Lost out on a perfect house to a buyer that hasn't even put their house on the market yet!

[Pipsqueak83]

We accepted an offer on our house yesterday, and the three houses we had our eye on also sold this week. ( such bad timing as 2 had been on the market for 7 months!)
One of the vendors have taken their house off the market (stc) for a buyer that is only in the process of putting their house on the market. I didn't know you could actually do this?!! Would it be unethical to try and contact the buyer to register our interest? Our buyers are in a short chain, and I really don't want to lose them, and we really don't like anything else on the market at the moment!

Of course a vendor can do that if they choose. It might not be the best move, but you've no idea what the buyers have said to them or what the deal is. How do you know the buyers' house isn't on the market?

You shouldn't contact the vendors, but you can contact the EA and ask them to note your interest.

Contact the Estate Agent, not the vendor directly.

Why have you started 2 threads exactly the same?

The vendors estate agents are legally obliged to forward any offers they receive until point of exchange.
I would let the agents know you're interested and advise them your chain details and position.
You don't know what deal they have already struck with the current buyers, but at least you would have done all you can to register your interest.
Good luck!

A vendor can sell to whoever they want.

However, in your circumstance I would talk to estate agents and let them know that you are now in a good situation to proceed, and remain interested if those properties come back on the market.

We once put an offer in on a property, they got another offer which matched ours. When we refused to bid higher, they chose the other buyers because "their kids went to the same school". A few months later we were looking at another property with the same estate agent, and they asked us if we were interested in the original one because it had just come back on the market? We then got it for a slightly lower price.

I would contact the vendor directly (politely)...say you are still interested etc...you never know what the lying scumbags estate agents have actually told them

The vendors could get sick of waiting for the other buyers house to sell. It's probably worthwhile telling the estate agents you're still interested should that happen.

put a note through vendors door stating your situation and to get in touch if their sale falls through. We did that and now living in our dream home.

Sorry my phone has been playing up and has posted my message twice. Thank you for the advice.
It was the estate agent who told me what the situation was ( this was before our house was under offer) So I will contact them again explaining we are now under offer, and see if they will pass on that we are interested. Fingered crossed!

Fingers crossed even!!

Don't trust the estate agent. If it's your dream house put a note through the door. We had agents tell us the house was of the market when it wasn't, but it them selves and flip it 3 months later for 200k more, tell the vendors we weren't serious as we wouldn't commit to a 2 week exchange (I'm not committing to anything involving other people... We were ready to do two weeks but who knew about their side). Funnily enough they did go with people who offered a tiny amount more (about 3% of asking price) and who promised a 2 week completion. We got a call two months later asking if we were still interested.... We had already gone elsewhere!!

I won't name the agents but that drive green minis....

Buy it themselves obviously...

I think you could contact the vendor if you wanted to. I agree with not trusting the EA. Years ago one estate agent didn't even pass on our offer to the seller. That's our current house. I phoned the vendor direct. On the other hand your selllers might not want a quick sale for some reason.

Have you actually been inside the house OP?

I'd just register my interest by putting a note through their door.

Thanks. I called the estate agent and he was a bit cagey. Their buyer has now put the house on the market with the same agent and have been given 1 month to sell. The agent thinks their buyer is likely to sell quickly. Which is not good for us!

As I really love the house , I will try and contact the vendor by putting a note through the door, just so I've tried everything. Any tips for what to include in the letter?