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Original poster

Advice needed: Someone else’s offer accepted on the property we want

31 replies

HollieTalbut1997 · 26/04/2024 18:48

Hi, I’m hoping to get some advice as I’m really inexperienced at house buying/selling.
We’ve been considering moving for a while and a property recently came up that we were really interested in. We got the process moving for listing ours and viewed the property straight away. We offered on it but was declined because our home wasn’t yet on the market.
Our property is now on the market, but someone else has made an offer on the property we want in the meantime and it’s been accepted. I spoke to estate agents today and explained ours is now on the market and we want to remake our offer, also explained our budget was flexible and would be prepared to up our offer if needed. They said they’d pass it onto the buyer.
If an offer has been accepted but we offer more, or if we can sell our property quicker, could we still secure the property? To note, the other buyer also has a property to sell which has just gone to market.
Is this basically gonna be a case of who can sell quicker?
Any advice/experience welcomed!

OP posts:
MigGirl · 26/04/2024 18:52

You can ask, but the other buyer may already have a offer on their house. In which case they can proceed with the purchase while you are waiting for an offer.

In most cases its really only sensible to put in an offer if you already have a buyer. A lot of people won't accept an offer if you don't have a buyer already.

Coldupnorth87 · 26/04/2024 18:52

You want to gazump?

It's not the selling (offer) stage, it's getting the chain to the point of exchange, that's only when it's secure, once exchange has gone through.

If I was the seller, I'd not deal with you but many would...

Original poster
HollieTalbut1997 · 26/04/2024 18:56

Just to add - I know for a fact that the other buyer doesn’t have a buyer for their home yet which has also just gone on the market.

OP posts:
Wellthatwashardwork · 26/04/2024 19:00

Completely depends but once an offer is accepted most sellers will stick with their buyer. There may be a particular reason they are keen to proceed with the buyer they've accepted an offer on, for example they may be cash buyers, or they may have just clicked with them, or they may have said they will be flexible on move dates, the agent may have a buyer lined up for their property, or even that it's their neighbour's cousin's niece, its not always about money and selling can sometimes by about relationships as well as transactional.

If you really wanted your offer to be accepted given the poor position you were in you should have put your best offer forward then, it's too late to start increasing yours now there is competition, your buying strategy didn't pay off this time. That's kind of how housing chains work in England it's a game and you have to do your best to probe the sellers or agent to try and find out what motivates the seller to secure the property.

There is no harm in approaching the agent with your revised offer and noting your continued interest, but in many cases a low offer from someone who wasn't even in a position to proceed won't have been taken seriously and it sounds like the other buyers have gone in with a strong offer or other reason that's appealed to the seller. But chains break down all the time so definitely worth keeping in touch with the agent.

Twiglets1 · 26/04/2024 19:05

It probably will come down to who can sell their house first, assuming you can offer the same or more than the other interested party.

The owners really shouldn’t have verbally accepted an offer from people not in a position to proceed. If you sell first, the EA will be encouraging them to accept your offer instead as who knows how long they could take to sell?

seethingmess · 26/04/2024 19:06

Odd for them to have accepted an offer from someone who can't proceed yet. No harm putting yours to them again.

NewFriendlyLadybird · 26/04/2024 19:11

Neither you nor the other buyer can actually make good on your offers until you’ve sold. So even if you attempted to gazump and offer over asking price the sellers would be fools to accept. You might take forever to sell and you might have to accept a low offer.

There are many reasons why the sellers might have accepted the other offer, but, having done so, I’d say they were likely to stick with them at least for a set amount of time.

The best you can do is leave your best offer on the table and get ahead with selling your house. Even if you lose this house, you will then be in a better position to offer on the next one.

YeahComeOnThen · 26/04/2024 19:14

Did they offer a lot more than you?

it seems there must be other issues at play as they refused you offer & their 'reason/excuse' was that you weren't on the market (isn't sold) but neither are they.

MountCaramel · 26/04/2024 19:16

You're not really in a position to make an offer as your house hasn't sold yet, it's just on the market. I wouldn't accept an offer from a buyer in your position as I could be waiting months for your house to sell.

Seaside3 · 26/04/2024 19:23

I'm a firm believer that if its meant to be your house it will be. And if it doesn't end up yours, there is a better option for you.

Original poster
HollieTalbut1997 · 26/04/2024 19:27

YeahComeOnThen · 26/04/2024 19:14

Did they offer a lot more than you?

it seems there must be other issues at play as they refused you offer & their 'reason/excuse' was that you weren't on the market (isn't sold) but neither are they.

We don’t know exactly what they offered of course, we offered above the asking price though. That’s mainly why I’m confused - I feel like if ours was declined for not being on the market yet, why was there’s accepted when their house isn’t sold either!

