Avoiding making the same mistake again...strung along by agents & buyer

[Greenfairydust]

So today I had a call from the estate agent about someone making a higher offer on the house I was interested in just as I was about to instruct my solicitor to start the buying process.

I had concerns about the process from the start and was interested in getting feedback from people on what I did wrong. I am not a first time buyer but previously had a shared-ownership property which is a slightly more straight-forward buying process.

I made an offer on a small house with a tiny garden, lower than the asking price but reasonable as it had been on the market for some time & was unlikely to attract families. I made my financial position crystal clear from the very start: I had a buyer for my property, the sale would complete this month and I would get a small mortgage to top this up.

The agent then wasted my time asking for more details and source, not just proof, of funds (which I thought should be done later in the process between solicitors) and intrusive details, even after I provided a mortgage in principle and I kept stating that my sale was progressing as planned.

My sale completed and I was so pleased that everything was coming together and then today I got this call...I told the agent I was not interested in over-bidding and wished the seller good luck. They said they would speak to the seller and get back to me.

I think basically they took advantage of my nativity and were always planning to play for time and try to get another buyer to pay more, although I had been told my offer was accepted or they are trying to squeeze more money out of me at the last minute.

They refused to take the property off the market while my own sale was still ongoing and while I responded to their endless demands for ever more intrusive information.

I know that gazumping is unfortunately perfectly legal but I wonder if I should have insisted that the property was taken off the market immediately and walked away then and there.

To avoid a repeat with another house, should I be:

• making it clear my offer is conditional to the property being taken off the market straight away
• not engage in detailed conversation with the agent about my finances beyond saying ''here is my mortgage in principle, the rest of the funds come from a recent sale and are on my bank account, any further queries (ID checks, source of funds) will be discussed between solicitors''.

Any advice is much appreciated. I have quite a tough year with anything from illness, job change, recent move into a rental and leaving an abusive partner so I am aware my exhaustion and overwhelm is making me prime target for pushy estate agents and I want to learn from this....

I’m sorry this happened. We’ve had purchases fall through too, just be glad you hadn’t done the surveybyet. Over the last 20 yrs I’ve lost £6000 on purchases that didn’t proceed.

Anyway your plan is good, and all you can do (other than push for fast exchange).

Good luck!

Ps the only other thing you can do differently is if you get a call saying someone else has offered higher, you say that you are in a position to proceed asap or on timing to fit the seller, is thenother offer proceedable?

But I wouldn’t instruct solicitors to go ahead unless the seller had taken the property off the market.

Thank you @Oher for the feedback.

You are so right that it is better for this to happen now than after the survey/once solicitors had been instructed.

On your second point, the agents are now required to carry out a number of checks on both buyers and sellers in order to comply with recent anti moneylaundering legislation.

www.gov.uk/government/publications/money-laundering-regulations-2007-supervision-of-estate-agency-businesses

www.propertymark.co.uk/professional-standards/consumer-guides/buying-selling-houses/aml-proof-of-funds.html

www.london-law.co.uk/the-estate-agent-has-asked-me-for-proof-of-funds-why-and-do-i-have-to-provide-them/

I'm sorry you're going through this.

But it is usual for the estate agent to seek verification you can afford the property before it's taken off the market - this is usually your mortgage agreement in principle and evidence of money in bank account(s). We insisted our recent purchase was taken off the market as a condition of our offer but they would only do this after evidence had been provided.

Otherwise anyone could rock up and say they could afford it which would be a waste of everyone's time.

To be fair, I’d instantly be wary of someone selling a shared ownership property in the chain and choose someone else if possible. I’m glad your sale has gone through though and you will now be a much more attractive prospective purchaser. Most people will take the property off the market once an offer has been accepted so definitely don’t accept anything less on the next one you go for. If you wish to go for another low offer you would be sensible to get the estate agents on side so they can push for the vendors to choose you as a buyer I.e. you want them to say “X has put in an offer of X. Yes it is a bit lower than we were looking for but she is ready to move, recently sold her property, has a mortgage in principle from another property she was purchasing that fell through and has provided all ID, proof of funds and evidence that she is ready to proceed”. So basically my advice would be to not paint yourself as a difficult buyer to the agents right from the start and be as accommodating as possible.

