To think this is very bad of the estate agents

[LancashireButterPie]

DH and I are looking to downsize.
We have seen the perfect cottage, not far from our DDs family (handy for childcare as it's currently taking us 40 mins each way).
We rang up to view it and the estate agent refused to let us as she said "An offer has been made and I'm sure it will be accepted".
DH and I wouldn't be making an offer, we would happily pay full asking price. Also we are lucky to have enough in savings to purchase, without selling our own home first although we obviously would at some point.
I feel for the vendors as much as ourselves, would it be unreasonable to push a note through their letterbox informing them what's going on?
It's been two weeks since the estate agent last rebuffed us and the house is still on the market.

Why are you so shocked? When we had an offer accepted on the house we were purchasing we asked that the house be taken off the market. Be aware there isn’t an EA on the planet who are acting in your best interest. It’s their own interest that trumps anyone else.

You say you're not putting on an offer but full price is still an offer. Maybe the other person has offered more?

I would drop the note without thinking much about it. It doesn't take much effort from you, and could potentially be helpful to seller.

This sounds to me like a dishonest EA who has made an arrangement with the prospective buyer to use their mortgage and surveyor or lawyer package. I would not hesitate to put a note through the door or even call at the property and explain that the EA refused to put your offer through. But then I am quite pushy like that. The worst that can happen is that the present owner tells you to bugger off which leaves you no worse off than you were before.

No harm in popping a note through saying I am a cash buyer and on 14 Oct I asked Dave at EA if I could view your house. This was refused, but I see your house is still for sale. Apologies if I have misunderstood but if you’re still looking for a buyer please let me know on 07xxxxxxx

Its shocking how appallingly regulated Estate Agents are and how little checks are done to ensure good conduct. Considering they are handing such a valuable asset a shake up of regulations is long overdue.

I would put a note through the door outlining your situation, but knocking in the door could seem intrusive.
It does seem likely that the estate agent is being obstructive, but it might be at the vendor’s request.
Its more likely that the agent has some other reason, such as a friend or family member, or that the current offer is from someone whose property is also listed with that agent, so they get 2 bites of the cherry.
Estate agents are legally bound to pass on all offers, at any stage ( yes I know it seems unfair but all the while our house buying process allows either side to pull out at any time without penalty it’s going to happen), I am not sure if preventing offers by not allowing viewings is a legal loophole, but it is certainly poor practice.
In your case if the other offer hasn’t been accepted you are harming no one by contacting the vendor direct.

Very rude? Have you ever met an estate agent? They’re ruthless. It’s their job to sell the house for the best price. A viewing from OP, would make the people who have already offered up their price if anything. They need as much traction as possible.

In this instance a normal EA would say to the vendors: I know you have this offer from couple A, but I have a very keen and proceed-able couple who are keen to view. Let them see it and go from there.

They won’t give a shit about being rude, they should want offers left right and centre! When I bought my house there were 5 of us battling it out. All pushing the price up.

Yes you pay at the higher second property rate but claim the difference back if you sell the other house within a certain period.

@LancashireButterPie the property may well be under offer but the website not updated. The prior offer may have been a full asking price offer hence they didn't need or want to start a bidding war.

Contact grading standards and propertymark
put a note through the door #
Contact EA head office

They're only obliged to pass on offers, not any and all general interest. You haven't actually made an offer.

You don't know the situation, perhaps the owners are about to accept an offer they're happy with and are fed up with viewings so have asked the EA not to set up any more viewings for the time being.

If you are seriously motivated do pop a note through the door explaining that you are cash buyers, no chain etc and would be extremely likely to offer after having viewed. You can email the EA that also.

Please update us once you’ve put the note through the door!

There might be some instructions from the vendor about which you do not know, such as ..
Offering it to their family foremost.
Wanting to sell their home to a young family.
That they are Italian and want to sell to another Italian.
Wanting to sell to a local resident.
Wanting to sell to a vegetarian, a Catholic etc..

Yes knock on the door as previous posters have suggested.

My gut feeling is that the person making the offer is someone the estate agent knows.

I rent out a flat and I changed agents because of this. They had one of their staff lined up to rent it and were putting forward rent levels lower than market rates for him. I'm not sure anyone else even got a look in. Luckily I realised what was going on and now have a much more professional agent.

I would not however, fully trust any agent again.

If I was selling I would want to know of all possible buyers that were able to put in sensible offers. It's different when an offer has been accepted but that's not the case here.

Estate agents main priority is to have the house sold which it sounds like it is

They want it moving as quickly as possible and having you viewing it might slow things down

Like another post says they are ruthless but it's their job, and if you have ever worked in a sales role with targets then you will know what it's like

If the house is occupied i would go and knock on the door and say i am very interested. Ifthey say you have to go through the agent, tell them you have been blocked by the agent,

We have very different experiences😊.

i have viewed lots of houses with offers, and continued to have lots of viewers for my house while bidding was ongoing. I don’t think it’s rude😊. It’s a financial transaction, sellers want the best price and people bidding can’t expect the house to be taken off the market just because they make offer.

in fact when I viewed the house I bought a few years ago three people were bidding on it.

What EAs are legally obliged to do is irrelevant - they do what they want to do if they think they can get away with it.
In OP's situation, I'd certainly put a note through the door, & might even knock on it.

What's wrong with everyone here saying OP should try to buy the property despite an offer having been accepted on the property? I expect the potential buyers are just arranging their mortgage and valuation, and when that is confirmed, the property will show as sold subject to contract.
I actually think the estate agent is right to refuse a viewing to OP when an offer has been made by someone else, and obviously accepted by the vendors.
It's perfectly normal not to continue showing others around a property in these circumstances- if they did, it would create chaos and upset for everyone, with people being let down and the sale could potentially take forever!
Also, an 'offer' is just saying you want to buy the house at a particular price- there's no implication that they want to pay less than the asking price.
OP you need to accept that you've missed this one. Go and find another property to buy that no one else has offered on.

Read the thread! OP is a cash buyer

But there might not be any restrictions.
The sellers might be blissfully unaware that their EA isn’t allowing people to view/offer on the house m, perhaps for his own nefarious reasons.

An offer has been made, but according to OP it has not been accepted.

when I sold my house I didn’t accept an offer until all viewings were complete and all offers were on the table. There was a bidding war and it sold well above asking price.

The agent will still get the commission. I enquired about a property recently but the agent said they’d had an offer on it. A week later it’s still listed as available, but I know some agents do that til exchange, though rather defeats the purpose if not allowing any viewings. But all respect to the agents not messing around the other buyers - if the sellers were mulling over the offer and accept it and you come in with a higher offer that’s called gazumping. Legal but really bad form. Once an offer is accepted it is usually a condition that they stop other viewings.
However not replying to you is not acceptable either. I wonder if they have an interest themselves in the purchase? Are they independent or part of a chain with a manager?
I also think, even in these times of a buyers market, that agents can be very apathetic. You’d think they’d be jumping on any prospective buyer. But I’ve recently called an agent about a particular property, said I’m in the area so would like to visit it ASAP (it was a probate sale so empty), and never got a call back! I’m a cash buyer too. I will try again but I’m in no rush and they should be.

Doubt if it’s illegal…what law?

Yep this 100%. Utterly bizarre responses in this thread. From the same people who claim to hate gazumping! If I was in active negotiations with a vendor and found out they’re still doing viewings, I’d likely pull out as I wouldn’t be able to trust them to not mess me about.