Would you gazump?

[Whattodowhattodo246]

Morning all. I saw a property last week in a desirable catchment area. The house came on the market at the beginning of May, was on sale for a week and sold. It then reappeared for sale last week as the sale fell through (buyer had more money to spend on a house than he had thought). I viewed the house on the Tuesday and planned a 2nd viewing for the Saturday (next time the agent could fit us in as my husband couldn’t make the 1st viewing due to him working away). I then saw online on the Wednesday that the house had sold. I called the agent who confirmed that it had sold but did not mention if I could put a counter offer in and I did not ask; the agent merely said they would contact me if the sale fell through.

I was speaking to a friend who suggested I call up the agent tomorrow and ask to put forward an offer (asking price or higher) and see what the owner says.

I have just sold my property to a first time buyer and keen to get moving ASAP. The house I would like to buy does not have a chain.

if you were the owner of the other house, would you consider a counter offer despite already accepting an offer?

I bought my first (my current) home which was a new build so didn’t go through the whole counter offer situation.

Thanks @blue345 - I think that’s what annoys me, that it is the agent being obstructive rather than the vendor saying no. If my agent acted in a similar manner, I would be upset because obviously everyone wants the best price on their property.

Now that you have given more information re offer and the property being probate. This is beginning to sound fishy.
A desirable house has an initial offer withdrawn, and is then remarketed.

Agent has several viewings planned but accepts the first to offer and refuses any more viewings or offers.

I think agent is colluding and using the fact that owners have already lost a sale as an excuse. Probate takes time and executors usually want a quick sale. Agent may have framed the offer, as this is the best you will get.
Colluding with who ? Friend, family, developer or client. Whoever it is it’s not supposed to happen that way, and offers should be passed on for consideration. Of course the Agent could advise against you, say you’re flaky or something. However I agree with others, put your offer in writing to Branch manager and call it out.

I would definitely take this further - not because I agree with gazumping, but because the agent is acting underhanded.

There are a few reasons why they could be doing this, but the most common one would be that they're also selling another property in the chain, so double the commission.

The other offer could be substantially higher than asking though, hence cancelling future viewings and marking as sold... it may have been a condition of the offer. They're still obliged to pass other offers on though, so do put an offer in writing and get your OH on the case!

Ultimately it’s not up to the EA anyway but the decision of the current owners who have indicated they prefer to stick with the offer they have accepted.

They may be thinking about it from a moral perspective. And can afford to be moral because they don’t need to achieve the highest price possible for an onward purchase.

But surely if they were being moral they'd have allowed OPs second viewing to happen, knowing she was obviously keen?

I would say it's more likely a high offer has tempted them.

They presumably received a good offer from a buyer they trusted so were happy to accept that offer rather than hold out longer for a potentially better one. The offer could have been made on the basis that the property was taken off the market and no more viewings allowed. This is standard practice and if they agreed to it, they will now be focused on progressing the sale.

I would put the offer in writing, in an email and follow up with a phone call to check they've received it (hoping that a different estate agent answers the phone). They legally have to put the offer to the vendor then, and if they've got a paper trail they will think twice about not doing it. It's not too late at all, you can still get this house if you want it.

This doesn’t sound right. An estate agent with viewings booked would advise the sellers of this and probably suggest best and final offers on the property. Their aim should be to get the highest price for the sellers. Maybe it is a friend of theirs. ? There used to be an ombudsman you could go to with issues like this. ( I know as I did this in the past with a dodgy agent). If there is you could always call and get some advice.

Id ring and ask to speak to the manager and ask why your offer isn’t being passed on.

As above I'd put the offer in writing to the EA manager and then ring them. This whole thing doesn't sound right unless your offer is so much lower than the current one that the EA doesn't want to embarrass you, it sounds like the EA just doesn't want any hassle. It's really unprofessional of the EA to make this decision for the seller, they're legally obligated to pass on offers until exchange has taken place

I don't see what is so hard for people to understand that many offers are made on the basis of the property is taken off the market and no more viewings allowed. Have you never seen Location, Location, Location??? 😂

The house is no longer for sale.
Thus the estate agent is not acting illegally.

To answer your question, if I had already accepted an offer, I would not then accept a higher one.

I hope this happens to you when your offer is accepted. Really deplorable behaviour.

I tried once and the EA did put it to the owners of the probate property. They were all extremely polite and understanding but declined as felt they had made an agreement with first people and couldn't morally sell to me. The house was beautiful, 200 years old, listed and had been in the same family forever, I wanted it as my family home which the EA agreed was what the owners wanted it to be used as. It's now another bloody Air B &B

This is irrelevant though, if am offer is made it still has to be passed on. I don't think OP got as far as making an offer though, as the agent put her off.

This isn't true. Until contracts are exchanged, the agent is legally obliged to put any further offers forward.

Could be completely above board, or it could be a dodgy estate agent 🤷🏻‍♀️ I'd ring the manager and ask what the protocol is

You can offer, but doesn't your DH need to see property first - if so, you need to word it that you're making an offer of x subject to the viewing on Saturday still taking place (can vendors show you around before hand maybe?) and you confirming immediately whether that offer is still on the table.

This is why the Scottish system is better - once an offer is accepted (even verbally) the seller cannot accept a higher offer.

My parents were offered more after selling a house in the borders and turned it down.

Personally, I think gazumping is poor behaviour. Much better to have an end date, and pick from the offers made at that point

I wonder if the scenario is this:
First buyers had offer accepted, mortgage approved, surveys done. Then their buyers dropped out, after a few weeks of nor finding a new buyer, the probate seller remarketed the property. Then the first buyers got an offer new buyers, so, having been approved financially and survey all in place are much better buyers regardless of what you offer, as the first buyers are so far ahead of you.

Either way the EA should still pass your offer on. I suggest you put in writing your offer, note that you have MIP, and FTB to purchase yours, and ask that they pass it onto the vendors and keep you in the loop should it become re-available. Meanwhile carry on looking.

It doesn’t have to be passed on if the owner has indicated that they don’t want to hear about any other offers as they are committed to that sale.

Well obviously, but that is pure speculation of course and none of us have a clue! Far better to double check, as a high proportion of EAs don't tell the truth.

@GodspeedJune - that’s not a very kind thing to say. As I’ve said, we were going to put an offer in anyway but the listing was just changed to Sold SSTC when we had already got a second viewing arranged and confirmed with the agent. I called the agent the same day it was listed as sold to say I wanted to put a bid in.

So, I did call up the agent and he apologised for the “miscommunication” - he has spoken with the vendor who politely declined my offer, but will keep me on the back burner in case things with the current buyer go south.

Thank you for the recommendations and advice from the majority of posters. I would never usually think to gazump; it was purely that the house was perfect for us and my DC were absolutely devastated that it had sold (and I was annoyed with the agent for not giving me the chance to put in an offer in the first place). I wish the current buyers well.

It doesn’t have to be passed on if the owner has indicated that they don’t want to hear about any other offers as they are committed to that sale.

That’s not really the point here.
The point is OP viewed the house on the Tuesday and arranged with the agent to view it again on the Saturday with her husband. If the agent had told her another offer was on the table that actual day the OP might well have offered on the Tuesday or Wednesday. The real loser here is the seller (assuming of course that OP’s offer was the higher).

Ah, cross post.
Good luck with your search, OP.