Estate listed property as ‘under offer’

[Anitai]

Hi all,

I recently put in an offer of 322k on a house that was listed for 325k. When I placed the offer, I stated it was on the condition that the property was taken off the market immediately, and future viewings cancelled. The sellers agreed and the property was taken down i.e you could not find it listed for sale anywhere.

Fast forward 3 days, after doing further research, I concluded that I had offered far too much and told the EA I wanted to revise the offer to 317k - this was mainly because the property just wasn’t worth the original offer (it is a lot smaller than houses in the same price range). The EA was furious and quite aggressive on the phone (some would say with reason).

24 hours later (yesterday) he came back to me to advise that the sellers were agreeable and that they will place the house back up for sale until the survey is booked (assuming to prove I’m a serious buyer).

I really do want the house so contacted a surveyor this morning who in turn contacted the EA straight after to book in a date for the survey.

As per our agreement, I was expecting the EA to take the property off the market, however instead, they marked it as ‘under offer’, this is definitely not the same thing.. is it? My colleagues think they’ve done it to keep the door open to potential buyers..

Do I have a right to call them and ask them to remove it, or at least mark it as ‘Sold STC’? Im a first time buyer so haven’t been through anything like this before.

I know I shouldn’t have been so quick to put in an offer, but at the time, I was willing to turn a blind eye to it’s downsides.

Any advice would be really appreciated.

Thanks

Frankly, I would have done the same as the sellers. Removing a house from the market is done on the basis of trust and by taking the offer back and offering less, it is reasonable for them not to trust your word fully anymore and keep it in the market just in case you change your mind again.

If you still want the house I would just carry on and hope for the best.

I would never authorise removing a house full stop. Marking as under offer is the norm.

What is the point of having a SOLD sign then, if it's after completion? Just advertising the agency?

Would it be a bit creepy if I sent them flowers with an apology?

@LizzieMacQueen yes they did, but the EA said they’d leave it in the market until I booked a survey, which I have done

But you haven't proved you're serious, all you've proved is that you're unreliable and liable to change your offer again (ie if you don't get a perfect survey result).

We've just had the same 'serious buyer' pull out twice in a month and they've cost us a LOT of viewings. Can completely understand why the seller would continue to accept viewings and not take the house off the market.

They don't need an apology or flowers, they just need to sell the property. I'd carry on and if you're quick they might not get any other offers in the meantime.

Is there a chain?

@stuckinthemiddlewithtwats I’ve done everything within my power( that I can think of) to show them I am serious. Is there anything your buyers could have done to convince you?

There is nothing you could do to convince me to not allow viewings. I'd assume you were skittish and that there was a good chance you will pull out would try something else like going on about curtains or other nonsense.

Don’t send flowers!

I think you‘ve been foolish. For the love of God don’t try anything with the price after the survey comes back. If there’s anything substantially dangerous that shows up, walk away from the sale, but don’t insult them by trying to chip away at the price yet again.