Selling a flat - moral dilemma

jockettuk

whos to say the first buyer hasnt been looking for months for the right property.. hasnt been guzumpt loads of times before etc etc.. my other half spent months looking for property only to be messed around loads of times by sellers.. there is costs involved as travel costs etc and the emotional cost if you think you have found your ideal home after months of looking.. 20k is more for the estate agent to take his cut from and if someone was looking at property and then going on hols just goes to show there commitment to buy the property not there first priority..

Ian_W

Hi Dan,
Can't see it being porkies by the EA, at say 2% comm they stand to make £6,200 on the original sale whereas the higher offer only nets the company, not the individual an extra £400. Don't think they're gonna jeopardise the sale for that.

My take on it is that I would go with the original - but get the EA to make it conditional that the buyer has the survey done, or at least arranged if it can't physically be done, in the 2 weeks before the second buyer gets back from abroad. That shows committment on their part, if they won't then I'd feel better about letting them down.

The trouble with the second buyer, apart from bogging off abroad just after offering is that it's strange they offered so much more and over the AP. I'd be concerned they'd done that to break deal 1 and further down the line might try gazundering you.

My other concern wouldn't be about upsetting a stranger, it would be about letting myself down. If I've agreed to something I will always do my best to stick to it.

HTH & let us know how you go on.

Horasio

Yes it depends what the buyer is like (property to sell or not, mess you about etc), you could inform the original buyer of the new offer. They could match it or withdraw.

At least in Scotland it is difficult to do this as once a price accepted, it is a done deal, but the 'offers over' and the sealed bids after doing an expensive survey is real pain in the butt!

I despise gazumping but can accept we are all trying to get the best price.

I would be open about the situation to all concerned.

pipee

You can always compensate the first buyer if you feel that bad about it!

Jorgan_2

bookgirl wrote:

Are you certain this is a 'real' offer? EAs not unknown to do this sort of thing to prompt the first person to up their offer. Would definately request written details from EA including proof of finance/position before you can make a call.

If the agent was making the higher offer up to get the first buyer to increase they aren't going to tell the vendor, just the first buyer that there had been a 'higher offer'.

As has been said, you need to check on the positions of both buyers, ability to get finance, timescale for moving etc, to make sure you get the best buyer for you. Also establish if the first buyer has been given the option to increase their offer.

The fact that the second buyer hasn't left a deposit maybe down to a number of things, maybe they didn't have time to organise it as they were going away. Deposits usually have to be made returnable at any time, which is why most agents don't bother with them.

Check out which buyer is best suited to you and make your decision.

Tassotti

Make sure the second buyer is serious as aforementioned. If buyer is serious, then to ease your mind, check to see if original buyer has outlayed any money to proceed with the purchase.

If they have, obtain receipts and reimburse the original buyer. It won't be more than a few hundred quid anyway, and you will sleep at night again.

Win, Win situation.

Dan29

Thanks all for some good suggestions. Will mull things over further over the weekend as obviously nothing more will happen until Tuesday now.

Thanks again
Dan

Gorgeous_George

What about asking both parties to make a sealed final offer? Is it possible to ask for a non-refundable deposit in return for taking the house off the market?



GG

Dan29

The thing with a non-refundable deposit is that it's subject to survey, valuation etc - which I reckon makes it quite meaningless.

The original buyer says she won't increase her offer.

Jorgan_2

Dan, can your agent contact the second buyer while they are away? Have they had any experience of dealing with this buyer before? While its nice to get an offer over the asking price has the agent been able to tell you why they offered over the asking price? (apart from the fact that they are very good at their jobs)

My concerns would be that if the buyer has gone away & is uncontactable you will have to wait two weeks for them to come back before starting the sales process. I'm guessing they haven't left solicitors details, finalised mortgage details etc due to the timescales involved. If they are uncontactable, they won't know if their offer has been accepted, if they don't try & contact the agent while away, are they serious about your property?

You only accepted the first offer 4 days ago so chances are the first buyer hasn't spent much, if any money yet. However, she will be able to get things started with solicitors & mortgages straight away & that is an unknown with the other buyer.

And an extra £20k would be nice.