Offer on home to spliting couple??

mike00_2

I am about to make an offer for a property where the couple are going trough a divorce which has become strained. He is still living in the house. The agent tells me he is in no rush to move and is in some ways being belligerent and taking pleasure from being in a position of power over is former partner.

Legally I am unsure what the position is regarding the offer?

Does the agent have to present the offer to both parties?
What happens if one party want to except the offer but the other does not?
Has anyone had any experience of this situation and are there any pitfalls I should be aware of?
Many thanks in advance,

MIke

lincroft1710

Put offer to agent, give him say 5 days to get back to you with a yes or no from both vendors.

mike00_2

lincroft1710 wrote: »

Put offer to agent, give him say 5 days to get back to you with a yes or no from both vendors.

Hi Lincroft,
What happens if one wants to go ahead but the other declines?

zappahey

mike00 wrote: »

Hi Lincroft,
What happens if one wants to go ahead but the other declines?

Assuming that they both own it, absolutely nothing. They both need to agree.

loki13

I've just been living this nightmare. House we have just exchanged on was being sold by a divorcing couple. We had no idea that it was a nasty divorce until she went away for a few weeks, and nothing happened with questions our solicitor asked, because she instructed her solicitor to wait until she got back because she didn't want him knowing she was away.

To cut a long story short - We offered and were accepted in the middle of April, were told they wanted to move quickly, we wanted to move quickly. I put a deaddline (after much playing about on their side) for completion by the end of June. We agreed exchange and completeion for today. As of last night, he had not signed any paperwork and was not answering calls from the solicitors or estate agent.
He must have turned up this morning with them, we exchanged, but as everyone thought the deal was off, we postponed completion til tomorrow.

Very stressful situation, and if I could avoid it I would.

googler

mike00 wrote: »

Hi Lincroft,
What happens if one wants to go ahead but the other declines?

Then your offer can't be accepted, and nothing can proceed.

If the house is in joint ownership, the EA has to pull the two warring parties together - they're his clients, not yours, and they're his problem.

mike00_2

Thanks to all for their posts. It seems that the best way forward if the offer gets excepted to insist on a time frame from the outset.