Offer accepted then changed their mind a week later

dannyjebb · 18 April 2017 at 2:59PM

Hi all

Last week we had an offer accepted on a house, I made sure it was taken off the market and the estate agent told us it was ours and not to worry no one else would come in for it....Today we had a call saying the sellers had changed their mind and sold it to someone who had a higher offer....I know until you exchange contracts the seller (or buyer) can change their mind which seems crazy. But I am not sure how someone has come in with a higher offer when we were told the house was ours and had been taken off the market? Is this a regular thing that happens? Luckily it had been bank hol weekend so we haven't been able to get our mortgage application done, otherwise we would of paid the MA a fee to do the application as well as left a footprint on our credit file for a search that is no longer relevant. This is our first purchase so all new to us but I was under the impression that as the house had been taken off the market no one else could put in a higher offer?

Thanks

Danny

FIRSTTIMER · 18 April 2017 at 3:03PM

Yes but it happens - the right move will just say sold stc and buyers will just ring and say they want it and tell vendors I will pay asking price. #gazumped.

Estate Agents are looking after vendor - if its more money its better for both parties - albeit the estate agent will only get a few hundred quid extra if that.

[Deleted User] · 18 April 2017 at 3:05PM

Either someone who had already viewed it put in a late offer, or increased a previous offer.., or someone has indeed viewed it since your offer was accepted. The agreement wasn't written in stone, it is not illegal to do what they've done and fortunately you've not lost any money.

I'd just put it behind you. Its not pleasant but I'm afraid there is nothing you can do as you've said. So no point in wondering. One way or another they've done what they said they wouldn't. Just be thankful it came at the beginning of the process rather than the end.

HouseBuyer77 · 18 April 2017 at 3:13PM

but I was under the impression that as the house had been taken off the market no one else could put in a higher offer?

Anyone can place an offer at any point until exchange of contracts (well someone could even attempt to gazump after exchange, though the vendor will suffer heavy penalties for breaching contract if they did so basically not going to happen).

However generally once an offer has been accepted EA will stop advertising, tell anyone ringing about it that it's sold and not perform any more viewings etc (EAs would rather get on with selling another property than spend more time on a done deal). But if someone makes an offer EA will have to pass it on. Or someone could make an offer in person/via a letter direct to vendor.

On another note remember not to spend anything until the chain is complete! Was this property chain free? By all means instruct a solicitor but tell them not to do anything until you say. It's pretty common to have an offer accepted on a house then find it takes ages for the vendor to find another house to buy and things fall through. So minimise expenditure to avoid losing much when this happens.

KateySW · 18 April 2017 at 3:15PM

Unfortunately, gazumping is always a possibility until exchange of contracts. It's a shame but not really a lot you can do at this stage and it isn't an uncommon experience

even with an exclusivity agreement in place, there is still a risk. As you say, at least this happened within a week of the offer being accepted!

Keep house hunting, it feels a bit gutting when this happens but keep at it. The right house will come along eventually, cliched as that sounds! And if gazumping is something that really concerns you in the future (or is quite common in the area you want to buy), perhaps you can look into your solicitor writing some terms into your contract, stipulating compensation if either buyer or seller pulls out etc. I'm not sure how easy/hard that is to do but I've heard of people doing that to minimise the risk.

sheff6107 · 18 April 2017 at 3:21PM

Better that you're the buyer and not the seller. A seller changing their mind is a real kick in the teeth

dannyjebb · 18 April 2017 at 3:34PM

Thanks for the quick replies,

It was chain free hence why we had begun looking at getting the ball rolling. Luckily we hadn't paid for anything yet. I do find it strange that there is no initial agreement in place, i.e the buyer paying a few 1000 initial deposit once the offer accepted that stops them changing their mind and a penalty for the seller if they decide to change their mind and accept a higher offer.

One interesting thing is I had a call off the EA this morning saying that the seller had asked them to find out if we were a couple or if we were brother and sister..... which seemed very strange

eddddy · 18 April 2017 at 3:41PM

dannyjebb wrote: »

Last week we had an offer accepted on a house, I made sure it was taken off the market and the estate agent told us it was ours and not to worry no one else would come in for it....Today we had a call saying the sellers had changed their mind and sold it to someone who had a higher offer....

If you want, you can tell the EA that your offer is still on the table, and to give you a call if the higher offer falls through.

You can also call the EA in 4 or 6 weeks time, if you haven't found anything else, to ask if the sale is proceeding satisfactorily.

(That worked for me on one occasion. The seller had lost confidence in the person who made a higher offer - they were 'messing about'. So my call prompted the seller to dump them, and accept my lower offer instead.)

agrinnall · 18 April 2017 at 3:50PM

sheff6107 wrote: »

Better that you're the buyer and not the seller. A seller changing their mind is a real kick in the teeth

Perhaps you should read the OP again, it was the seller changing their mind.

dannyjebb · 18 April 2017 at 3:50PM

I think we are both too stubborn to do that. We have sold our house which has completed so in a strong position, we have our mortgage ready to go.

The strange thing is the estate agent didn't even ask if we want to increase our offer.... seems like the sellers took a dislike to us cause we are a couple and not brother and sister?? LOL

eddddy · 18 April 2017 at 4:03PM

dannyjebb wrote: »

I do find it strange that there is no initial agreement in place, i.e the buyer paying a few 1000 initial deposit once the offer accepted that stops them changing their mind and a penalty for the seller if they decide to change their mind and accept a higher offer.

You can arrange that if you want - it's often called a 'pre-contract deposit agreement'.

The reason they are not popular is because it's so difficult to determine which party is 'at fault' if a sale falls through - and therefore who keeps the deposits.

As an example,

- Seller changes mind about selling - but doesn't want to lose deposit.

- So instead of withdrawing, the seller delays answering solicitor's questions, gives vague answers, refuses further viewings, and is generally unhelpful

- Buyers get fed-up and withdraw. So the buyers lose their deposit.

(Or vice versa.)

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Offer accepted then changed their mind a week later

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