Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To not gazump the house I love?

133 replies

Nofoolfornoone · 24/01/2020 08:32

I viewed a property recently and fell in love with it. It needs a total refurb and I’m buying on my own as a woman in her 30s so I really don’t think the agent took me seriously. Anyway, I made a second viewing which has been cancelled as the owners have accepted a below asking price offer. At the time I had a second viewing booked in on my property who was chain free so I explained that to the agent hoping he may advise the vendor to wait a few days to see if I can make an offer. He didn’t ask what my offer would be. When I told him I was disappointed he said I can always make an offer once I am in a position to and I can do this right up to the point of exchange! Which I know is legal but pretty poor practice.

This was two days ago and I had a second viewing on my property yesterday and an offer made. I absolutely love the house and there is nothing else comparable but I really feel uneasy about gazumping so will likely just leave it and hope something else comes up.

Am I mad??

OP posts:
Mildura · 24/01/2020 09:39

btw, it is an infringement of professional body regulations for an agent to refuse to convey an offer, to his client

Has it been suggested that the EA might refuse to convey any offer? From what the OP has written the exact opposite is the case! The EA has made clear that it is possible to make an offer at any point up until exchange.

Original poster
Nofoolfornoone · 24/01/2020 09:40

@ChicCroissant yes at the first viewing I was told they had had a below asking price offer from someone in a long chain which was being considered.

I completely understand it’s the vendors choice and not the agent. I just would have expected the job of the agent to vet all interested parties and advise their client of the best options. So I imagine the agent has not seen my as credible. I certainly was not vetted in any way.

My reason for this post was because even though I can now make an offer i feel like I should just accept it’s been sold stc and move on. But I wanted to check I wasn’t being ridiculous and it seems a lot of people would make an offer this early on.

I don’t think it’s a conspiracy but I do think agents advise their vendors of the best buyers therefore I think the agents do give a stuff.

OP posts:
Dongdingdong · 24/01/2020 09:40

The other potential buyers could be seen as just as immoral in offering a below asking price.

Making an offer below asking price is hardly "immoral" Hmm

OP - I would 100% make an offer if I were you. You'll always be wondering "what if" otherwise.

messolini9 · 24/01/2020 09:40

I wouldn't expect the sellers to keep taking viewings when they have accepted an offer.

Conversely, I wouldn't expect the agent to conceal a second interested party from their client - had the vendor known, maybe they would not have accepted this offer before arranging for OP to make hers too.

minipie · 24/01/2020 09:45

Mildura that’s my point. Gazumping is something done by the seller not a rival buyer. It’s not gazumping for the OP to put in an offer, it might be gazumping if the seller chooses to accept it (although personally I would say it isn’t gazumping so early in the process, I think gazumping has an element of blackmail which only happens once the existing buyer has committed time and money).

DoubleTweenQueen · 24/01/2020 09:45

If you want the house, put in an offer - but directly to the vendor - written, with your position/timeframe and contact information. EAs will often set up deals with developer mates and block other interest, particularly if it is a fixer upper with the potential to add value.

Mildura · 24/01/2020 09:46

Conversely, I wouldn't expect the agent to conceal a second interested party from their client

Again, what has the OP said that makes you think the vendor is unaware of a second interested party?

messolini9 · 24/01/2020 09:46

What is the agent doing wrong.
Breaking professional regulations, acting 'illegally' in refusing to pass on an offer.

It's not their job to advise their clients to wait for you because someone is viewing yours.
They don't need to advise their client to wait.
They do need to advise their client there is another offer coming in. That is very much their job, & could cause deep shit for them if OP wanted to go to town on it.

lottiegarbanzo · 24/01/2020 09:47

Yes you're mad and that's not gazumping.

The idea that the EA wouldn't take a woman in her 30s seriously is pretty weird. Are you sure that's not in your head? The EA may be being crap but that's unlikely to be anything to do with you.

The vendors may favour the other buyer because they're paying cash, or something else you can't compete with.

Do get a second viewing. If you offer, make sure you commission your own full survey (homebuyers).

