Estate Agents not letting us put in an offer?

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Hi all. We have no experience with dealing with estate agents so I was hoping someone would be able to advise on the below!

We really want to put in an offer on a property. It’s listed on Rightmove (and has been for 5 weeks), and is a £900,000 house on a street full of £2m+ properties. The area is full of elderly people in average properties that are then typically snapped up by developers and resold for insane amounts.

I initially rang hoping to view the property after it has been on the market for 2 weeks. I was told that there are to be no more viewings as the seller has accepted an offer in principle, but was waiting for them to sell their own house. End of call.

I rang back a week later and asked about the house again as it was still on RightMove. I was told that it was still on Right Move as it hadn’t sold as the seller was waiting for the buyers own house to sell. I asked if I could view as I may want to put an offer in too and was told no as the buyer had accepted the sellers offer (then surely it should be taken off of Right Move?).

A couple of weeks on and the house is still available to view. I rang off of another number and was told the same story again.

Can anyone shed any light onto this? Surely if the sellers are waiting on the buyers to sell, then they may still be interested in receiving new (potentially higher) offers? I can’t help but think something dodgy is going on by the estate agents as the house is such a bargain in a very desirable area.

So she offers unseen, the seller loses the original buyer, then OP views and changes her mind ? Any prospective viewer who approached me directly instead of using the EA I’m paying to handle the sale professionally would be shown the door. If they’re entitled enough to try to circumvent the process to get what they want, then what kind of entitlement are they going to display further down the line ?

Real issue here is OP thinks the house is undervalued so is desperate to snatch the home away from the family who got there first for £s gain. Pushy & entitled is right.

Team original buyer now…

Exactly. Perhaps OP should ask for the formal note where the sellers have said no more offers.

It sounds like BS to me.

OP make an offer in cash in writing. See what happens, nothing to lose!

That’s fine that you wouldn’t accept it. But the EA still has to tell you about the offer unless you have told them otherwise in writing. And that is the crux of my point.

”The EA is under no obligation to put any further offer to the vendor once an existing offer has been accepted. The OP is not their client, the vendor is, and the vendor has instructed the EA that there will be no more viewings.”

Unless the vendor has put it it writing that they do not wish to be informed about an offer then the EA legally has to pass on every offer up until contracts are exchanged. Saying no more viewings is not the same thing. I may have missed where the OP said this has happened. But I don’t believe I’ve read it on this thread.

“that’s all kind of entitled”

or the EA could be all kinds of dodgy…?
No harm in OP putting a letter in to the property or asking the questions.

The seller could be refusing anymore viewings, but if you make an offer the estate agent has to pass it on. I would put a note through if you suspect it's the estate agent not letting you view.

Making an offer on a house you haven’t viewed is idiotic and as a vendor l wouldn’t accept it - the likelihood that they will change their minds when they do view is much higher, and then I’ve lost a buyer who was willing to proceed. And if I’m committed to paying the EA fees for introducing me to the buyer whose offer l have accepted, why would l accept an offer from a prospective buyer who has circumvented the sale process and approached me directly because they weren’t prepared to accept my instruction to the EA ? That’s all kinds of entitled and an indication of a difficult buyer who wants their own way over everything as the sale progresses.

Sorry but this is nonsense and indicative of someone who is not used to buying and selling houses. If you know the house and the area; or it needs to be gutted (or even demolished); or it’s offplan; or you’re an overseas buyer advised by a buyer’s agent etc - you don’t need to see the house.

In any case the offer can be contingent on viewing.

No it isn’t. The vendor has found their buyer. They have effectively taken it off the market by stipulating no more viewings. The EA is acting perfectly legally in leaving the listing details live on Rightmove and their own website, and marking it appropriately as the sale progresses. They are perfectly at liberty to record any interested parties to be contacted if the sale falls through.

The are keeping it in righmove so they can show they are marketing it. The only thing you can do is try and track down the actual owner. It does sound like the estate agent is not working in the best interests of the current owner of the property which could be someone who has inherited it and isn’t local to the property

@DotAndCarryOne2 yes it is law. They are bound to pass on any offer received. Whilst the house is on the market.

(unless as pp stated above they’ve got written instruction from the seller not to accept any further offers)

All this boils down to is that you and your friends were rather naive when selling probate properties.

In the cases I’ve been involved in - we followed the legal requirements to the letter.

Equally, probate properties that I have bought - the beneficiaries can be quite unrealistic about the price they’re likely to achieve as it is their inheritance.

I’ve bought and sold half a dozen houses in the last ten years. All fairly recently built properties to local buyers so l can’t say l have any experience when it comes to selling to developers or handling overseas buyers. I’m going on my own experience and there is no way l would jeopardise a sale like this by responding to someone who refused to deal with the EA l am instructing. And l certainly wouldn’t accept an offer from a buyer who hadn’t viewed for the reasons stated.

It was presumably the building firm who bought the house who arranged this .It may have been a friend or someone they knew. But it actually happened and the owner of the estate agency was also aware although the office person/ receptionist person didn't . It seems unbelievable but I saw it myself. At the time I completely accepted it . It was only when the house , a nice 60's one in a big plot was knocked down and replaced that I realised that it was not as it had appeared .

I don’t get what’s so bad about putting a letter through the door - it’s hardly hounding. If it turns out the estate agent was gatekeeping for their developer bestie, you might alert someone less savvy. If not, they can just screw up the letter.

I like to get multiple offers before deciding sell a pair of trainers on Vinted. Don’t mind getting a few offers on my largest asset.

So that’s a different context - you weren’t likely to get a better offer.

In position of the OP’s seller - if you’d accepted an offer contingent on house sale - a cash offer is better.

Yes. It is illegal not to.

And that’s one good reason why a rational seller wouldn’t accept an offer from someone who hasn’t even viewed a house costing about 900k.

The “offer” before viewing would be worthless and they don’t want any more viewings - simple.

OP hasn’t made an offer yet. The EA has done nothing wrong in telling them the vendors don’t want any more viewings.

Refused to deal with them what are you on about?

OP has specified that she wants to view so I’m not sure why you’re harping on about a buyer who hasn’t viewed.

We do as it’s in the OP.