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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:

holasoydora · 04/02/2019 14:30

I don’t think you did the wrong thing taking a day to decide if you could afford another 5%. Better than impulsively offering then pulling out.

You have done all the right things. I know it is hard but try and adopt a take it or leave it attitude or at least pretend! EAs can smell desperation a mile off. I was once lured into a fake bidding war by appearing too keen - luckily they pushed me genuinely too far and I pulled out. (Suddenly the other bidder had also pulled out and they were then delighted to accept my penultimate offer )

There will be more houses coming on in the Spring and at least your house is sold now!

gottastopeatingchocolate · 04/02/2019 14:32

I don't think you would need to tell the owner that you doubted the EA, OP.
Just contact to say that as you outlined to EA, if the sale falls through you are in a position to move forward on the sale immediately.

TeeniefaeTroon · 04/02/2019 14:35

I'm an estate agent and we don't mark a property as under offer if the offer is conditional on the buyers getting a mortgage. It remains on the internet until their loan papers are through, however we don't permit further viewings during this time. I'm in Scotland.

Original poster

ethelfleda · 04/02/2019 14:35

Thanks for your advice everyone. I think I may just do that.
I’d hate to be an EA for a living. You hear such bad stories!

OP posts:

Redglitter · 04/02/2019 14:37

What would I say? I’m contacting him because I’m nit sure the EA is telling me the truth

Ofcourse not. You say you were interested in the house but were sorry to see youd been beaten to a sale. Tell them youre genuinely interested and should the sale fall through to please get in touch & leave a contact number

Theres no need to mention the EA

SassitudeandSparkle · 04/02/2019 14:39

were told that the vendor was ‘interested’ but wouldn’t settle on a figure until we had an offer on ours

I don't think you ever actually had an offer accepted did you, OP? You made the first offer when you couldn't proceed with the sale, you made a second offer and that wasn't accepted either because another buyer had come forward.

I would be reluctant to take a property for sale off the portals until the survey has been conducted at least tbh after a few sales fell through on ours

Keep looking as you are proceedable now.

zebakrheum · 04/02/2019 14:44

Hmmm... I'd say contact the vendor direct, even if it is only a note through the door. I strongly suspect that the agent will favour buyers who are also selling their own property through them and not pass on any other offers to the seller.

The commission on the additional 5% you have offered won't make up for them selling two houses, will it?

MRex · 04/02/2019 14:45

They might be keeping it to bring in buyers if it was popular for viewings. We had a property we wanted to second view about 2/3 months after the first viewing (we wanted to rule it out); Dexters then admitted it had sold and not been updated on rightmove, "but we have lots of other properties we can show you". Then the cheeky buggers still didn't update the status, so I complained to Rightmove and it got marked as sold.

TheBouquets · 04/02/2019 14:46

I have just had a very strange experience with an estate agent.
They only ever managed to get investors to my house and only got a verbal offer of a lot less than the value almost half the price. They sold other properties quickly in the area but for some reason not mine. I really thought estate agents had improved their conduct but it seems that may not be the case.

MRex · 04/02/2019 14:49

@TheBouquets - just switch agent, we wished we'd used House Network as the people we bought through used them and they were great (you have to do your own photos though I think, so try to make sure those are good). I assume you've checked land registry sales to see what price seems fair for the local area?

ScurfnNerf · 04/02/2019 14:50

When we bought, the house was still showing as for sale until we’d provided the mortgage paperwork, which took a couple of days, but the EA confirmed in writing that they wouldn’t allow further viewings.
The same happened with our sale.
I don’t think the EA is doing anything wrong, especially if you hadn’t actually sold your property when you made the original offer. The other buyer may not be in a chain, or may be a cash buyer. But whatever the reason, the seller accepted their offer.
It’s pretty shoddy of you trying to gazump when you knew an offer had been accepted, to be honest, and it would be even crappier if the EA had actually let you.

partyringthing · 04/02/2019 14:56

Just a slightly different perspective... we’ve been trying to buy and sell for over 2 years now. Feels like everything that could have gone wrong has gone wrong (and a fair amount of it our fault!). In that time I’ve shed tears and argued with DH over multiple “dream homes” that have slipped from our grasp. It’s all a really emotional business, and despite thinking of myself as reasonable level-headed, I have been surprised at home much it’s all bothered me at times.

