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Original poster

Nightmare buyers and estate agent

167 replies

Thanksforthememory · 26/01/2021 00:00

We are currently selling my mum in-laws house as she died last year, we've had a few people round but no offers so we reduced to offers over £180.
We've spend £13k doing it up before we put it on the market new kitchen, bathroom, all newly carpeted and blinds so basically inside is like new.
We reduced last Monday and by teatime had our first viewing they offered £170k on Tuesday then upped it to £175k which my husband reluctantly agreed but I said to keep on the market because you never know what may happen.
On Thursday it went sold on Rightmove but being busy didn't have time to query it.
The buyers asked for a second viewing on Friday which I agreed only to find out when they arrived that the woman had brought a family member who was a architect who went round with his clipboard and pen and proceeded to tell me everything that was wrong with the house, while I just sat there in shock, there was nothing he told me that we didn't know anyway as if you walk round outside it's quite obvious to anyone what needs doing.
I told my husband what had happened and I was furious by this time as I thought they were just coming for a second viewing and not to rip the house apart especially when offers over 180 meant just that but with the covid who knows what may happen hence taking the low offer but then to slate the house which to means they are going to be horrendous to deal with as I can see they are wanting it even cheaper as the last house to sell on that road is £20k higher than their offer.
Now we are waiting for then to sort a survey out which doesn't seem to be forthcoming so my husband rung the estate agent and asked to put it back on the market till at least they've had there survey done and was told by agent that it's illegal to have it up for sale when they've signed a contract which I found out this is a complete lie.
I would like to pull the deal and sack the estate agent. What would you do in this situation.
Thanks.

OP posts:
user86386427 · 26/01/2021 12:15

@Chumleymouse you do realise a mortgage offer is post survey and when the application has been submitted and scrutinised?

iftherewereahorseyinthehouse · 26/01/2021 12:16

@Chumleymouse

The buyers were idiots , who goes around offering on houses without even a mortgage offer in place ? You bet your bottom dollar they would have tried to lower the price even further ( survey). I wouldn’t accept an offer from anybody without ( at least ) a mortgage offer in place. You get a definite amount you can borrow then you start looking/ offering.

Mortgage in principle is sometimes a bit dodgy as some people will be a bit flexible with the truth.

Good luck op with the sale 😃👍

Eh? A mortgage offer is an offer to lend on a particular property. You can't get one before you've actually chosen a property.

It helps to have a decision in principle which gives you an idea of how much you can afford on your income and deposit but you can't get more than that before you start looking. I don't know what the OP was expecting the buyers to produce. Also intrigued as to who the estate agent that charges buyers a deposit is 🤷‍♀️

All very strange.

wowfudge · 26/01/2021 12:18

@Chumleymouse - you don't usually get a formal mortgage offer until several weeks after applying. Any mortgage offer is contingent on the house it's intended to purchase being worth enough to be security for the loan. As a buyer you also usually pay the mortgage lender's legal fees and your solicitor also acts for the mortgage lender. It's the mortgage lender that is conservative and asks nit picky questions because they want to be worth their investment is sufficient security for the loan.

wowfudge · 26/01/2021 12:18

Sure, not worth

WTAFIhavelosttheferret · 26/01/2021 12:19

The money spent was a waste of money, either you do a full high end spec renovation (area/house type permitting) or sell as is.

Did you get agent advice before doing the work? They should have told you this. You probably devalued it by doing work I am afraid.

Bluntness100 · 26/01/2021 12:45

This can’t be real?

No agent takes a deposit, that’s ludicrous. The deposit is given at exchange.

Firstly offer made
Accept
Organise solicitor,
Organise survey with mortgage company and solicitor.
Can take a few weeks depending on area and how busy they are.
Submit all paper work to the mortgage company inc pay statements, bank statements etc
Often go through affordability interview depending on lender
Mortgage offer comes through. Usually last thing to occur before exchange, so on average about two to three months from offering depending on the mortgage company

No one takes a deposit or turns up with thr paperwork and it’s done that day, or even that week. And 5k under isnt low ball

Struggling to believe this is real, but I can’t think why anyone would make it up. However surely no one is this ignorant of the process. And the agent who takes a deposit is defintely made up.

unmarkedbythat · 26/01/2021 12:52

I would love the buyers to start their own thread about the nightmare seller.

unmarkedbythat · 26/01/2021 12:53

The buyers were idiots , who goes around offering on houses without even a mortgage offer in place

How are you meant to get a mortgage in place on a house you haven't even offered on? Have I missed something here?

Throughhistory · 26/01/2021 13:03

@Chumleymouse

The buyers were idiots , who goes around offering on houses without even a mortgage offer in place ? You bet your bottom dollar they would have tried to lower the price even further ( survey). I wouldn’t accept an offer from anybody without ( at least ) a mortgage offer in place. You get a definite amount you can borrow then you start looking/ offering.

Mortgage in principle is sometimes a bit dodgy as some people will be a bit flexible with the truth.

Good luck op with the sale 😃👍

I don't think you understand how mortgages work. A mortgage offer is against a specific property following a valuation and a thorough assessment of affordability. You might have an in principle offer based on earnings, but that guarantees nothing. No-one will be making an offer on a home with an actual mortgage offer in place. It's a process that happens once an the sale has been agreed.

