I am so P***ed off!!!!

donna

Last May we put our house on the market and within 6 weeks we sold and found the house of our dreams to buy. About 3 months later after waiting for our buyers to make a move, ie get a survey done ect they pulled out. The whole of the chain lost a lot of money and we were all really upset.

Needless to say we all put our houses back on the market. After a very slow winter and a reduction of over £2k we received another offer about 4 weeks ago. I quickly called to put in an offer on our dream house but was told that they were due to exchange in 2 days.

Since then we have offered £2.5k below asking on one house and had it rejected. We carried on looking but there just didn't seem to be anything that matched our requirements.

Just when i thought we weren't going to find anything i got a tip off about a house not even listed yet. We made an appointment to see it the very next day and really liked it, so not wanting to miss out we went straight back down to the EA and put in a full asking price offer made up of £120k & £4950 for the high quality F&F, with the condition that no more viewings take place.

The EA called the vendor and said that we had offered full asking price, but never mentioned the terms of the offer. The offer was accepted and i was so excited that i didn't really worry about the finer details as i knew that as long as they were visible on paper that it would be ok. When the EA asked for the vendors solicitors details he said he couldn't get that info until Friday(2 days later) and that in the meantime he still wanted to take viewings. At this point the EA still did not tell him our terms and just agreed and said goodbye. I of course expressed my concerns with this and explained how caucious we were after our previous shananagans, but she told me not to worry as the details had not even been printed yet or the house put on the net and the only advertising between now and then was that it would be in the local paper as it was too late to withdraw it. So we went away happy but worried.

We go and talk to our EA and he advises us to get a friend to call on Friday to try and make an appiontment. To our delight when the call is made on Friday morning the EA tells us that the house is sold and they are not taking appointments. YIPPEE!!! However, when we arrive home we find our offer letter on the mat and it just says £124,950 with no mention of the £4950 being a seperate cash transaction. I get straight on the phone to the vendors EA and she denys me ever making such an offer and we have an argument about the exact conversation we had that day. She refuses to admit the offer i made and rather snobishly tells me she will have to call the vendor with our NEW offer and get back to me. I am fuming and am left to sweat the whole weekend as they apparently can't get hold of the vendor. To make matters worse i then see the house advertised on the EA website, but try to stay calm as perhaps it was too late to stop it being added. Then i see it advertised on rightmove!!!!!!!!!

Anyway this morning i get a call from the snotty EA saying that the offer is now rejected as they think the solicitors won't like it and can we go to just full asking price. I said yes no problem if the vendor will pay the stamp duty. The EA immediately said that they wouldn't be prepared to do this(what is she a mind reader as well as deaf now). I have told her that i will have to speak to OH and get back to her, but am sat crying my eyes out now as we speak.

I just don't know what to do as we were really stretching it at £125k as it was. The other worry we have had since the start is that the couple that are selling are splitting up and my OH has a funny feeling they may get back together and that it will all fall through again.

Even after reducing our house by over 2k we still took an offer of £950 below asking price. Are houses really starting to sell for full asking price again? I'm sure i read somewhere on here that if a house is on at slightly over £120k that the vendor would only be looking to get £120 as they know that people don't want to pay stamp duty and that they put it on above £120k to ensure they get £120k minimum.

I am more cross with the EA than anything as the vendor probably thinks that we are messing them about by changing our offer. We are in a really good possition to buy as the chain of 2 below us is moving along nicely with our house due to be surveyed this week. If the vendors are splitting it's not as if they need the full asking price to secure another more expensive property. If they could just agree to pay stamp duty we would have a deal. I don't even think the EA has asked them if they will pay stamp duty i think she is speaking for them and this worries me.

I just don't know what to do next.

claz

call up the ea where the house is on the market and ask to speak to the manager/supervisor of the person you spoke to before and say that you would like to come and speak to them

state exactly what you said above but try not to get too emotional about it or they will use it as leverage, stress that you are in a good position to move as the chain below you is complete. tell them exaclty how much you are prepared to offer and that you want them to try and contact the vendor in front of you. also mention about the fact that when you previously offered that the ea said that the vendor wasn't prepared to pay stamp duty without consulting them

any offer on a property has to be made to the vendor by the estate agent if they don't i think it is either illegal or breaking some estate agency code or something

contact your solicitor they will be able to advise you more, but i'd start looking elsewhere if you have trouble just making an offer think about the hassle you will have completing ont he property

silvercar

The F&F have to be worth the value you are putting on them. Otherwise it just looks like you are evading stamp suty and no solicitor will be a party to that.

donna

Thanks for your reply Claz. I think i will go in and speak with them face to face. I will try not to get too emotional and be a bit firmer. I will deffinately insist on being there whenever a vendor is phoned from now on.


