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AIBU?

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Original poster

Can I accept an offer on my house but still allow this weekends viewings

302 replies

mum61 · 26/03/2022 05:55

My house has been on the market for a couple of weeks and I have had an offer from a guy who made a low offer then a second offer just below the guide price.. I said I would accept his offer but wanted to honour 2 viewings for tomorrow after which, if no other offers are forthcoming I would formally accept and take the house of the market.
My agent is pressuring me not to allow the 2 viewings to go ahead and take the house off the market.( I think because of pressure from the guy who made the offer, saying he's very assertive)
Am I being unreasonable?

OP posts:
Stravaig · 26/03/2022 08:21

Your potential buyer sounds like a bully. I'd anticipate worse to come if you proceed with him. Honour the existing viewings, and fingers crossed for a better offer and nicer buyer.

DoubleTweenQueen · 26/03/2022 08:22

@mum61 It's completely your prerogative.

Doesn't matter how assertive this person may or may not be

How is the market near you? Here, there's a huge supply issue and a seller's market.

If you feel it's a similar positive market from your pov then be assertive yourself, allow the viewings and see if you get additional offers.

You don't have to accept first offer straight away. You are allowed to think about it and test the market, just as a buyer is able to put in an offer but also look at other properties.

Take some time, consider offer(s), and position of buyer(s). Quite normal.

Mellowyellow222 · 26/03/2022 08:22

Please don’t do this - it sucks.

Say you won’t accept the offer until you have had they viewings.

Accepting an offer and then having more viewings is pretty shitty.

When I had my offer accepted on my new house I was so happy. I knew things could still go wrong - but it was a big milestone.

If I found out the owner was still having viewings I would have withdrawn my offer. It speaks to people’s character and you need to have some trust in this awful process.

Twiglets1 · 26/03/2022 08:25

I would delay accepting the offer you have already had until after feedback from the viewings. You don’t have to rush to accept the first offer you get, he can wait a couple of days to get a formal response from you.

girlmom21 · 26/03/2022 08:25

If I found out the owner was still having viewings I would have withdrawn my offer.

You'd withdraw your offer rather than wait all of a couple of days? You wouldn't do that if you desperately wanted the house.

KnowingMeKnowingYouAhaaaa · 26/03/2022 08:27

I wouldn't have accepted the offer unless it was for asking or over asking price if you had more viewings lined up. As his offer is below asking it isn't enough for you to take it off the market, you can ask him to offer more and take it off or he leaves his offer as it is and then you decide after the other viewings. I'm surprised the estate agent is in a rush if there's more viewings lined up. Whenever we've bought a house a below asking price offer usually won't stop further viewings (particularly with a house that hasnt been on long, obviously if its been on months with no interest thats different), if there's no higher offer you can go back to the original offer.

Suzi888 · 26/03/2022 08:28

YANBU but you can’t really accept an offer and then let others view. Just don’t accept the offer.

KeepingAnOpenMind · 26/03/2022 08:30

Please go ahead. The market is crazy at the moment and you’ve been clear with everyone. If the EA describes the buyer as assertive he could be an aggressive bully. Sellers market!

KnowingMeKnowingYouAhaaaa · 26/03/2022 08:30

I should have said unless you are happy with the below asking offer, don't take it off the market, obviously lots of houses sell for below asking price.

Waterfallgirl · 26/03/2022 08:32

He sounds like a nightmare buyer and a bit of a bully, the WiFi password thing is just CF behaviour.

I’d worry too that someone like this who seems to want to push the boundary at this early stage will continue to push and bully you and EA through the process - request thousand off the price after surveys, push for completion before you are ready, tell you to go into rental because he wants a date , send tradesmen in to measure up / quote for work without respecting you, it goes on etc etc .... you read about these types all the time on here.

Remember the EA works for you, not him. I’d go ahead with the viewings as they may well result in a much higher offer your priority is your family OP not the EA or the possible buyer.

Planetbippop · 26/03/2022 08:33

I don't know why the same comment keeps being made about OP having accepted the offer.

She accepted in principle only & said following the viewings she'd formally accept. The wi-fi chap ain't happy but that's only because he knows his offer may well be beaten. If he'd offered the full asking price, he'd be in a better position to dispute the viewings. He isn't & that's that.