Mortgage offers are taking over 40 days on average at the moment.

Bluntness100 · 26/01/2021 13:04

Op, I’m guess irrelevant of what you’re posting you’ve never actually bought or sold a property before. Or it was so long ago you habe forgotten what’s involved

A solicitor takes the deposit. It’s on exchange. Which is on average three to four months from making the offer. It can be much longer, seldom much shorter. The money is held in an escrow account.

The mortgage offer Is usually confirmed just before that, and searches complete.

LooseMooseHoose · 26/01/2021 13:18

There is one estate agent around here that takes a few grand deposit on accepting an offer. I discounted all their houses immediately so I don't know the details of what is involved. I can't be the only one who does this because their houses tend to stay up for longer. The last one I saw was for sale for 6months before being withdrawn.

In the listings they make a big some and dance about the buyer being given "6 weeks exclusivity" to get to exchange, and the deposit is taken off the price you offer. Not exactly much in it for the buyer!

Outnumbered99 · 26/01/2021 13:18

@Chumleymouse its impossible to have a mortgage offer at the stage you are suggesting!

Not unreasonable for an AIP though, and i know some people in covid times are insisting on that before accepting viewings, as a way to ensure you are only showing round serious buyers, not people with nothing else to do and fancy a gawp at houses.

DappledThings · 26/01/2021 13:21

Neither the buyers or the estate agent have done anything wrong. Nor has their architect friend for that matter. You however have fundamentally misunderstood most of the process as multiple PPs have pointed out and you've ignored.

LooseMooseHoose · 26/01/2021 13:27

Old article, but it seems like pre-contract deposits are as dodgy as they appear!

www.theguardian.com/money/2017/feb/04/estate-agents-ask-homebuyers-pay-up-pre-contract-deposit

Coolerthanapolarbearstoenails · 26/01/2021 13:40

I can safely say you've done your ex buyers and ex estate agent a favour Smile

Good luck with it all!

Tangledtresses · 26/01/2021 13:52

Hmm I was selling a house I would expect at least to see a mortgage in principle and evidence of a deposit as from the EA before I accepted an offer.

I do think they were trying it on by bringing an architect over and ripping the house to shreds those types of buyers do tend to be a nightmare..

I personally think you were right to put it back on the market at a reasonable price and accept good offers from better House buyers in a better position as there is no chain. Take your time and negotiate unless the house is falling apart via a survey it's sold as seen and no further neg on the price.

I would not take a deposit I would find a better EA who knows what they are doing.

TeaSoakedDisasterMagnet · 26/01/2021 13:54

OP you’re never going to sell the house if you don’t give your buyers chance to line up the paperwork. There are massive delays on everything at the moment, due to the pandemic and stamp duty holiday causing massive volumes of work. Also by prolonging the sale process, all that’s going to happen is eventually you’ll have to reduce it even further to sell it and then you’ve really shot yourself in the foot.

minniemoll · 26/01/2021 14:16

I'd say your buyers and agent have had a very lucky escape! You clearly don't have a clue about the house buying/selling process.

PowerslidePanda · 26/01/2021 14:19

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GenderApostate19 · 26/01/2021 14:54

Only a fool would spend £13k tarting up a house to sell. They would never recoup that money, why not just knock down the asking price?
I agree this seems unbelievable.

Bluntness100 · 26/01/2021 15:33

Could be someone name changed but agree it is proper batshit. 😂

May09Bump · 26/01/2021 16:59

@Thanksforthememory

Thanks for all the messages. As of this morning we have found out they haven't even got a mortgage of any sort in place so we have cancelled that offer and as the estate agent lied we have told them to that we are terminating that contract as well. The estate agent is obviously only interested in getting his money they should never have taken it off the market especially when he knew we'd reduced it to get a quick sale and as the house is a lot bigger than the normal ones on that road plus a corner plot with a lot more land I think for us to take less is extremely stupid. This isn't the first house I've sold but I've never come across such incompetence from a estate agent before but with this knowledge I'll make sure next time that they are working for us and not themselves and the buyer, I just wonder how many other people he has got away with conning in the past. If we let them we could still be sitting here in 6 months waiting for them to arrange this and that and anyone with a ounce of common sense would understand that you don't put all your eggs in one basket especially when there are so many timewasters out there.
Well done - right move!
LazyFace · 26/01/2021 17:20

OP, you're not in England, are you? I've never heard of a deposit around here.

Onjnmoeiejducwoapy · 26/01/2021 18:30

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Fleurty · 26/01/2021 18:38

Hang on, you're passed off they haven't sorted a survey within a week? It took 6 weeks before our mortgage application got the survey stage.

They probably weren't expecting you to be there at the viewing and it is perfectly reasonable for them to bring architects or tradesmen to a viewing without your "permission". They can hardly be held responsible for what the architect said to you, and newsflash, not everyone will have the same taste as you.

They haven't done anything to warrant you putting the house back on the market, and the EA probably meant that they had made it a condition of their offer that the house is taken off the market. It is a really shitty thing to do to let someone spend thousands on surveys and solicitor fees and sneakily carry on marketing it for a better offer behind their back.