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Original poster

Under Offer and Sold STC

26 replies

FagAshMIL · 14/03/2017 12:34

I understand the difference between the two but why would a property by 'Under Offer' for months on end rather than 'Sold STC' ?

Does this mean that the property is likely to come back onto the market as there are issues?

OP posts:
ThroughThickAndThin01 · 14/03/2017 12:36

They're exactly the same thing, aren't they?

Lilmisskittykat · 14/03/2017 12:38

Under offer is like limbo .. literally the house has received an offer that the buyer has accepted. Some agents don't use this term and it remains on market

Stc- is as it says subject to contract usually mortgage is ok and it's the solicitors clearing up the technical bits such as land rights, searches etc.

That's how I understand it

EssentialHummus · 14/03/2017 12:39

I thought STC was a bit further along in the process, but I couldn't tell you when Under Offer turned into STC.

reallyanotherone · 14/03/2017 12:40

I would say "under offer" means an offer has been made and accepted, buy for some reason one party is not in a position to proceed yet. May be their own house hasn't sold, for example.

"Sold subject to contract" means both parties are proceeding, searches being done, solicitors engaged etc.

ThroughThickAndThin01 · 14/03/2017 12:42

If a property is under offer, it's sold subject to the contract.

If a property is sold subject to contract, ditto.

I suppose boards might change from under offer to sold stc on exchange, but ultimately they have to be saying exactly the same thing.

CountMagnus · 14/03/2017 12:43

This article is interesting:

The Property Ombudsman has said that estate agents should use the term Under Offer, rather than Sold Subject to Contract.

Christopher Hamer said that, for consumer purposes, Under Offer is a more accurate description.

Hamer said: “My own opinion is that the term Under Offer is a fair and informative description that lets interested potential buyers know that the property currently has an offer accepted on it.

“SSTC, however, could wrongly imply that it has been sold and the transaction is complete, when in reality there has been no exchange of contracts.

“Agents appear to use Under Offer and SSTC as meaning the same thing.

“I think Under Offer is a better description of the status. Sold Subject to Contract could be misleading, as no property is ‘sold’ until contracts have been exchanged.”

www.propertyindustryeye.com/agents-use-offer-sstc-says-ombudsman/

Original poster
FagAshMIL · 14/03/2017 12:45

confusing. I'm looking on Rightmove of course. Some houses are tagged Under Offer, some 'Sold STC'.

I understand a house being tagged as Under Offer and then would expect it to move on to being tagged 'Sold STC' after a few weeks possibly a month. What of properties that have been 'Under Offer' for 2+ months with no change to their tagged status ie no move to Sold STC. Does this mean, do you think, that things are going tits up and the property is likely to come back on the open market?

OP posts:
Original poster
FagAshMIL · 14/03/2017 12:46

oh. so it's the same thing and doesn't mean anything other than it's sold. gah.

OP posts:
Original poster
FagAshMIL · 14/03/2017 12:46

sold, stc that is

OP posts:
namechangedtoday15 · 14/03/2017 12:47

I would say "under offer" is that an offer has been made but not accepted as yet - EA speak for look how popular this house is, why not make an offer.

I would say "Sold STC" means an offer has been accepted and they're proceeding but contracts haven't been exchanged as yet - EA speak for an offer has been agreed but seller won't agree to take it off the market so this is your last chance to make a higher offer and earn us more commission.

I think once an offer has been accepted and both parties have integrity started moving with the process, its generally removed from the market / advertising sites.

LizzieMacQueen · 14/03/2017 12:49

Is this Scotland or England & Wales OP?

Original poster
FagAshMIL · 14/03/2017 12:50

England

OP posts:
ThroughThickAndThin01 · 14/03/2017 12:50

It just means the same thing. No one would have an under offer board up without a completed chain. It means an offer has been accepted and is proceeding. Same as sold stc!

Honeyandfizz · 14/03/2017 12:50

My house is currently marked as 'under offer' by my online agent. No idea what the difference is between this and sstc as the sale is proceeding in the same way.

Original poster
FagAshMIL · 14/03/2017 12:50

I don't know though, I enquired about properties under offer and the EA won't show me round

OP posts:
ThroughThickAndThin01 · 14/03/2017 12:51

That's because they are sold stc!

Original poster
FagAshMIL · 14/03/2017 12:52

that was in response to namechangedtoday15

OP posts:
reallyanotherone · 14/03/2017 13:22

I viewed a property "under offer".

As i said up thread, someone had offered, and it had been accepted. But they had no offer on their house so nothing could be done regarding the sale.

So the vendors still had the house on the market. They said while the offer had been accepted, no one had spent any money so should someone come a long in a better position, chain free or their own house under offer, they would go with that buyer.

Cassimin · 14/03/2017 13:26

Our house is under offer at the moment.
Last week we accepted the offer and exchanged solicitors details and that's all.
We are still waiting for buyer to arrange survey etc. If they try to lower their offer we will refuse so I suppose in that way we could still end up selling to someone else.

user1469781887 · 14/03/2017 13:29

The terms under offer and sold, subject to contract are used interchangeably by most EAs, and essentially mean the same thing - an offer has been accepted by the owners of the property, but exchange of contracts has yet to take place.

ThroughThickAndThin01 · 14/03/2017 14:07

So the board should have actually still read 'For Sale' really. The property had an offer on it, but no one was going anywhere, and anyone could still view the property. Crazy to call a property like that 'under offer'.

Palomb · 15/03/2017 07:22

The house we bought was under offer until out mortgage offer came through ad then sstc.

wowfudge · 15/03/2017 08:04

When we were selling this time last year, our EA marked our house as under offer when we had agreed a sale. The board only changed to sold when we had exchanged. I think we exchanged about ten days before we completed, though I can't actually remember.

wowfudge · 15/03/2017 08:04

When we were selling this time last year, our EA marked our house as under offer when we had agreed a sale. The board only changed to sold when we had exchanged. I think we exchanged about ten days before we completed, though I can't actually remember.

unfortunateevents · 15/03/2017 08:24

Doesn't it just depend on the agent what terminology they use? Some boards seem to say Sold stc, some say Under Offer, one very good but slightly twee EA close to us used to have Spoken For on their boards