYMOTHER]

This family has sold two probate properties, and they were no different from any other sale. I'm pretty sure it's properties that are being repossessed where there are strict conditions about getting the best price for the lender who wants their money back. I think they are obliged to advertise the best offer received, and any higher offers must be made before such and such a date.

Probate-sale properties are often 'in need of modernisation' and I have certainly heard of cases where the EA has not been very active, to put it politely, in advertising the property or encouraging viewings, because either they or a mate are hoping to get it cheaply to do up and (usually) sell on. If an EA is being the least bit 'funny' about a probate sale I would tend to be a bit suspicious.
But then I have been blatantly lied to by an outwardly charming EA in the not too distant past - not about a probate sale but a case of a cheap deal for someone else. I only found out about it because of the sold price later on the Land Reg site. It was a lot less than what we had offered.

[GETTINGLIKEMYMOTHER]

Sorry, that was on nethouseprices, God bless it, not the LR site.

[pitterpatterrain]

We bought a property that was a probate sale, it seemed like any other tbh. London so went to sealed bids but not sure that is unusual. Once our offer was accepted it went off the market.

[ChristinaParsons]

Probate sales are no different from any other sale. The solicitor will have to accept the highest offer and property may not be removed from market until exchange has taken place.
There is no need to advertise the offer received in the paper. This is for repossessions. Do ask if the property is registered though as probate sales quite often aren't. (Elderly person who has owned the house for a long time)

[Spickle]

Check if the property has actually had the Grant of Probate issued to the beneficiaries or if it is still going through the probate process. If the probate process is still being sorted out by the executors you will not be able to exchange/complete with you.