Everydaydayisaschoolday · 26/03/2022 08:38

@heldinadream

I don't know the technicalities of this but why not just hold out on accepting his offer until after today's viewings? I think I'd do that. They can't force you to move faster than you want can they?
This seems perfectly reasonable.
Chloemol · 26/03/2022 08:38

YANBU. I would have the two viewings and if they offer higher accept that

AngelinaFibres · 26/03/2022 08:38

@PutinIsAWarCriminal

Keep the appointments op. You haven't been dishonest. The EA saying the buyer is being pushy would ring alarm bells for me.
To me it sounds like 6 of one and half a dozen of the other, as they say. If I was a buyer, and my offer had been accepted, but viewings were still being done, I would not be impressed. I would wonder whether the seller was the type to drop me at the last moment if another offer came in just before exchange. On the sellers side a buyer who is described as 'assertive by the EA would also ring arm bells. I suspect this situation is going to warrant another thread in 2 months time when it is all going tits up
Mosaic123 · 26/03/2022 08:39

You are absolutely doing the right thing. We are only talking about one day. Your buyer might need a mortgage and others not. The price accepted reflects the buyer's position too.

I hope you get a huge offer and you find your new place this weekend!

You are doing nothing wrong. The estate agent just wants an easy life.

Neolara · 26/03/2022 08:40

I think the issue is that you haven't really accepted the offer even though you have said you have. Of course sales fall apart between offers and exchange, but this would typically be because of things coming up in surveys or unexpected change of circumstances. Normally, accepting an offer means that you're not actively continuing to look for buyers. The buyer is going to be forking out huge amounts of cash on surveys and solicitors and needs to believe that you are not going to pull out for a better offer.

I think if you have accepted an offer, it's entirely reasonable to expect you to take your house off the market. You should not have accepted his offer until after the viewings you had booked. If I was the buyer, your current actions would mark you out as a someone not to be trusted at all.

ChickenStripper · 26/03/2022 08:42

The guy should have made his offer conditional to it being taken off the market if he felt that way. Tbh with you if you had accepted my offer and then said you will continue to show then I would be pissed off and may take it back depending on how much I wanted that property. There is the legality of what you CAN do but there is much to be said for goodwill in house sales.

DoubleTweenQueen · 26/03/2022 08:45

Consider the buyer could also be a mate of the agent. It happens.
I would be careful to not be swayed by pressure from anyone.

NotABeliever · 26/03/2022 08:48

Of course allow the viewings this weekend!
It's clear enough from what you told the estate agent that you haven't 100% accepted the offer. It's not even moved to having solicitors involved, just go for it and good luck.

CoraPirbright · 26/03/2022 08:52

You have been perfectly clear with everyone and I really do not understand posters on here saying that you are being dishonest etc. Your potential buyer sounds like a horrible bully and the market really isnt in his favour at the moment - it all seems rather hot from what I have read, with everything going at over the asking price. When we have bought houses, we have offered asking price on the proviso that it is taken off the market. It has always worked - why hasn't your EA suggested that bully-buyer do that?

My fondest wish for you is that one of your booked viewings is with a nice person who will offer your asking price and is proceedable. Then you can tell bully-buyer to get to fuck.

SoupDragon · 26/03/2022 08:53

You've don't nothing dishonest at all, OP! The guy who's offered knows there re still viewings, the people viewing know there's been an offer.

I remember your thread about WiFi Password man - I wouldn't want to sell to him at all if I could avoid it. He sounds like a bully.

Are you doing the viewings or the agent? I would be concerned that the agent would make out that the prior offer was a done deal.

Mollymoostoo · 26/03/2022 08:53

[quote mum61]@CoalCraft.
I haven't been dishonest ,the 2 people viewing know i've had an offer.
Until contracts are exchanged the person who makes the offer can withdraw it for any reason they choose and the person who accepts it can reject it until exchange.
I accepted an offer previously and the person changed their mind weeks later ,it meant I lost a house I offered on .[/quote]
Wr viewed a house and was told by the seller that she had accepted an offer and unless ours was higher we had no chance. We were so angry she had wasted our time and her bloody cheekiness we told her where to go.

Highfivemum · 26/03/2022 08:56

If this had been me as he didn’t offer full asking I would not accept his offer. I would explain to the agent it is not sill asking so you are not removing it from sale. Honour the two other viewings and see what happens. If this chap really wants it he would have offered full asking. See how today goes.

Weirdwonders · 26/03/2022 08:57

You’ve literally told him that you have two more viewings over the weekend after which point you’ll decide from what you have on the table; however his offer is acceptable if nothing else comes in. Why does he think you would you cancel two booked viewings for a below asking price offer on a two-week timescale? It’s odd behaviour from your agent too.

MarineBlue33 · 26/03/2022 08:58

As @NeverAgainSam said. The EA is doing a rubbish job if they are advising you not to go ahead with these already booked viewings. If the buyer is putting pressure on the EA, you do likewise. It's the EA's job to get you the best price. And tell rhe EA you want the buyer to get a survey booked at least within a week. Has he got a mortgage ? He needs to show commitment. Don't let the agent or anyone know that you are not in a rush