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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think an agent can’t refuse to put my offer forward?

144 replies

thankunextex · 18/04/2019 14:24

Best and final offers were asked for and mine was declined.

I then was advised by another estate agents that they are legally bound to put forward any new offers to the vendor until the contracts have been exchanged.

I’ve asked to put a new offer in and they refused ad they said it’s unethical. Surely they can’t do that?

OP posts:
FiddlesticksAkimbo · 18/04/2019 18:17

Thankunextex, I wouldn't worry about it. The conveyancing process is very similar to Monopoly (the game). Most people think they know the rules, but don't. The actual rules encourage you to be a total bastard. If you want to win then be a total bastard. And by the end of it everyone will have fallen out with everyone else, as illustrated here Grin

harriethoyle · 18/04/2019 18:22

@fiddlesticks Grin

GreytExpectations · 18/04/2019 18:31

Yet I’m still the hitler of real estate in here.

Because your attitude indicates you don't give a shit about anyone but yourself. Admitting you dont care about ethics or morals and then being annoyed that people call you rude is a bit hypocritical. Just a heads up, you arent the only person who has had a shit few months and suffers from mental illness- a lot of people are in the same situation if not worse. Those things, whilst unfortunate, dont give you the moral high ground.

Bluntness100 · 18/04/2019 18:48

Op, you can get as angry as you wish on here. The fact remains the property is no longer on thr market. The vender has confirmed this by saying no more offers. An offer has been accepted. It went to best and final and you did not succeed.

Irrelevant of uou and your side kick mildura arguing the toss, that's the bottom line. The agent is not doing anything illegal when the property is off the market and the vender has said no further offers.

Unless it falls through, you need to accept its over and stop lashing out.

MrMeSeeks · 18/04/2019 19:09

Yet I’m still the hitler of real estate in here.

Wow Hmm

Maybe because you want to swoop in when someone already has their home?
Maybe they have also had a shit year?( but then they don’t matter).
You have no idea if the VENDOR has said no more offers ( no matter if it’s law).

Alyosha · 18/04/2019 19:18

It doesn't matter if the property is off the market, it doesn't matter if the owners have said no more offers - the EA has a legal duty to put offers to the vendor prior to exchange. End of.

PurpleFlower1983 · 18/04/2019 19:24

I don’t believe that’s the case, for example, a vendor can say they don’t want any offers under a certain amount.

GreytExpectations · 18/04/2019 19:24

the EA has a legal duty to put offers to the vendor prior to exchange. End of.

Not if the vendor has asked them not to once they accepted an offer. We agreed with our sellers that if they accepted our offer (asking price) they would have the house taken off the market immediately. Next day, the agent took it off.

Whisky2014 · 18/04/2019 19:24

Not really. It’s 3 days. I’m a nice person but then someone said it’s a dog eat dog world out there and sometimes you have to be selfish to get what you want.

So you tried your luck. It didn't work and now you're in a huff...

Whisky2014 · 18/04/2019 19:26

I’ve asked to put a new offer in and they refused ad they said it’s unethical. Surely they can’t do that?

Then you start telling us THE LAW. So what help exactly did you need?

StillCoughingandLaughing · 18/04/2019 19:32

OP - ignore the hand-wringing ‘But gazumping is just dweadful! How would you feel?!’ posts. I can tell you exactly how you’d feel - you’d feel shit. Who wouldn’t? But that’s business. Not one, but two people pulled out of buying the first house I sold. It was a fucking nightmare. But should they have been forced to find the money form somewhere just because it wasn’t very nice for me? I took the risk that the offer might fall through when I accepted it.

An awful lot of people on here have an inaccurate and rather simplistic idea of what ‘best and final offer’ is. It is purely an indication to the buyer that the vendor is not prepared to enter into protracted negotiations - they want your best offer so they can say yay or nay, and then get on with the process. It does NOT mean that this is the final offer the vendor can entertain. It is that individual BUYER’S final offer, not the final offer full stop.

I highly doubt the estate agent is bringing personal ethics into this. I’m guessing that the vendor has decided they are happy with the offer they have accepted and has instructed the agent to decline all further offers unless told otherwise. There is nothing illegal about that - it’s purely an instruction. I would accept that they’ve decided who they’re selling to and look elsewhere.

How on earth did your circumstances change between putting in an offer and learning that it wasn’t accepted?!

