To put in a complaint about estate agent?

[hackedoff1]

We thought we had a buyer. Our house is marked as sold, had proof of funds etc.

We duly put an offer in on a house which was accepted.

However, it turns out that our estate agent has not been able to contact our buyers in six weeks. So our offer on the house we wanted has been knocked back.

I don't know what to do! How do I move now?

Estate agents seem to do a lot of strange things. Did you see the proof of funds for the buyer?

No, should I have done?

So you accepted their offer and haven't heard anything since?

6 weeks?

Why had your solicitor not attempted contact?

No, the estate agent saw proof of funds, got in contact with their solicitors etc- as did mine.

Then nothing from buyers for six weeks.

Estate agent wants to put it back on the market.

They're not picking up the phone or answering emails.

We had no idea.

So neither the estate agent nor your solicitor has had any communication with them since the offer was accepted 6 weeks ago?

Yes, put it back on the market. The buyer is not serious.

But did you not wonder why nobody had been in touch to make an appt for the survey/valuation?

@hackedoff1 As a result of my experience recently I would ask for proof through the solicitors. I would not consider the house really under Offer/sold until the solicitors were involved and a written offer received by my solicitor.
After changing estate agents my sale went ahead with a completely different buyer who did have proof of mortgage and offered over asking price. The first estate agent claimed to have a buyer who offered two thirds of the price.

No, as it was supposed to be a cash buyer.

I sold a property that way recently and there was no survey of any kind- it's not mandatory in that situation.

Why is this the fault of the estate agent?

Surely they should have told us that they couldn't contact the buyer?

I only found out from the estate agent we were buying from.

I don't think there's much point in complaining - it will just be a waste of your time and it's not as if they'll compensate you. Just get it back on the market, preferably with another agent.

What has their solicitor said?

Yes, I would expect the agent to have said something to you earlier. I would also expect your solicitors to have sent a letter to the buyer's solicitors asking them to confirm they are instructed. And I would expect your solicitors to let you know if they did not hear back. That said a lot of people in the conveyancing process are pretty useless in my opinion, and you would always be well advised to keep on top of progress yourself. I'm sorry this has happened and I hope you find a sound buyer soon.

Sounds like your buyer got cold feet and ghosted. I'm guessing your estate agent was too busy to contact you, some bad ones are like this. We used a high street one and I was almost in their office daily trying to fix their mistakes and they never showed our property despite saying they would because they were too busy. At the end of the sale I noticed I did all the work for them and they got 1% for doing nothing.

Tbh this is more on your solicitor. Have they checked whether the buyers’s solicitors have been fully instructed?