Estate Agents not letting us put in an offer?

[Abcdefghijklmnoo]

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.

I'm waiting for that oddball (what was his username?) to pop up and warn the OP to wait until the "big property crash" before buying...

Oh my God, yes!

Crashytime was one of his names but he had others 😂

I wondered that but it could be inheritance, parents bought first property, they may not be British, previously used buyers agents etc…

That's the fella!

Still sitting in his rental, I imagine. Waiting. Bless.

Haha he wasn’t that realistic about the rental market either from some of his posts.

I hope his mum is happy to have him still at home 😀

It was cheap in the sense that it was a 2 bedroom house so was never going to be expensive, mid price range for our local area for a property of that size.

I’d post a letter via Royal Mail to the address on the off chance that the relatives have set up a postal redirect service for mail and it will get to their home address rather than the empty property.

I’m saying that because we did that from my parents when they died.

"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?"

Some people like to stick to their word, i.e. 'we have accepted your offer.'

Why would the sellers assume that someone persistent enough to try to gazump another buyer would be of good enough moral character to not piss them around during the sale - just because they wanted it more and they paid it more? I certainly wouldn't make that assumption.

Anyway, a lot of these properties don't get marked sold STC and all that jazz until either the vendor or the EA have gone through a bunch of legal paperwork to reassure themselves that the buyers are serious. If your finances aren't simple (i.e., self employed, money from many sources), that's likely to take a while.

Thanks for such a balanced and kind post!

I still live in the first house I purchased and it’s a new build. I have inherited money which allows me to purchase a property without immediately selling the one I’m currently in.

Of course very pushy and entitled. YOU KNOW this. Trying to make people screw others over (all be it legally) is VERY entitled.

I’m not trying to screw anybody over. Selling a house is a business transaction and 9/10, the best price wins.

Provided you’re in the bidding process, not after someone else already had their offer accepted. Once your offer is accepted you hire a solicitor and fill out a tonne of paperwork. If someone else gazumps you, you wasted £1k+ on solicitors and a few weeks of your time.

Is it so hard to imagine being on the other side? Imagine you saw that Rightmove ad as soon as it went up. You engaged in a long bidding war with other buyers and won. You’re over the moon and already see yourself in your new house. You hired a solicitor and they are doing their checks, you filled out all of the paperwork. Suddenly a few weeks later you get a phone call from the EA saying sorry you’re not getting the house because someone came and offered more than you can afford. The solicitor says sorry I’ve done my work, you owe me £2k. You wasted weeks of your time. Tell me now that your first thought was “that’s perfectly fine, the best price won in this business transaction”.

There is a reason why there are no viewings after an offer is accepted. Gazumping is screwing other people over. It only seems fine to you because it’s you who’s doing it, not who it is done to. You’d be here on MN fuming if it happened to you

I do agree with this..if they have accepted an offer and someone has paid (probably a lot!) to then put their house on the market in good faith as they've had an offer accepted its a bit different to a normal house buying situation where highest offer wins.

Exactly. A recent report found that nearly 40% of homebuyers since 2014 have been gazumped at least once in the last 10 years. But chain breakdown is the leading cause of failed sales.

Is it so hard to imagine the side - the seller who’s accepted a relatively weak offer in this case, thus vulnerable to losing the sale further down the line with money and time wasted. If they’re given a stronger offer, it may save them a lot of time, stress and money. It’s not just the buyer who can lose.

All this emotional stuff - you’re over the moon your offer has been accepted. Don’t ever get emotionally invested in a purchase unitl you’ve exchanged. Conveyancing is brutal.

Equally - be astute as a buyer. Protect yourself and get into the best position. If you are yet to find a buyer for your property, know you’re in a weak position and vulnerable to losing the sale - the seller may get fed up with waiting.

It’s not necessarily the best price but the strongest offer wins. I’ve been gazumped I took it on the chin. Yes it is just business. Save your emotion for completion.

Why assume they have accepted a “weak” offer? Its just as likely they have had an offer well over asking price but the offer is dependent on the property being taken off the market. If the OP thinks it was underpriced others will do as well and be willing to offer something more in line with the road. Cash buyers are not automatically the best option and can be a significant risk as well.

I agree its business - part of that is the owners being free to choose the offer they want to accept and stop further viewings. The OP has registered interest and would be better spending time looking at alternate properties.

Yes its a business transaction so why ware you not moving on and looking at alternative business opportunities instead of becoming over invested on a property currently not on the market?

Best price is one of a number of factors I’ve considered when selling, I wouldn’t assume 90% accept the highest offer automatically.

It says in the OP the seller is waiting for the buyer’s house to sell. That’s a weak offer.

Stopping viewings doesn’t mean they wouldn’t consider a better offer.

Before the sale has been initially agreed yes. After you screw over the rest of the chain. You can't not....

@Abcdefghijklmnoo Let us know what response you get when you submit a written offer to the EA today, sight unseen.

An offer is not automatically weak because there is a contingent sale. I’ve accepted such over cash offers where the buyer was a better prospect with a better offer. Cash is not the be all and end all.

If the vendors want to proceed with the offer they have and that was contingent on taking the property off the market then to continue to accept offers is in breach of that agreement. Its also very common practice.

@C8H10N4O2 I’’m not saying all cash offers are strong. But a buyer with a house to sell - you can’t evaluate how good a prospect that is - as you’ve no idea how long it will take to find a buyer; or how reliable their buyer will be; or whether they will end up in a chain. Their offer is only as good as their buyer and they don’t have one. So a buyer who’s already exchanged is a far better prospect particularly if they have no chain.

Exactly. Not to mention they may want to sell to that person for a particular reason.

Why does everyone think cash buyers should just trump everyone else?

Estate agents are slime balls, they will leave it on so anyone calling they will ask for their details and what their looking for and offer other properties, and are they needing an agent to come over and value their own house etc, once they've got your details they can Badger you with properties etc. In these instances I look at land registry to see who owned it cost about £7 to download the title deeds, then looks for that person on Facebook or 192 electoral role etc, then look for family members if they are deceased, then you can look for those on facebook or electoral register etc, if you want it that badly you have to do some leg work. You can put an offer in, and legally the estate agents HAVE to pass that on to the seller, so just go ahead and do it, and wait for the reply, if they say they will not pass on then you need to remind them of the laws