OP posts:
schloss · 26/04/2024 19:30

I presume you offered considerably lower than the other offer. If you offer higher now, I would expect it would have to be much higher than the other offer for the vendor to even consider it. However, it is gazumping and if you do it, the vendor accepts, you leave yourself in the position where the vendor may then accept an even higher offer and so on. Reap what you sow.

Gladespade · 26/04/2024 19:31

HollieTalbut1997 · 26/04/2024 19:27

We don’t know exactly what they offered of course, we offered above the asking price though. That’s mainly why I’m confused - I feel like if ours was declined for not being on the market yet, why was there’s accepted when their house isn’t sold either!

Show quote history

I would assume from this that theirs was even higher. I think it would have to be for the vendors to accept when the prospective purchaser has not sold

sbplanet · 26/04/2024 19:32

If the Estate agent has made the seller aware of your renewed interest it will be down to them what they do.
I once accepted on a property I was selling and although someone else came in with another offer I stuck with the first buyer because I'd given them my word (when I accepted their offer). It maybe that the seller is doing the same. Or it may be for another reason.
So I'd just wait and see what the EA comes back to you with and take it from there. If they say they are sticking with their buyer you could ask the EA to register your continued interest and see whether things change.
If the seller comes back and accepts your higher offer (if that is what it is) be prepared for the same to maybe happen to you - gazumping isn't something that is nice to experience.

therejustbarely · 26/04/2024 20:38

I'd leave it there and focus on selling your property, seeing what else is out there, etc. We're about to move into our preferred house after we lost out on it a few months ago to another buyer who then backed out of the sale for whatever reason. As soon as we saw it back on the market we put our offer forward. It was a welcome surprise, we'd given up on that one and were looking elsewhere. You just never know.

But I agree with pp, you aren't in a strong position to offer without your own sale confirmed first, so any number you give can't really be substantiated. Get yourself sold and see what happens next.

ClonedSquare · 26/04/2024 21:45

Unless you're going to offer a significant amount more than the others, I wouldn't accept your offer if I were the sellers.

To them, you're both equal in terms of ability to proceed. But the other people came straight out the gate with an offer the sellers liked, whereas you've needed to be coaxed into doing so. I'd trust them more to stick to the offer and be concerned you'd be looking to knock money off later or pull out completely.

IhateJan22 · 26/04/2024 22:01

I thought you couldn’t offer until you had an offer on your own?

CountingCrones · 26/04/2024 22:06

IhateJan22 · 26/04/2024 22:01

I thought you couldn’t offer until you had an offer on your own?

You can offer at any point.

Many agents and vendors won’t accept or act on them
without a house on the market or house with an accepted offer, but that’s up to them.

Ibelieveinangles1 · 26/04/2024 22:12

We accepted an offer from people who said they would go on the market immediately. They said theirs was in a sought after area and immaculate and they would price keenly. They sold within days and everything went smoothly.
I actually had two later higher offers from proceedable people during the buying process but I am a big believer in playing fair. People who would try and disrupt a sale are likely to mess you about too. Nothing wrong with keeping your interest known in case things fall through with current buyers though.

Original poster
HollieTalbut1997 · 26/04/2024 22:17

ClonedSquare · 26/04/2024 21:45

Unless you're going to offer a significant amount more than the others, I wouldn't accept your offer if I were the sellers.

To them, you're both equal in terms of ability to proceed. But the other people came straight out the gate with an offer the sellers liked, whereas you've needed to be coaxed into doing so. I'd trust them more to stick to the offer and be concerned you'd be looking to knock money off later or pull out completely.

Not sure how we needed to be coaxed? We offered above asking price the day after it went on the market… they declined because ours wasn’t on the market yet but we were part way through the process to getting it on.

OP posts:
SaltySeaBird · 26/04/2024 22:22

Nothing to stop you trying to gazump but it’s a shitty thing to do. We lost a house last year because of it.

Oh and just because their house has only just gone on, doesn’t mean you know their buying situation. We only put our house on after having an offer accepted as we weren’t linking the purchases in a chain. We could buy the new one without selling.

That said register your interest should the sale fall through or be delayed, and update them as soon as you have an offer.

Gummybear23 · 26/04/2024 22:25

HollieTalbut1997 · 26/04/2024 18:56

Just to add - I know for a fact that the other buyer doesn’t have a buyer for their home yet which has also just gone on the market.

You're in a better position to the seller.

MonsterMunched · 26/04/2024 22:28

I wouldn’t accept an offer from either of you if you haven’t accepted an offer on yours. Neither of you are proceedable buyers.

sweetpickle2 · 27/04/2024 09:18

Honestly OP I would let it go- they’ve accepted another offer, the reasons for why you don’t know and aren’t your business. Trying to convince them to sell to you instead is really shitty. Imagine they accepted your offer, then someone else came along offering more and they did the same to you?

BuddingPeonies · 27/04/2024 09:38

I'd get your house under offer.
At that point, if the other potential buyers are still unsold, go back with an offer in a proceedable position.

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