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AIBU?

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Original poster

To not want to let this house go?

20 replies

PartyPotato · 18/10/2021 16:47

Fell in love with a house on Right Move. Emailed the EA but they said the seller had withdrawn the property from sale today. I am gutted. It’s not sold, so I’m clinging to the hope that they are maybe doing some repairs before relisting, or going with another EA.
It was absolutely perfect and we could afford it, I genuinely feel so so sad. What can I do? Nothing I suppose :( . I thought about asking the EA why it has been withdrawn but I guess that’s none of my business and they wouldn’t be able to say anything?
There is literally nothing else in the area or surrounding that is what I’m looking for and within our price range, and I’ve been looking for months!
Guess I’ll be checking Right Move every single day to see if it’s been relisted. I know the address of the house, a crazy part of me wants to contact the owners and beg them not to break my heart 😂

OP posts:
UtterlyUnimaginativeUsername · 18/10/2021 16:49

Stick a letter in the door, telling them that if they change their minds, you're interested. The worst they can do is roll their eyes and ignore you, but it could be exactly the nudge they need.

Lentil63 · 18/10/2021 16:49

I’d pop a polite letter through their letter box saying that you’d appreciate it if they would contact you if they change their mind. Good luck?

FTEngineerM · 18/10/2021 16:50

@UtterlyUnimaginativeUsername

Stick a letter in the door, telling them that if they change their minds, you're interested. The worst they can do is roll their eyes and ignore you, but it could be exactly the nudge they need.
Do this
Granllanog · 18/10/2021 16:50

If you know the address pop a note in the post saying how keen you are on the house and asking them to contact you if they decide to put it back on the market. They may have decided to stay put if a house they were after has fallen through.

Original poster
PartyPotato · 18/10/2021 16:53

Wow I’m surprised you’ve all said the same thing, I thought everyone would say don’t contact the owners you absolute weirdo 😂 but if it’s socially acceptable then I might just do that!
Honestly I know it shouldn’t be such a big deal but mentally I had fully moved in and redecorated… curse of the overactive imagination.

OP posts:
Original poster
PartyPotato · 18/10/2021 16:55

I don’t know when the house was originally listed but the listing did say that the price was reduced in September, so maybe they’re struggling to get a reasonable offer and want to do some work to it so they don’t have to drop the price anymore.

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Original poster
PartyPotato · 18/10/2021 17:01

I asked the EA (thinking they wouldn’t even reply) and they said that the seller had numerous offers but the potential buyers could never follow through and get their finances sorted. EA thinks they will relist with another agency.
Soooo in the meantime I might still send that note…

OP posts:
AlanThePig · 18/10/2021 17:03

I'll tell you a story....

Several years ago I was browsing Right Move when I saw a house. DH and I jumped in the car and did drive by. We fell in love.
DH called the EA on Monday morning who basically pissed us around for a week before eventually telling us the seller had taken it off the market and had let it. We asked them to pass on our details. The EA refused.

Gutted we went back to the street. The house was empty at the time waiting it's new tenants so pushing a note through wasn't an option. We saw a man in his garden and asked if he knew the owner. "Not well" he replied, but she is a "insert pretty niche career here". With that we found her on Facebook and bit the bullet with a message. She was lovely, didn't think we were nuts at all, confirmed the EA hadn't told her of our interest and also confirmed she'd now agreed a 12 month let. Gutted again.

We spent 12 months looking around, nothing compared. We sent another message to say 'Hi, we're still looking'. She came back and said she'd let again, for a further 6 months. At this point we were beginning to think this wasn't to be, but 5 months later she messaged and asked to meet for a coffee. We'd still found nothing so went.

By the end of the meeting we'd agreed to buy a house we'd never seen inside of other than the EA original pictures. We did get to view, loved it as much as we thought and sorted the sale out between ourselves, no EA's involved.

Been here 3 and a half years now. We'd never move again by choice. Sometimes you just have to go for these things and hope for the best and if its to be, it will be.

Good luck!

BestIsWest · 18/10/2021 17:11

We viewed a house because the estate agent knew the owners might be thinking of selling. We loved it but before we could make an offer our own sale fell through. The house never went on the market.

A year later we put our house up for sale again and sold straight away. We couldn’t find anything we liked so put a note through the door of the house we’d loved.

It worked. Been here 20 years now

Original poster
PartyPotato · 18/10/2021 17:13

@AlanThePig what a great story! Just shows there’s no harm in going for it

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Original poster
PartyPotato · 18/10/2021 17:14

@BestIsWest aww that’s so nice!

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hotmeatymilk · 18/10/2021 17:16

I would share a link on MN. This won’t help you at all but I’m nosy.

Also we can be horrible about it to make you feel better! OR commiserate with you over how nice it is.

ChorizoJacketPotato · 18/10/2021 17:21

This happened to me. I put a letter through with my email which they acknowledged. A year later they emailed me to say they were going back to market and did I want first refusal?

Several years later here we are still, and very, very happy.

MotorwayDiva · 18/10/2021 17:25

Our house was taken off the market, but I asked the EA to give them the offer, they came back and agreed, but only if we could wait until they found somewhere else. They did three weeks later.

DilemmaDelilah · 18/10/2021 17:28

We looked at a house we really liked but weren't in a position to buy at that time. Fast forward 3 months and we could now buy, but the house was off the market. We popped a note through the door and bought the house, still living here 10 years later. Just a word of caution though, even though the house was completely off the market and we were buying privately, the estate agents still demanded their fee from the vendor because they had performed the initial introduction. Bear that in mind when negotiating the price. Our vendors were a mucky lot and the agreement was that they would get professional cleaners in before we moved in. They left us a note to say that they had had to pay estate agents fees so couldn't afford to get the house cleaned. They certainly hadn't cleaned it themselves - it was filthy!

thetaleunfolds · 18/10/2021 17:29

Go for it! My brother is an EA and he bought his house by sticking a letter through the door of a house recently taken off the market with another EA.

I also get a letter or two a year through my door from people wanting houses in this area incase I was thinking of selling

Original poster
PartyPotato · 18/10/2021 17:51

Thanks everyone I am filled with a bit more confidence :)

OP posts:
CoronaPeroni · 18/10/2021 22:18

I'd also make sure you are on the mailing lists of all local agents. If they decide to go with another agent it's possible it could be under offer before it hits Rightmove

Notjustanymum · 19/10/2021 00:19

OP, remember that by making an offer privately, you will have saved them £££ in EA fees - so advantageous to the sellers, too!

Original poster
PartyPotato · 19/10/2021 08:26

@CoronaPeroni @Notjustanymum both very good points, thank you

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