My DD and her DP have just completed (yesterday!) on a property and she had to provide all that information and more! Bank statements, proof of extra funds, salary payslips ... just her shoe size was missing!

They did insist the property was taken off the books and marked SSTC before they went any further.

When was your offer accepted? As in how long ago?

We’re currently buying and selling and have had chains collapse too this year. It is disappointing so I do genuinely sympathise. However, I really don’t think anyone did anything wrong from what you describe. It’s apparently normal for EA to ask for proof of funds (we have had to) and I can’t see why any seller would agree to stop taking offers when the house isn’t off the market. Until you are proceedable and can afford to buy their property, it’s all just offers in the air I guess. Try not to be disheartened, I hope you find a new property soon OP. Good luck!

We’ve exchanged on our new house (finished building next year) and have cash buyer lined up for our current house. I’m afraid the checks are invasive but pretty normal right now. My buyer has had to jump through so many legal hoops to prove the money is there as it’s coming from abroad, neither of us have had the sale paperwork looked at by the solicitors yet to get a date!

we also had to have all the information for the financial sides completed before our house was released to reserve, let alone reserve it. We had to have everything in place before we chose it as that’s just how it is for most of them at the moment.

fingers crossed you find a new property soon OP!

Also, it seems difficult to see how this:

they are trying to squeeze more money out of me at the last minute

aligns with this:

I was about to instruct my solicitor to start the buying process

''@Nosleepforthismum ·
To be fair, I’d instantly be wary of someone selling a shared ownership property in the chain and choose someone else if possible''

That's your prerogative.

The reality however is that my sale took less than 3 months, I had no mortgage on the flat and I made a good profit out of the sale. So much for prejudices about shared-ownership...

''@Mildura · Today 16:42
Also, it seems difficult to see how this:

they are trying to squeeze more money out of me at the last minute

aligns with this:

I was about to instruct my solicitor to start the buying process''

What is it that you don't understand?

The timing of a higher offer suddenly appearing out of nowhere when the house had been on the market for months before I made my offer without any interest whatsoever just a the money from my recent sale hit my bank account to me seems suspicious.

I did not instruct my solicitor because the agents and the seller were dragging their feet. I am glad I didn't so at least I don't have to pay their fee for nothing.

I actually caught the estate agent telling another lie today.

I was asked to go ahead with ID checks with a legal company while the sellers considers their two offers because the estate agents said that this would be valid for a few months anyway and I could use that if I wanted to offer on another of their properties

But when I did the ID check process the solicitor told me that what the agent had stated was untrue and that I would have to do the basic ID checks again if I offered on another property.

So I am done wit them and will withdraw my offer.

@RidingMyBike
''But it is usual for the estate agent to seek verification you can afford the property before it's taken off the market - this is usually your mortgage agreement in principle and evidence of money in bank account(s).''

I have no problem with that and they did have my mortgage in principle agreement and I was going to send them a copy of my bank statement showing all the monies including the recent sale.

What started to annoy me was the amount of additional details that was asked and that the goalposts were being moved all the time with new requests.

How long was the period between them accepting your offer and you instructing solicitors?

I have many failed house sales and purchases under my belt and the main problem in the process is that some people are greedy.

I am also astonished at home much personal ID I have had to hand over to both the EA and the Solicitors. Seems barmy to me.

But it very much looks, to them, like you weren't committed to the sale - you didn't provide the copy of your bank statement (which was essential in our purchase to get the property off the market) and you hadn't instructed your solicitor - how long was it between offer and then now?

We did all of that within 24 hours of making the offer - it was house viewed Thurs morning, offer made Thurs afternoon, copies of details provided before 4pm, house taken off market and the Friday and weekend viewings cancelled. Instructed solicitor Friday morning. We had all the copies ready to go in advance.

With the ID question and your solicitor - it's valid for six months but after that they have to go through the checks again. We just scraped inside that as sold and then bought again the next year.

Was your offer ever accepted, OP? Because when I've had an offer accepted I've had to provide the conveyancer details before the memorandum of sale was issued.

