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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

To wonder if our dream home really has been sold to another couple?

60 replies

ethelfleda · 04/02/2019 12:09

Or am I just hoping for the best??
Viewed a wonderful property a few weeks ago. Estate agent tells us the owner ‘wants to get rid’ and it has been sat on the market a while.
We offered 5% under the asking price and were told that the vendor was ‘interested’ but wouldn’t settle on a figure until we had an offer on ours. Ours wasn’t on the market yet and DH and I were a bit naive about being ‘proceedable’
We quickly got ours on the market and sold it within a week. Went back to EA who said they’d come back to us. They called our EA to check the chain and then came back to say another couple had offered full asking price. After a day or so of deliberation, we went back and offered a small amount over the asking price. We were told we were too late and they were proceeding with the other couple.
However, over a week later and the property is still on the market?
I spoke to the EA last week and they told us we would be the first to know if the sale didn’t happen but I just feel like there is something fishy about it... or maybe I’m just being hopeful. Surely it would be off the market by now?

OP posts:

Original poster

ethelfleda · 04/02/2019 12:12

Sorry to drip feed - May not be relevant but when I first spoke to EA, they insisted on marketing our property for us. I refused as I didn’t get a good vibe from them and also we’ve worked with our EA before and they’ve been good to us. In the end, I had to tell him we had friends who worked there to get him to back off!

OP posts:

Confusedbeetle · 04/02/2019 12:13

Not necessarily. They probably have agreed the sale but are nervous about taking it off unless it falls through. If it falls through you will be told. Assume you have missed this one. There is no law to make the vendor take it off. Buyers often request it

CarrotVan · 04/02/2019 12:16

If you think the EA isn't passing messages on to the vendors then put a note through the door saying that you've accepted an offer on your house so if their current sale falls through you're still interested.

WomanWithAltitude · 04/02/2019 12:16

The fact it's not marked as sold doesn't mean anything. The fact that they refused even when you tried to gazump the other couple indicates that it is off the market, even if not labelled as such.

ChariotsofFish · 04/02/2019 12:17

Just phone up pretending to be someone else and ask to view it. If they let you, it’s not sold.

Boysandbuses · 04/02/2019 12:18

My house still showed as 'for sale until 2 weeks after I moved out.

I think you are grasping at straws rather than facing the reality that you missed out.

Not sure what you second post is about. Of course they would try and get you to market your house with them.

BeanTownNancy · 04/02/2019 12:18

I'm sorry, but I think you have to assume it's been sold. When my mum was buying last year, the seller refused to take the property off the market for ages "just in case it fell through".

WomanWithAltitude · 04/02/2019 12:23

Tbh, if you really wanted it, then you shouldn't have taken more than a day to deliberate about the price.

You offered 5% under, someone else then offered asking and it took you a day or so to decide whether to match their offer. No sensible vendor would wait for your deliberations if they had an asking price offer on the table.

Original poster

ethelfleda · 04/02/2019 12:24

Ok thanks. I thought maybe that was the case but I still had a little bit of hope.
I didn’t try and gazump the other couple - we were asked to better our offer and we did?
We do have details of the owner but haven’t contacted him directly as we didn’t think it would be wise.
I think we will just have to keep searching and ope this one comes back around

OP posts:

Original poster

ethelfleda · 04/02/2019 12:25

Tbh, if you really wanted it, then you shouldn't have taken more than a day to deliberate about the price

You’re correct. I keep beating myself up about this part.

OP posts:

KillerSpider · 04/02/2019 12:33

When my friend was selling her MIL’s house, the house wars not on the internet at all.
Only one viewer had seen it, made a rather underwhelming offer, and the EA advised her to accept it.
I rang the EA on her behalf to pretend to want to view the property but I was told it had sold. I told the EA that I personally knew the vendor and that she had advised me to arrange a viewing with them. Nope. No way was I allowed to see the property.
Friend promptly withdrew her custom from the EA and gave it to another company who sold it 5 days later.
There was a lot of hoo ha from the original EA regarding his commission and fees and costs and he made loud noises about charging her.
Eventually it transpired that the alleged buyer was a relative of the EA.
Friend said she would be happy to resolve everything in court. Never heard from him again.

BifsWif · 04/02/2019 12:35

We’ve just bought and the house changed to ‘under offer’ immediately on Rightmove and then Sold STC a few days later.

Contact the seller directly, you have nothing to lose.

RiddleyW · 04/02/2019 12:51

You may get lucky - we had a very similar story then about 3 weeks later they called and said the sale had fallen through. We offered asking and live there now!

M3lon · 04/02/2019 12:52

killer that is just awful behaviour by the EA!

I'm actually kinda horrified they would be that unprofessional!

Original poster

ethelfleda · 04/02/2019 12:54

Contact the seller directly, you have nothing to lose

I’m worried that we risk alienating him - if all turns out to be true - and then sale falls through and he wouldn’t want to sell to us I guess.
I did consider getting someone else to call up and arrange a viewing though.

killer that’s terrible!!

OP posts:

OlennasWimple · 04/02/2019 13:05

I'm confused here

What do you mean by "still on the market"? Still showing as available on RightMove?

Original poster

ethelfleda · 04/02/2019 13:47

Olennas - yes - and on the EA website. Not marked as under offer or SSTC

OP posts:

Foxyloxy1plus1 · 04/02/2019 13:59

We once viewed a flat and offered the asking price. The agent said that an asking price offer had already been accepted. We were sceptical because it had only just gone on the market, but weren’t prepared to pursue a bidding was. After a few weeks the agent came back to us. It turned out that the purchaser was a friend of the agent and the agent had done him a favour. Then he lost his job and was no longer proceedable. We didn’t bother with it again.

LakieLady · 04/02/2019 14:02

My house still showed as 'for sale until 2 weeks after I moved out.

I've heard this so many times from so many people, that I wonder if agents keep marketing properties just to get enquiries from buyers, in the hope that they can flog them something else.

Redglitter · 04/02/2019 14:05

I’m worried that we risk alienating him - if all turns out to be true - and then sale falls through and he wouldn’t want to sell to us I guess

Not following your logic with that. If you contact them and they confirm its sold and it subsequently falls through they'll probably be delighted to have another buyer in the wings.

Its rare that people can pick and choose who buys their house

BowBeau · 04/02/2019 14:17

My house was still advertised for sale a fortnight after completion. We had moved in and kept having to chase away prospective buyers who were peering in the windows!

I don’t see the harm in posting your offer price and contact details through the vendor’s door with a request to call you if the current sale falls through.

Original poster

ethelfleda · 04/02/2019 14:20

Redglitter
What would I say? I’m contacting him because I’m nit sure the EA is telling me the truth?
If he says they are, and then tells them I called him too - could they block us even if the house did come on the market again?

OP posts:

SoupDragon · 04/02/2019 14:21

I don’t see the harm in posting your offer price and contact details through the vendor’s door with a request to call you if the current sale falls through.

I agree.

SoupDragon · 04/02/2019 14:23

Just say that you were disappointsed to have missed out.

prettypossums · 04/02/2019 14:28

Unfortunately it’s fairly common for EAs to do deals and prioritise buyers who have agreed to sell their own properties through the same agent. I’ve seen this happen a few times, especially with in demand properties

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