Offer at asking price rejected in favour of lower cash buyer, any advice?

[honeyy]

Hi

I’ve been searching for a house since September 2025 and finally last week, I viewed a house and it was just perfect!

It ticked all the boxes! For me and my children. It can imagine it as my forever home!

2 offers were made, myself and a cash buyer!

The cash buyer did not offer full asking, it was below asking - and myself offered full asking £495,0000.

my offer was rejected. The chose the cash buyer.

I am heart broken. I actually feel sick. After months and months, this perfect house came on the market!

Any advice..:

Any news @honeyy ?

I’d read no news as nothing came of the letter

Interestingly ,having just posted on a similar thread regarding a cash buyer, it got me chatting to colleague I work with. He owns a few rental properties & said there is a new concept about to come to fruition within a few months where a cash buyer & seller are matched under contract & the sale has to to complete within 4 weeks so no room for this type of nonsense on either side. I never found out the name of the company but I know there are people waiting in the wings to take advantage of it.

Why are cash buyers not obliged to show proof of funds before being forwarded as a cash buyer?

I think the new concept I mentioned in my earlier post does exactly this. The cash buyer is under contract with a company who matches cash buyers only with sellers & they have to prove they have the funds before being accepted by the lawyer. At least that's my understanding of my colleagues conversation with me about it. The company will apparently be up & running in a few months & according to what I'm reading about the duplicity of many so called 'cash buyers' its not before time.

I last bought a house in 1999 (only time actually!) and it was made very clear that if we were cash buyers we would need to have proof before an offer was forwarded. I think we needed a solicitors letter or to have lodged money with a solicitor (what the US calls Escrow I think) or something. As it didnt apply to us, didnt take much notice.

But perhaps EA's are happy to cut corners these days in order to get the commission.

I'm not from the UK so maybe I'm missing something but doesn't the above mean you're effectively a cash buyer too?

Cash Buyer in the UK means ALL cash - not part cash, part mortgage.

Although lots of people say they are cash buyers when they are actually getting a mortgage

No, because the mortgage offer, even if it's for a small percentage of the house price, can be withdrawn by the bank if say for instance the survey reveals a particular problem

Thanks, I hadn't thought of that. We're true cash buyers looking at the mo, struggling to find something we like in our preferred area and we're definitely very popular with any vendors.

I lost the house I'd been waiting 8 years to come up for sale. But 2 months later the EA called and said the other buyer hadn't proceeded at all. So I'm currently typing from it!

Things can work out and I was considering a letter before I got the phone call.