Ready to exchange and a much better property has come on the market for the same price

[curtainst]

The house I'm buying needs quite a bit of updating. Everything is decades old and shabby, although well maintained and serviceable. I'm happy with it and we're scheduled to go ahead. Lo and behold a new house comes on the market, the exact same house a hundred metres down the street, with everything updated and brand new. Kitchen, bathroom, flooring, ceilings, lighting, new doors and windows etc. At the same price. What do I do in this scenario? I feel like I'm being shortchanged by this. Should I go to estate agent and negotiate a reduction? Or is that considered unethical at this stage when everything's ready to go? Or do I drop out and go after the other? Or see if house 2 will accept my offer first (it's their asking price so I think they will!) and then break off with current seller? FTB here and very clueless.

Go view the other one.

I meant worrying about burglary. I've just returned from staying with my Mum on a Scottish island. Nobody worries about burglary there.

No, this will be true. And the offers will be over asking.

At the risk of being the owner of the house you've had your offer accepted on, and potentially the one you'd be backing out on, (and indeed I am possibly in exactly this situation) I wouldn't blame you for pulling out.
Your first priority has to be yourself and your family, no other bugger will look out for you after all. Yes, it would be a temporary blow to me, but I would either re-adjust my expectations and do something else, or just carry on. Either way it will surely be resolved one way or the other. Please do what is best for you xx

Not round here.

Some ridiculous posts are best just ignored!.

That's not what I said.

but being so boastful & sounding so chuffed with yourself for doing it,, is distasteful.

Yes, just use propertyLog or one of the other price tracking apps and be amazed at the size of some of the reductions!

It isn"t happening on a big scale though, take new-build sales, down about 60% in some areas, people used to line up to view these sites? Very very different times now, but yes as you say the odd bidding war maybe does still take place.

I agree that it's a good sales tactic in a slow/falling market. You had a bidding war because you priced sensibly. Most sellers are not choosing asking prices slightly below market price though. A lot are listing far too high, not realising or perhaps ignoring the fact that prices have fallen in many areas and then they are puzzled when they don't get much interest.

That"s right, it shouldn"t really be a puzzle though?

People like getting bargains on phones, clothes groceries etc. why not houses?

Well for starters she didn't get a good deal on the house she was buying, she pulled out if the agreement to buy that house close to exchange & bought a different house & us now gloating.

phones. Clothes. Groceries are not in the same league & getting them on sale is nothing like breaking a house sale contract close to exchange.

Yes, they are peanuts compared to the price of a house, all the more reason to get the best cheapest house you can.

To pull out of a deal prior to exchange of contracts, by definition, is NOT breaking a contract. It might be a lousy system that the UK has (I think it is) but that is the system at present.

The system that allows you to pull out for a cheaper house is not so bad, we are not talking about tins of beans here, the seller knew there were other better houses in the area for less money, everyone uses price tracking apps now, it should be obvious who is kite flying and who has over-priced to start with?

What did you eventually fo @curtainst?

I'm a bit confused at the moment. House 1 is definitely overpriced (based on house 2) but when I had the conversation the EA kicked off massively and put the house back on the market. Meanwhile house 2 sold very quickly. I called them to ask how much it sold for (to check if I'd got it wrong and it sold for well above asking) and they said they couldn't tell me at the moment until the sale happens, BUT, they want me to let them know if I want to make an offer 🤔I feel like everyone's playing games here.

I'm feeling very zen though. I'm not going to rush anymore and I'm not going to be scared into making a purchase.

That sounds above their remit for the EA to put the house back on the market? Surely that was the vendors decision

Oh yes I'm sure it was with the seller's permission, but I think the EA must have advised it because he kicked off on the call itself before he'd even spoken to the seller.

It sounds as if the first EA over reacted there and was unprofessional. Hopefully you can avoid dealing with them in the future. The second EA sounds unethical. No wonder their profession has such a terrible reputation in general.
I'm sure lots of new houses will come on the market next year from end of February onwards as usual. Good luck!

Sadly that was always the risk. You have every right to change your mind at the last minute but the seller also has every right to be very upset and not trust you as a buyer, which it sounds like they don't now (and I wouldn't either tbh).

The second EA has acted in line with usual practice, I've never had one reveal the level of the successful offer when I've lost out, they have to keep that confidential. It doesn't sound like they're playing games, they've made the sale already. If they needed an offer from you they would have opened it to you when they already had a few on the table.

I'm sure you will find something else you are happy with though, in general it is a good time to buy and you are in a good position.

One thing going forward fyi - you will have to declare that you pulled out of a transaction and why on your buyer information form, it's mandated for the prior 12 months, and that might affect how you're viewed as a buyer if a seller has alternatives. While you can pull out at the last minute, it doesn't look good, so that is worth taking into account in the way you approach things going forward IMO.

(Edited for spelling)

That's interesting @Devuelta81. I've never been asked whether I have pulled out of a purchase in the prior 12 months when buying. Even if some agents ask this question, it won't be legally binding like a lot of the other documents involved in the process. It's true that the first agent clearly thinks that the OP is unreliable though but hopefully she won't want to purchase through them in future.

EA sounds like a complete idiot.

whist its good not to be scared into making a purchase. Dont let it scare you into NOT making a purchase.

if you were a. Currencies buyer id say ti report tge EA attitude to both you & his underhand ness in trying to get further offers on an agreed said.

but as a first time buyer id say just look after yourself. That's hard enough.

What do you mean it doesn't look like they're playing games? 😂EA2 has the house marked as sold, there's a person out there with an offer accepted thinking he or she is buying it, but he's happy to take an offer from me because I'm a FTB and ready to go.