I would agree with the PP that the property should be taken off the market if the offer was accepted - but I'm wondering if it was?

@RidingMyBike
''But it very much looks, to them, like you weren't committed to the sale - you didn't provide the copy of your bank statement (which was essential in our purchase to get the property off the market) and you hadn't instructed your solicitor - how long was it between offer and then now?''

What nonsense.

I provided the mortgage in principle and the date my sale was due to complete. Logic should tell you that I can't provide a bank statement showing the proceeds of a sale before it actually completes and the money goes into my account...

I also am not going to instruct a solicitor if the agent and the seller are going back and forth about my offer being accepted.

@ChicCroissant
''Was your offer ever accepted, OP? Because when I've had an offer accepted I've had to provide the conveyancer details before the memorandum of sale was issued. I would agree with the PP that the property should be taken off the market if the offer was accepted - but I'm wondering if it was?''

The agent delayed putting my offer forward to start with, because it was under the asking price, and I had to remind him that he was legally obliged to submit it so it did not go off to a good start.

Then yes it was accepted but with the understanding that the seller wanted confirmation my sale had completed. So there were further delays.

In the end I think the seller just wanted to hold on for more money and kept me as a back up option.

So I won't be making the same mistake again. if I offer on a house it will conditional to it coming off the market straight away or I will withdraw my offer.

Funny how the comments are suspicious of OP since buying while similar thread would offer unconditional support if OP was selling claiming the usual « don’t accept anything but full asking, put it back to market, etc ».

The market is going south at the moment, you probably save yourself few % off the next purchase and wouldn’t be surprised if the seller doesn’t complete a sale for a while for the same reason. Shared ownership are super easy to shift in most cases, so you re in a good position for next move. And yes, ask for it to be taken off the market as a condition of your offer.

Most people put an offer on whilst their own house sale hasn't completed though, that's how chains work - you evidence that by the solicitor confirming details. Why aren't you using the same solicitor for sale as well as purchase as you then wouldn't have the ID check issue?

You've also said your sale then completed so why didn't you provide the bank statement then so your offer could proceed?

So, for your next offer to be taken seriously, you need to provide evidence of your funding and your solicitor details. And make the offer conditional on the house coming off the market.

Good luck!

You’re quite aggressive in the way you respond to people trying to help you OP and I wonder if that is one reason that your purchase failed. It is very normal for the agent to require personal details from the buyer re the source of their funding etc, and your solicitor will later also require verification. It’s a legal requirement, it’s not them being difficult or not trusting you, so they were probably taken aback by your attitude.

Where I do agree with you, however, is that with your next purchase, once your offer is accepted and you have told them where your funding is coming from & the name of your solicitor, you have the right to insist that they should take the house off the market immediately.

''@Nextbigthing ·
Funny how the comments are suspicious of OP since buying while similar thread would offer unconditional support if OP was selling claiming the usual « don’t accept anything but full asking, put it back to market, etc ».

The market is going south at the moment, you probably save yourself few % off the next purchase and wouldn’t be surprised if the seller doesn’t complete a sale for a while for the same reason. Shared ownership are super easy to shift in most cases, so you re in a good position for next move. And yes, ask for it to be taken off the market as a condition of your offer.''

Thank you. I agree that it is probably the best in the long term that this fell through.

Yes, I got rather fed up with comments that seem to insist on being suspicious of my motives and not reading the details about my situation correctly.

@RidingMyBike ·
Most people put an offer on whilst their own house sale hasn't completed though, that's how chains work - you evidence that by the solicitor confirming details. Why aren't you using the same solicitor for sale as well as purchase as you then wouldn't have the ID check issue? You've also said your sale then completed so why didn't you provide the bank statement then so your offer could proceed?

• ID check: they insist on their own company being used. Why? because that legal company then send you a quote immediately for how much they would charge you for conveyancing...the agent also wanted me to speak to their financial adviser for a finance check, which I did, although I have my own mortgage broker. It is all because they get commissions out of all of this it seems.
• bank statement: people really need to start reading the thread correctly...my sale completed a few days ago as I was about to submit the statement, I had a call about the higher offer.