Thanks for your reply also Silvercar. The vendor has made to measure curtains, expensive click flooring, wooden blinds, expensive light fittings built in wardrobes, decking, pond and also converted the garage into a utility/boarded out den, all added since the house was built and all would be staying.

I have managed to get OH on his mobile and he is saying to put in an offer of £124k, which is £950 below asking price(the same discount we gave selling ours)

We will pay £1240 stamp duty meaning effectively £290 more expensive for us than doing it the other way.

Surely a £950 drop for a quick sale from a buyer with a complete chain with only 1 viewing is brilliant for the vendor. I wish it had been that easy for me.

If it was you would you accept?

claz

keep us updated with what happens if the offer is refused leave it for a few days for the vendors to stew a bit

once you have an offer accepted make sure that it is clear that you do not want anyone else viewing the house, put it in writing if you think that the agent will try it on

mummytofour

Be wary or a couple splitting up... sorry if I offend anybody, but I have friends that were 2 days off exchange, when the slo call them to say that the husband of the splitting couple was going to buy the wife out, my friends lost out big time and ended up in rented or the whole chain would of gone down.

plane_boy2000

Last year they had a big clamp down on the F & F scam - my solicitor had done it before, but now tells me that it has to be genuine, and at the market value of the items so most you will get away with is a few hundred, not thousands.

silvercar

The vendor has made to measure curtains, expensive click flooring, wooden blinds, expensive light fittings built in wardrobes, decking, pond and also converted the garage into a utility/boarded out den, all added since the house was built and all would be staying.

Out of that list the only things a seller could reasonably expect to remove would be the curtains and blinds.

Decking, ponds and garage conversions are part of the fabric of the house.

Wardrobes and click flooring would be damaged by their removal and so have minimal second hand value.

eileenfromplaistow

Haven't I read here that there is nothing stopping you from talking directly to the vendors? I have never forgiven a local firm (from 18 YEARS ago) who failed to pass on our offer , we suspect because he had a purchaser who was also selling through the EA. Admittedly the seller(s) may not be comfortable dealing direct, after all that's what they are paying this guy's Carribean holiday to do for them, but as you say, a bird in the hand........

superscotsman

eileenfromplaistow wrote:

Haven't I read here that there is nothing stopping you from talking directly to the vendors? I have never forgiven a local firm (from 18 YEARS ago) who failed to pass on our offer , we suspect because he had a purchaser who was also selling through the EA. Admittedly the seller(s) may not be comfortable dealing direct, after all that's what they are paying this guy's Carribean holiday to do for them, but as you say, a bird in the hand........

I agree with this. I remember being in a chain jam in england some years back, and I was told by the EA that the chain was jammed, and that there was, to use the EA's words, nothing we could do. I put the phone down and said: "Whad'ya mean, nothing I can do?" I contacted the vendor, who contacted their vendor etc, by the end of the evening, the whole thing was sorted, and all the transactions went through without a further hitch. Our EA was so pleased, he gave us a 10% discount without our asking! (True.)

Meeten

surely you can view the house again, and then talk the vendors directly, letting them know the exact offer that you are prepared to put in (one that you have already put in).

There seems to be chinese whispers going on with the inclusion of the EA. To compensate for that, I would think that the best thing ios for the 2 parties to talk to each other directly. I did this when selling my flat, as the time delay the EA took was nerve jangling, and they had made errors in previous correspondence that I had with them.

This way we both know where we stand, and the process was considerably smoother, and especially sweeter as it was the EA who was kept in the dark / last to know ..... makes a change!

Hope you manage to get your house, and please be careful with the cost of F&F, there may be room to negotiate, as not a lot of sellers (as you are aware) will expect to get the full asking - esp if it is so close to the £120k mark .......

Good luck, and let us know how you get on.