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Original poster

Sounds dodgy to me: Can the house stay on the market if an offer has been accepted?!

27 replies

Teajunky · 22/02/2012 15:50

We saw the house and loved it, but it needed lots of work.

We put in an offer that was way lower than asking price. They rejected.

We put in half decent offer. They rejected.

So we asked them what the deal was> the agents said the sellers had a higher offer on the table that they'd accepted, but if we put in an offer that was higher, the vendor would consider. So we put in a slightly higher offer but feel quite unsure of what is going on. We did ask whether it was possible for them to do such a thing, where one offer is accepted and while the poor sods are selling theirs, somebody else can jump in with a higher offer. The agents said some vendors choose to keep the house on the market and it wasn't against the law.

Has anyone known of this happening???
It's the third day today and the agents havnt got back to us, although DH rang them up yday to ask and they said no response as yet.

Someone else may have put in a higher offer than us! Would be Angry but we've done it ourselves Blush

OP posts:
Principality · 22/02/2012 16:04

Yes, as far as I'm aware tehy can.

You can also put an offer on, with the proviso that it is taken off the market..

i think...

CMOTDibbler · 22/02/2012 16:07

Yes, and I've done it when people have been messing about with putting offers in and not proceeding in due time.

AMumInScotland · 22/02/2012 16:12

Yes it's legal - even after the offer has been accepted, you don't have a legal contract at that point, and the seller can accept another offer, or the buyer can pull out, without any legal issues.

kilmuir · 22/02/2012 16:13

Yes they can.

bigbadbarry · 22/02/2012 16:13

Agree with principality: you make the slightly higher than you would like offer on the proviso the house is taken off the market. Which still doesn't mean, if they are that way inclined, that they couldn't accept a higher offer, but does hopefully make them less likely to get one.

outofbodyexperience · 22/02/2012 16:14

yep. if you want it taken off the market, you have to make that a condition of the offer. then if they accpet the offer, they have to take it off the market.

it's v common.

AnnoyingOrange · 22/02/2012 16:17

That's why, back in the bad old days of house prices spiralling upwards, we had gazumping

FurryFox · 22/02/2012 16:20

When we put an offer in on our house it was accepted but they kept it on the market until we had a buyer for our old house. It was a stressful week but once we had a buyer in place they took it off the market as agreed.

outofbodyexperience · 22/02/2012 16:28

we were firrst gazumped when i was about 9... i remember being fascinated by the word and mildly pissed off that i wasn't going to get my promised new bedroom after all. Grin

flowery · 22/02/2012 16:31

Whenever we've made an offer on a house it's been on the condition that the house is taken off the market.

TunipTheVegemal · 22/02/2012 16:36

Sometimes people make an offer when they're not in a position to proceed, in the hope that their house will sell soon. If they do that generally they're doing it on the understanding that the acceptance of their offer is really only an acceptance in principle, and if their house takes a while to sell they may well get beaten to it by another buyer.

spiffysquiffyspiggy · 22/02/2012 16:54

When we bought this place the owner accepted 3 offers and said they would sell to whoever got to a position where a sale could go ahead first. It was totally nerve wracking but we loved the house so much we agreed. What helped us was to put our house on the market with the agent who was selling this one and point out to them that if they found us a buyer quickly they would get commission from 2 sales. It worked- they pushed loads of people our way so we had a lot of viewings and we got a buyer within 2 weeks.

Original poster
Teajunky · 22/02/2012 18:59

Wow, thanks all.

We thought that once an offer has been accepted, the house automatically comes off the Market. That clears up that mystery then!

But how long does it usually take for
Vendors to accept an offer? It's been the third day today and no response as yet..should we be hounding the agents? Or
Calling at least everyday, or not at all?
Could something else be going on?

OP posts:
dilbertina · 22/02/2012 19:23

Are you in a position to proceed? We are selling at the moment, and have had 3 people offer at an acceptable price, but none yet are able to proceed. Well one lot are, but have got less than they hoped for theirs so have reduced offer....

If you can proceed straightaway you are in a very strong position and should make the most of this. A vendor may even accept less for a "real" offer than a might never be realised higher one. Do keep chasing EA - stressing that you are able to proceed immediately, if you are. If you want to force the issue put a deadline on your offer.

Good luck!