Anyway, all this to say that it has never actually taken that long to get over each “dream home” as they’ve passed us by. There will be others. I was much more angsty about it all at the start of the process (as it sounds like you are, having only just put your place on market etc I was also completely naive about the “being procedable” thing and how important it is.) seems like the end of the world when stuff falls through, but I promise you it’s not! You’ll find somewhere else.

Also, one of the EAs (quite appropriate that that’s also an abbreviation of emotional abuse!) we used had a policy of leaving stuff up on rightmove until exchange basically to draw people in ie you’d see a really nice property, call up about it and they’d say “sorry that’s under offer but how about you come and see this much less nice place”. Very annoying, but a ploy that some use.

Good luck with it. It will work out in the end. X

TheBouquets · 04/02/2019 14:59

@MRex. I have researched the local pricing of similar properties. I have the better view and the least troublesome parking in the local area. They have just sold a property nearby and I wonder what that was about. I dont think young couples stand a chance with the way estate agents are dealing with things. I am changing agents. I have taken up a complaint and will see that through. I did not mention my occupations which are relevant to house sales and purchases and another occupation which made me able to investigate further. I am armed with information.

Bluetrews25 · 04/02/2019 15:01

'What's for you won't go by you.'
Things will work out, one way or another.

Original poster

ethelfleda · 04/02/2019 15:03

Thanks for your advice everyone. I think I may just do that.
I’d hate to be an EA for a living. You hear such bad stories!

OP posts:

SheLivesInHope · 04/02/2019 15:06

We moved last year and our property and the one we bought were not changed to SSTC until we/our buyers had provided mortgage in principle documents to the EA. That could explain the delay?

Original poster

ethelfleda · 04/02/2019 15:06

It’s pretty shoddy of you trying to gazump when you knew an offer had been accepted, to be honest, and it would be even crappier if the EA had actually let you

Again - we didn’t! We were asked to increase our offer and we did!

OP posts:

BrightYellowHat · 04/02/2019 15:07

If the agent is also selling the other house then they will not pass on your offer as they will lose revenue, or they will describe it as being from an unreliable person. I'd be tempted to stick a note through their door stating your offer.

Original poster

ethelfleda · 04/02/2019 15:11

brightyellow
That’s what I was worried about - we may have been described as unreliable when we have just been very naive! We have a first time buyer looking to buy ours with a mortgage in principal and our financial advisor reckons we could borrow nearly £100k more than we would need to to purchase this property (we won’t struggle to get a mortgage in other words)

OP posts:

ScurfnNerf · 04/02/2019 15:13

OP, you took several days to increase your offer, though! By the time you had, the property had sold, so if your offer had then been presented to the vendors, it absolutely would have been gazumping!
You knew they had another offer on the table, why on earth would they wait around for you on the offchance?

Bluntness100 · 04/02/2019 15:13

I strongly suspect they have accepted the previous offer and are sticking with it. A lot of people will do this, it's basically about morals. I'd like to think that if I accepted an offer I wouldn't then change my mind if someone offered a little more, it's a shitty thing to do.

In addition the agreement may have been it then comes off the market, which it has done, the website simply hasn't been updated, but that's irrelevant if the agent simply rejects any further interest.

Original poster

ethelfleda · 04/02/2019 15:18

Scurf
As mentioned upthread, I am still beating myself up about this bit!
We are naive and it was a fairly big jump and we got a bit worried about having a much bigger mortgage etc etc and thought we may find something else. Believe me, I have learned a lot from this experience so far! I wish I could go back and do it differently but I can’t. All I can do is hope this sale doesn’t go ahead and we have another shot!

OP posts:

Bluntness100 · 04/02/2019 15:22

I think thr lesson learned a here is when an agent tells you there is a full price offer on the. Table, then you make the decision there and then, ideally within the hour, you're mid negotiation. If you wait a couple of days it's the same as saying you don't want it.

You simply can't expect the buyer to wait a couple of days before accepting the offer to see if you fancy offering more or not. Ultimately you'll lose out more often than not if you take a couple of days to think about it.

You also have to remember the other buyers will be saying, you've got x time to accept or we withdraw the offer.

Original poster

ethelfleda · 04/02/2019 15:26

bluntness yes - why are you reiterating what I just said?

OP posts:

Bluntness100 · 04/02/2019 15:29

If you look at the timings it was a cross post. I did not see yours as I was writing mine and posted, , as I was doing something else at the same time.

Seriously, unclench.

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