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.

Some people seem to be assuming that the EA is being dodgy but it's just as likely or more likely that the vendors have said they don't want any more viewings because in their minds the house is "sold".

I don't agree with them or think it wise, but houseowners are entitled to decide when they want to stop viewings or who they will allow to view their house.

As has already been suggested, you should put a note through the door explaining your situation. That is all you can do.

As well as putting a note through the door you could try tracing the current owners via the land registry website. Or asking the neighbours if they have a contact number or address.Yes its a bit pushy - The worst that can happen is you dont hear back or the neighbours have no details. I have little trust in estate agents. They are a bunch of reptiles.

OP isn't making an offer though (despite the title).

They are just asking to view the property and maybe the owner has said they don't want any more viewings because they have promised to wait for someone who has already made an offer to sell their property.

And people mustn't steal. But they do.

They have to be caught and proving that crime, for an individual house builder with an EA shielded by GDPR would be incredibly difficult.

I think its the estate agents, we were told no more than 10 viewings and to accept an offer on our house less than what its worth. Really confused us. Still no idea why x

Still doesn't make it legal
which was the point of posting

I agree. The OP was likely just too slow off the mark.

Not acknowledging offers by simply not replying to emails, covertly encouraging bidding wars, pre-sorting interested parties and restricting viewings

You think this is good behaviour?

They don’t need to ask them, the answer is in the code of practice you linked to in section 9e. They can continue marketing the property if instructed by the seller to do so but the buyer must know they’re doing this and they should indicate in their marketing that it’s under offer.

They also don’t need to pass on all offers like others seem to think; section 9a covers this. The buyer can instruct them in writing on what offers (type or amount) they’d like to see. If they instruct the EA in writing the type of offers they want to see is none, none have to be passed on.

OP could complain they’ve not been clear in marketing that it’s under offer but I can’t imagine it'll help them get the house they want.

It is frustrating when EA gatekeep. They should be obligated to tell sellers any conversations about the property.

I once had a limited budget and rang up about a house that I thought was overpriced but asked if the sellers would consider a cheeky bid. the EA literally scoffed down the phone at me and said the sellers wouldn’t dream of it and didn’t even take any details to pass on.

anyway I bought a nicer house a road away for less than I was going to offer the first house. That house then sat on the market for ages and then sold for even less than I was willing to pay. Still a bit smug about that to this day.

I had a similar situation.

I popped a note through the door and asked if I could view it. Turned out the EA wanted a bidding war and had limited the viewings. The owners were more than happy for me to view it. And we’d have done a private sale therefore no EA costs for them.

I didn’t continue for other reasons.

I would post a letter through the door of that house,or ask teh neighbour next door if they have a number for them! EA are generally awful even when acting for you ! I would'nt trust most of them.

OP hasn’t made an offer! She’s pestering for a viewing

@rrrrrreatt I meant to enquire whether the Ombudsman would entertain a complaint based on what the OP knows.

It isn't actually known whether this is a probate sale, only speculated upon. It isn't known if the vendor(s) have formally instructed the Agent that offers are now closed.

Given these points and that the whole complaints procedure takes so long and also that the OP isn't a client, I agree that the process would probably be futile in this instance, it might just make the OP feel a bit better to have exhausted any avenue open to them.

It might be that it was a really good offer but on the conditions that no more viewings. Pretty standard I’d say? We’ve certainly requested it when an offer has been accepted

Agreed. The negotiator possibly doesn’t want to jeopardise his deal with a higher offer.

The estate agent is likely selling the buyers property too and doesn’t want to lose that the sale of the chain - especially if they are downsizing to a 900k property. Big commission on multiple properties.

Regardless of what they're legally obliged to do, with no proper regulation it's not always easy to get them to do it - especially as the Property Ombudsman is funded by EAs' fees

In theory I suppose a vendor could sue for offers not being passed on/financial loss, but never underestimate EAs' ... errr ... inventiveness when an excuse is needed

There's a reason why they have the reputation they do and it's not a good one

I think so, just ask them. What do you think they’re doing that’s dodgy? Pretending to get interest but then selling to a mate for a knock price and saying to seller no one else was interested?

They should be obligated to tell sellers any conversations about the property.

Once we’d found the buyer we wanted to have the house we told the EA we didn’t want to hear about any further offers/viewings, our mind was made up. It was my late aunts house we were selling in a very popular area and she’d been very clear before her death what was to happen with the house and the type of buyer she wanted for it. Her house was precious to her, we made sure her wishes were carried out. Not all sellers are money grabbing for the highest price.

Some of the comments on this thread are wild, looking up obituaries and electorate registers to find the owners is crazy behaviour. Pestering neighbours is horrible, my aunts neighbours thankfully were very clear to folk who contacted them to get lost. Most of the letters put through the door were binned, we read the first two and the rest went in the recycling. We had people knocking the door when we were in clearing the house up to the week before the buyers moved in wanting to make offers, more than once they were asked to leave the property because they were a bloody nuisance. A few also found out our business number and were calling and emailing us, we stopped replying to anyone contacting us directly in the end. Some of them were from South of the border where things are done differently and wouldn’t take no for an answer. I was so surprised people were expecting to swoop in at the last minute and crash someone’s dreams of a home like that, it was horrible behaviour. We were still grieving, selling a huge part of our childhood and having to deal with people acting like vultures, I was glad when 16th January came when I could hand the keys over and be done with it all to be honest.

All you really need is to be confident the seller is happy with their current buyer. You aren’t sure of that, and instead you suspect potential fraud on their part.

In this scenario I would email an offer to the agent, an offer you’re comfortable with, stating your position as a cash buyer. They are legally obliged to pass that to the seller.

If an offer is in writing they are far less likely to try and palm you off, as you can evidence the offer was made if there is a dispute later.

If you are VERY keen, I would also knock at the neighbours and ask if they could kindly pass a letter to the owners should they see them. Post that same letter through the door and inform the agent you’ve done this (letter with the neighbour and property!). The above makes it clear to the agent that they are unlikely to get away withholding the offer if that is indeed what they’re doing.

This all sounds very extra, and I would only EVER do this is if I was very confident the agent was acting fraudulently.

So you need to call them today and insist they present your offer to the buyer, which they’re legally obliged to do. Seller is free to turn down your offer.

But unless you’re a cash buyer and/or your offer is higher there’s no reason for the seller to switch.

There’s always a reason a house is significantly less than others on road

• Unextended, or in need of major refurbishment
• Major structural issue not flagged in details
• Legal issues around sale - eg sitting tenant

I bought a house for 800k on a road with houses for 2 million - reasons were a. Undone b. Probate c. Family member sitting tenant who the other beneficiaries were in legal action to force them to vacate. Took 2 years in total.

Equally in another scenario I wanted a house that had just gone under offer. EA refused to pass on my offer. Mine was cash and the accepted offer was mortage so insisted. Seller stuck with existing offer. I rang the EA repeatedly over the time to ask if the offer had fallen through yet. They kept saying no. I said make sure I’m the first person you call if it does.

One morning 3 months later I got a call to say buyer withdrawn and did I want it. I viewed it that day and had a cash offer accepted by the evening.

In short all’s fair in love and conveyancing and you have to fight for what you want.

I get what people are saying about it being pushy, but a relative of mine had a similar situation where they were fobbed off by an EA. After making direct contact with the seller, it turns out they had no idea they had interest, and the EA was gatekeeping it for other potential buyer (can’t recall if a relative or just someone that would complete a chain for the EA). Anyway, my relative ended up with the house!

The other houses could be overpriced, it might not be a bargain, I don"t think there are many areas left though where Flippers can make "insane amounts"?