SheRaTheAllPowerful · 24/01/2020 09:49

If you don’t trust the agent l, I’d make the offer via email and post a copy through the door of the vendor. Good luck.

Wattagoose90 · 24/01/2020 09:51

Same thing happened to someone I know.

They contacted the seller directly (I think they put a letter through the door explaining the estate agent hadn't acknowledged them as genuine interest etc), they offered more and suggested a private sale. They ditched the estate agent, the seller took the higher offer and didn't have to pay the 2% commission to the rubbish estate agent as the sale went through privately. Personally I'm glad, the estate agent did not deserve the money!

MollyButton · 24/01/2020 09:51

You should put an offer in. The present buyers might well pull out - it happens a lot for lots of reasons. If you have a shorter chain/no chain they you are far more attractive.
And this is all very early in the process, probably no one has paid anything much, so no money lost.

lottiegarbanzo · 24/01/2020 09:56

Also (obvs but your OP gives the impression you're a first time buyer), if there's a lot of work to do, get builders etc in to do estimates for you, following your survey, before you go back with any revision to your offer. You need to know exactly what you're dealing with, what you can afford to do when and to be able to assess the real value of this house is to you.

You can withdraw from a sale at any time.

gingerchaos · 24/01/2020 09:57

I did this when I bought my house, I felt awful but I was in a position to proceed having sold my house and the vendors had waited six months for their prospective buyer who hadn't sold theirs. I offered the full asking price and they accepted. Go for it op.

MissSueDenim · 24/01/2020 10:00

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Babynamechangerr · 24/01/2020 10:00

A similar thing happened to me recently. I still put in the higher offer, and after some wrangling got the house.

Ultimately you weren't in a position to put in an offer until you had a complete chain below you, now you are, so go for it. With only a week that's passed nothing would have happened yet.

Mildura · 24/01/2020 10:02

Breaking professional regulations, acting 'illegally' in refusing to pass on an offer

Where has the agent refused to pass on an offer??

Are you actually reading the OPs posts?

ZaraW · 24/01/2020 10:03

The other potential buyers could be seen as just as immoral in offering a below asking price

No it's called a negotiation. Do you happily offer the asking price when looking for a new home?

onanothertrain · 24/01/2020 10:07

messolini we don't know that the agent has concealed anything. The OP has been told she can make an offer.

Mamboitaliano · 24/01/2020 10:09

I wouldn't do it, as a human being, because I know that when I offered on my house it was below asking price, max I could afford, and my heart would have been completely broken if the seller had later accepted another offer instead.

Oblahdeeoblahdoe · 24/01/2020 10:10

If I was the vendor I would be furious if the EA withheld that there was another interested party especially if I was about to accept an offer under the asking price! Have you considered contacting the vendors directly and telling them what the EA did and said? They're paying him to get the best price for them but he's just a lazy arse or worse. I would also be very suspicious as to why he wants them to accept the other offer. Are they his mates?

DogInATent · 24/01/2020 10:13

"Sold STC" is a marketing game, it has no meaning.

I've been flamed for this before, but when I sold my last house I was very clear to the EA that I wanted the house to be actively marketed right up until the point of Exchange. I was clear to the Buyer when they made me an offer that this would be the case. I've seen family and friends have offers fall by the wayside, and Buyers change offers at the last minute to pressurise the Seller.

By the way, you don't need to go through the EA at all so there should never be a risk of them not passing on an offer. You can deal directly with the Seller.

Any Seller is foolish to accept an offer, particularly below asking price, when they already have other second viewings booked.

Bakedbrie · 24/01/2020 10:13

Make the offer. Up to them to accept or decline it. Buying a house is a drawn out process ....anything can happen. At worse, by offering you line yourself up as a back up purchaser.

katewhinesalot · 24/01/2020 10:14

I think you need to let the owner know that the estate agent hasn't been keeping them informed and acting in their best interests.
I'd want to know.

Walkingthedog46 · 24/01/2020 10:15

The first offer accepted may not come to fruition if the mortgage doesn’t materialise