'Just accepted an offer on this property this morning...'

[SaintGutFree]

Aaaarrrggghh!! If I hear this one more time I will scream. We have been debating moving for years, had loads of properties we were interested in that had been on for sale for up to three months. We have finally put ours up for sale and got 8 viewings already lined up but every single property we had our eyes on have sold in the last week and a half. I could cry as we can't see anything else we want

It seems though every time I contact an agent about a property, it is always the case they accepted an offer 'that morning'. Is it some kind of ploy?!?

So annoyed and worried we won't be able to find anything now.

What type of ploy would involve telling people they can’t view as the house is sold ?

I know I know it sounds stupid it's just every single time, the offer has always been accepted that morning. I'm just really frustrated and anxious about it

I do think they use properties in a variety of ways to get u in the door
After dealing with estate agents in 2013 i realised they deserve the reputation they have

It's just the way the market is at the minute, unfortunately. I threw myself at the mercy of the estate agent when we were buying last year, having missed out on at least a dozen houses. I begged him to help me get the house that we eventually did purchase.
It's a seller's market indeed.

There should be nothing stopping you still viewing even if offer accepted as you could potentially give a higher offer.
They can’t tell you what the offer is but I’d still ask if seller is willing

@PinkCookie11

There should be nothing stopping you still viewing even if offer accepted as you could potentially give a higher offer. They can’t tell you what the offer is but I’d still ask if seller is willing

That's a really shitty thing to do. Worth remembering that if you do it, the person you gazumped knows where you live.

It's just mad how quickly everything is flying out (well, the ones we like anyway) We weren't in any particular rush to move but wanted to before the kids were much older. Feel like now we are getting rid of our lovely little house, and that there is nothing left out there for us to buy. Feel a bit emotional about the whole thing so I do need to get a grip

How long will our buyers realistically wait for us to find a property?

And I understand why, but it is so hard we can't look round anywhere until we have an offer on ours. The whole thing feels so rushed

@Bluntness100

What type of ploy would involve telling people they can’t view as the house is sold ?

The ploy that the agent is also selling the buyer's house so double the commission?

It happens like that sometimes - at one point we said to our estate agent that if they had any hard to shift properties we'd view them cos they'd be sure to get an offer on them from someone else before we got home - that's how it felt to us at the time

saint - I hear you. I feel exactly the same as you. We have been struggling to fi d something for 8 months now, it is so hard.

Cant offer any advice but you are not alone, hoping it is our time very soon!

@ QueenStromba How on earth would the buyer that was gazumped know where the gazumper lived?

How on earth would the buyer that was gazumped know where the gazumper lived?

Because the gazumper will be moving into the house that the gazumped buyers were trying to buy?

@HepLaurenceLB

@ QueenStromba How on earth would the buyer that was gazumped know where the gazumper lived?

Because if you gazump them they know the house you are buying.

Local to us houses are normally under offer by lunchtime on day 1

It's the same in my area OP. I have two friends who put their houses on the market and both were snapped up really fast. They are both having to move their families in with parents/in laws while they wait for new houses to be built as they can't find a house to buy, there's just nothing for sale around here except top end expensive houses.

Know where I live?? What they going to do exactly 😂
Do you know that’s how house buying and selling works?
People get gazumped everyday! It’s part of the game unfortunately

@HepLaurenceLB because they are buying the house in question...

I had the same issue - for some reason agents are slow to put 'under offer' or 'sokd' on rightmove listing so I'd make a list but half would be under offer. But they would get my on their list with contact details.
I have to move - my daughter starts at a new school 70 miles from where I live. I ended up compromising - on size garden, number of rooms, size of house. I am buying a house i really like (if the vendor will actually find a house to buy) but only after I do £100k worth of work.
You just have to view everything - one just may surprise you. But if can wait I'd waut til next year when hopefully things will have normalised.

@Ladyof

saint - I hear you. I feel exactly the same as you. We have been struggling to fi d something for 8 months now, it is so hard.

Cant offer any advice but you are not alone, hoping it is our time very soon!

8 months!! Are your buyers ok with waiting? So frustrating!

The annoying thing is that I was happy to wait for next year but there were so many house we liked available DH wanted to go ahead now. All of the bloody houses selling the second I express an interest

I feel you OP. We have a buyer for ours but every single house we liked has now sold before we got our offer, and all that is left are houses with a huge compromise. I’m hoping and praying that another house comes on the market soon that we can snap up now we have a buyer! Agree with the PP who mentioned houses taking ages to list as “sold”, we accepted an offer nearly a week ago and ours still shows as for sale.

I think some estate agents def leave houses as for sale on eg Rightmove when they've actually gone under offer - and then use your phone call to extract your info. It's deeply deeply tedious, the whole thing.

we had the same problem - and now our house has sold the houses we wanted had gone . then luckily the one we liked came back on the market as the chain was broken . but if we don't get this one I am not sure what we will do - don't want to go into rented as we have dogs so hard to find anywhere .

you just have to go round every agent and make sure they know what you are interested in . and be first on the list if something comes up .

When my dh moved his workplace he spent the week, 1980’s no internet, finding properties in estate agents windows and returning on a Friday night with a list for us to go through.
Nearly every property had been sold before I could go to view with him the following weekend.
Eventually we drove around the area looking for For Sale signs and actually doorstepped the owners of the house we bought.
Even then another couple were interested.

It’s really hard atm because of the stamp duty holiday.
You just have to be a property buying ninja I’m afraid.
Register your interest with agents and ring regularly.

Dont forget that some of those houses that have recently gone under offer could return to the market if chains collapse - so hang on in there and when you do go under offer make sure the agents know you would be interested if any sales fall through.

You need to get on the agents' books if you aren't already and call them regularly. They will call people they know are looking before the property hits the online market. It can take a while sometimes to get photos etc done and by the time they're done they could have called up 20 people they know are looking, got 5 in through the door and had 2 offers. If you are actively trying to find somewhere, it's not enough to rely on rightmove/zoopla etc. Onthemarket.com also sometimes has a 24 hour exclusivity period over rightmove, so look there as well. Alot of people don't know that but not all agents advertise on there.