Original poster
Teajunky · 23/02/2012 00:01

Thanks Dilbertina - that makes alot of sense. We are on the brink of exchange docs with the house we're selling, its a matter of days - I hope its not afew days too late!

Thank you all for the fab advice.

OP posts:
RustyBear · 23/02/2012 00:24

When we bought this house we thought we were on the point of exchanging, and the vendors took it off the market. But the day before contracts were signed, the man at the bottom of the chain disappeared - literally, as far as I know no-one ever heard from him again - so we had to find another buyer. The vendors were very good - they believed we were serious and so they kept the house off the market from April to July. They then told us they were going to have to put it back on, but luckily we got another buyer a couple of days later and managed to move ten days after that.

Original poster
Teajunky · 23/02/2012 00:39

Wow RustyBear....I really hope that doesn't happen to us. I'm just waiting for DH to say "this is why I didn't want us to buy/sell in a chain"...I couldn't resist however, and made us both go fall in love with this house Blush

I'm a nervous mess now!

OP posts:
runningforthebusinheels · 23/02/2012 00:46

Buying/selling houses is such a fucking stress in this country! When we offered, we made it a condition of our offer that the house was taken off the market and they accepted that - but I was well aware that that didn't actually stop the possibly of a gazump. It went through in the end, but not without hitches - just recognise that it will be a really stressful time!

When dh and I sold our first house, the sale fell through 3 times. I couldn't believe it when the fourth buyer actually completed...

Good luck.

frostyfingers · 23/02/2012 09:26

The whole process is crap - we accepted an offer in November with the buyer saying they wanted to move in 4 weeks. We were going into rented so pulled out all the stops to meet their deadline which we did, incurring rental fees, solicitors fees and deposit for the removal. 10 minutes before their deadline - the one they gave us, 3.5 weeks after accepting their offer and two days before they wanted us moved out they changed their minds.

There were not enough rude words in the English language to describe how we felt - our estate agents were pretty hacked off with them too as they'd faffed around so much - in fact we wrote them a letter, carefully telling them (without it being libellous) what we felt!

We've just accepted another offer with a more reasonable deadline, but have not yet started looking for somewhere to go to until we've exchanged so we don't incur yet more costs.

Someone I think is setting up a system whereby each party puts down a deposit which is forfeited, depending on circumstances, if it goes wrong. It would stop all these speculative offers and ensure that you know someone is serious - I hope it takes off.

Stokey · 23/02/2012 10:29

That's what they do in Spain, and elsewhere on the continent i believe. You have to put down a 10% deposit when your offer is accepted and so does the seller.

The whole business is a landmine. We have just accepted an offer only to have someone offer over £10k more about 20 mins later. I don't really want to gazump original buyer but £10K is not insignificant amount (both buyers saw the house on the same day initially).

We are trying to verify the committedness and speed of both buyers and then will give the first a chance to counter-offer, and will give them preferntial treatment so if they get close, will still go with our original buyer - they do not have to match or beat the new offer.

frostyfingers · 23/02/2012 11:34

That's a tricky one Stokey - as you say £10k is not to be sniffed at. Are you in a hurry and do you have somewhere to go to? If that is the case then it's the one who can move quickest who'd probably be the best, but if they're both proceedable then I'm afraid I'd be ruthless and go with the highest offer - you're not in it to be loved!

Original poster
Teajunky · 23/02/2012 12:44

Gosh, each message makes me realise how tricky this whole thing is. It's a wonder people do actually manage to secure houses they love! Confused

I will stop looking at this house until our house is exchanged then shall I ...

OP posts:
bigbadbarry · 23/02/2012 13:06

Stokey, if it was within e hour then I think you are not unreasonable to take the higher one - taking their positions into account, etc. weeks down the line is a different matter. We had two identical offers on the same day for our last house! Liked both couples; both coming from rented accommodation. In the end it came down to who made us a higher offer for curtains and the fridge :)

Stokey · 23/02/2012 16:39

Ha - haven't thought of the fittings yet big badbarry!

We've given the original offer til tomorrow to make a counter-offer. We are in a rush as dc2 due in May and want to get moved before that. We've had an offer accepted and our seller has suggested easter as completion date. But both our buyers are first time buyers in rental accommadation so not muchto choose from there.

bigbadbarry · 23/02/2012 17:17

Yeah we'd have preferred more money in e house less messing with fridges but we were right up to a step in stamp duty so Indy was going any higher :( Good luck!