Any estate agents/ property auctioneers around….?

[Augustone]

Any advice welcome!

A year ago a friend bought a property as a project with the intention of completing refurbishment and selling on or renting it out. In the past few months her health and family circumstances have taken a dramatic turn for the worse so she decided to sell up and cash in. She called in one of the ‘we buy any house .com ‘ sort of companies and they offered her a silly amount and she hadn’t mentioned the company or offer since.

it is still standing empty and when my son got a new job and pay rise, he offered her the market value I.e higher than the offer she had from ‘we buy any house etc’. She accepted this and my son is delighted as he has a project and new home and we were happy she got more money which she really needs. All good so far!

lo and behold, the property has now appeared on Rightmove with an auction date set for the end of August!!!! She is insistent she hasn’t sold it to WBAH.com and doesn’t understand how it is now up for auction. I am not happy to say the least, my son was getting his mortgage finalised, solicitor sorted and full of ideas and it has really crushed him.

My question is- would the auction house (large national one) really put a property into auction if they didn’t actually know who owned it? Would WBAH.com not have had to prove it was theirs to sell at auction? The auction house aren’t being any help and just saying the auction date is set. I appreciate they can’t discuss current ownership info with me and my friend insists it is a mistake and doesn’t understand how it is happening. She allegedly raised this with them on Tuesday morning but it is still on the website….

I wouldn't worry too much. Owner often withdraw auction properties before the auction date so there will be no issue with your friend doing this. Especially if she hasnt signed anything with the auction company.

She is insistent she hasn’t sold it to the WBAP.com but when I have made enquiries with the Auction house, they have referred to the current owner being a gentleman. My friend isn’t married and no boyfriend!

Also, so if an auction house can put a property into auction without verifying ownership then in theory I could put my neighbours house up for auction without them knowing? Not planning on this (I like them) but just my train of thought while I was out walking the dog!

If it’s up for auction there should be a legal pack available which will include the Land Registry Title Register - this shows who is the registered owner of the property. Or you can check the Land Registry yourself for £3 - www.gov.uk/search-property-information-land-registry

She needs to engage a solicitor to get a stop put on it.

Has she looked on the land registry to see if she is still the legal owner?

Doing nothing is NOT an option as houses have been sold without owners permission before. Think it was on Rip Off Britain a couple of years ago.

When you say 'she accepted this' offer from your son, are you talking she accepted a verbal offer or a formal offer in writing which was progressed to solicitors?

There are two possibilities I can see:

1. auction house is using photos of a property that isn't up for sale to drum up interest. Very low but I've heard of estate agents doing it too. You could flush it out by asking to see the legal particulars which they should have available for prospective buyers. If they say oh sorry that one is gone, but we've got this similar one you know they are using it to bait and switch.

2. your friend hasn't really committed to sell to your son in any meaningful way and is actually selling it through other means.

I'd have done a title search by now & asked the Agents for the legal
lsck, but to help my friend out. No way would I assume someone I called a friend a liar. Much more like a bait & switch IR incompetence with the EA/Auction House, most likely the sea. She.needs to get onto this properly tomorrow. I'd check the title tonight.

I have downloaded the legal pack and ownership is redacted. The legal pack shows entries on the ownership of title in July 2024 so would that mean new owners in July 2024? I am obviously not an expert in these matters hence asking for help.

She has agreed verbally to sell to my son

If she sold it to the company then they would be an audit trail of paper work and she would have money in the bank.
If she had none of this then she could be the victim of a scam and she needs to get legal advice URGENTLY!
Faffing about is not an option. She needs to take decisive action now.

She might have fallen for a scam. It has happened before, it has been on a consumer programme to warn others that this kind of thing DOES happen (and it's frighteningly easy).

She needs a solicitor ASAP if she hasn't put it up for auction herself.

Thank you for all of the responses so far. She has a reputation for being a bit scatterbrained and impulsive - I don’t like to think that she is being underhand but it is making me really nervous. The recent update on the ownership in the Legal pack is suspicious to me. I understand the Land Registry has months of delays but am going to pay my fee later and have a look anyway

i think we have got to the bottom of it. She tells me it has been sold to the WBAP .com style company but she hadn’t realised!! She says she only asked them for a valuation but in the small print she has actually sold it. It doesn’t ring true at all to me and now have a really upset son