You really think this is impossible? When I was buying my current home I got promoted - not a huge pay rise, but enough to borrow an extra £15k - and I lost my grandmother, inheriting a share in her house in the process. The first change took a lot of hard work. The second was hugely upsetting. I’d have given anyone who got all cynical about my quickly changing circumstances very short shrift.

Original poster
thankunextex · 18/04/2019 19:52

Op, you can get as angry as you wish on here. The fact remains the property is no longer on thr market. The vender has confirmed this by saying no more offers. An offer has been accepted. It went to best and final and you did not succeed.

Angry? Hmm sure Jan.

I wouldn’t let a thread on the interest provoke an angry reaction from me.

Are you the vendor? Or are you the estate agent? I’m just curious how you know 100% that the vendor said no more offers.

(Also until contracts have been exchanged or the vendor decides they no longer want to sell, any property sold subject to contract is still very much on the market.)

OP posts:
Whisky2014 · 18/04/2019 20:07

So why not take it up with the agents then?

You do seem like an angry type to be honest.

Bluntness100 · 18/04/2019 20:14

Who's jan?

Op, you can keep arguing, but it ain't going to change anything is it. Your offer is still not going to be progressed. Move on. Or get a lawyer and try to sue the agent since you're so sure they are behaving Illegally.🤷‍♀️

FiddlesticksAkimbo · 18/04/2019 20:29

Sure Jan

Who's Jan

You did ask!

yolofish · 18/04/2019 20:35

OP I wouldnt sell my house to you on principle, because you sound so unreasonable. And you've already admitted that you dont want to offer the extra £20k you suddenly have because you need the money for renovations. So what you are saying is that you could offer a couple of grand more now, and then potentially fuck the sellers over further down the line because you suddenly realise the amount of work required.

In practice, what most vendors want is as straightforward a sale as possible. So short or ideally no chain, finances well in place, etc etc and fingers xd it all happens easily.

You dont sound like you've got your head around the process and are fixated on the price. (And FWIW you are not the only person in the world who's had a shit time lately...)

Bluntness100 · 18/04/2019 20:46

Thanks fiddlesticks 🤣🤣🤣

TheGrey1houndSpeaks · 18/04/2019 20:56

I’m a little confused, op. You said you now have an extra £20k to put forward, but later say you wouldn’t actually be offering the whole amount as you’d need it for renovation costs.
How much extra were you trying to offer? Confused
And how do you know what amount will exceed the offer the vendor has already accepted?
They’d be nuts to ditch a reliable buyer in your favour, op. Your flakiness is apparent even on here. And you think they’ll do it for a couple of grand?

Original poster
thankunextex · 18/04/2019 21:03

Actually you’ve all convinced me that I’m just going to put in my higher offer. Screw anyone else.

I’m in a good position. I have the cash to buy outright and I own my property outright so the sale on this one makes no difference as I can afford to run both and therefore I am not in a chain.

OP posts:
yolofish · 18/04/2019 21:06

screw everyone else you sound so nice! best of luck, I hope karma doesnt bite you on the bum.

Whisky2014 · 18/04/2019 21:07

It's not all about money is a house sale either. My friends had their offer accepted and it was 50k less than the highest offer. The vendors said they preferred them and wanted them to enjoy what had been their loving family home.
Wonder if that will happen to you...

Original poster
thankunextex · 18/04/2019 21:07

To answer any further questions, I currently own two properties. I sold one back in January however the sale was taking a long time and I had a feeling the seller would pull out.

I now have an additional £20K to offer and the additional £176K from that sale is set aside for something else.

OP posts:
myrtleWilson · 18/04/2019 21:08

You Go Girl.... sticking it to The Man... am I doing the cheerleading right?

Original poster
thankunextex · 18/04/2019 21:09

*It's not all about money is a house sale either. My friends had their offer accepted and it was 50k less than the highest offer. The vendors said they preferred them and wanted them to enjoy what had been their loving family home.
Wonder if that will happen to you.

Well it’s a vacant property and the vendor doesn’t live in the same city so I doubt they care about meeting anyone interested in the house, it’s been on the market a while so I’m sure they want it sold.

OP posts:
hibbledibble · 18/04/2019 21:10

I'm always sceptical when estate agents say 'best and final' offers, as the one time k had this: we truly put our best offer down. It was significantly above the asking price, and the maximum we could offer, as well as the highest offer received. The estate then came back to us and said the vendor wanted more, could we offer 20k more?

Hardly best and final then!

I believe estate agents are obliged to put forward offers, but perhaps not if the property is sold.