Gazumped - WWYD? what's my next move?

[IamwhoIsayIam]

Ok - so we had an offer accepted and the estate agent cancelled all further viewings. Great, we got on with progressing the sale. However, someone has contacted the owner privately to view the property, mentioning a figure nearly 10% higher than ours if they can get a viewing. It's not an offer but I'm 99% sure they will offer, given the lengths they have gone to.
The owner agrees they have accepted our offer but wants to give this other person a chance to view ( and most likely offer higher)
What are our options and what are our chances of actually getting this property?!

Don't believe everything you are told.

They may be attempting to get you to raise your offer 'in case' someone else offers more....

The problem is can you trust them anymore not to mess you around further. Maybe two weeks later they get a different offer and again put yours on the shelf.

How much money have you spent so far? DDs seller pulled out two days after my daughter had the survey done. The women pulled out with a really lame excuse. It cost my daughter over £800
Some people have no morals at all. If the seller was having doubts she could have raised them earlier.

What annoying is that the seller runs a real yummy mummy type of business with lots of positivity 🤮🤮🤮.

OP, not sure what I would do but it sounds a bit odd. I'd speak to the estate agent and take it from there

This happened to us as a ploy for more money. We threatened to pull out and the other buyer supposedly offered more but were not proceedable. This buyer may not be. I wouldn't be held to random over this and I would remind the estate agent that there are plenty of other houses

I think the best option would be to withdraw your offer actually, as I wouldn't trust the seller after trying to pull a stunt like this!

They haven't stuck to the terms of the offer (no further viewings) and I would walk away. I appreciate that if you are in the middle of a chain it is hard, but it's a stressful business anyway and you don't need this kind of twattery to add to the hassle!

I hope it works out for you OP.

Have you instructed a solicitor, had a survey done, incurred any expenses?

If you are at the earliest stages, and haven’t actually got started with the process it’s possible the vendor is trying to be reasonably honest with you, by ensuring you don’t spend money unnecessarily, whilst still getting the best possible price for their house.

How frustrating for you!

If it was me, the trust in this sale would be gone, whether this is a genuine other interested party or not. I'd be very tempted to walk away, because it is a lot of hassle and expense to proceed when you have lost faith in the other side.

Call their bluff, see what other properties the agent has available and enquire about viewing those. This should show you whether the other ‘offer’ is serious

How do you know? If the vendor told you then I agree they want more money.

I would walk away.