A deposit to take property off of the market

sunnyd47

My elderly parents have seen a property they wish to buy and they have agreed to place a deposit on the property to take it off the market.
For this deposit to work correctly, should they agree a timescale on their deposit with the sellers (ie 3 months) to find a purchaser of my parents property? Is this expecting too much?

My parents property is for sale from next week and is within an area of low cost houses that sell fairly quickly due to student rentals plus very close proximity to a large town.

Any advice much appreciated.

DVardysShadow

Not usually done that way. How big is the deposit as a %? And have they got it tied down as to whether the deposit is returnable?

sunnyd47

DVardysShadow wrote: »

Not usually done that way. How big is the deposit as a %? And have they got it tied down as to whether the deposit is returnable?

The deposit is 5%, it is not an expensive property. It is mainly to show their interest but as they are older and are putting themselves through the sales process purely to get this property, I did not want then to go through the process of selling only to be gazumped.

I suppose I should ask on their behalf as to wether the deposit will actually remove it from the market and if it is returnable should they not find a buyer within a specified period of time.
I am unsure as to what "paying a deposit" actually means legally, if it is a retainer on an object with an intent to buy and therefore not for sale to others or just simply registering a strong interest.

Just being over protective and trying to save them too much stress to be honest.

G_M

Read this thread here.

sunnyd47

G_M wrote: »

Read this thread here.

Thanks G_M, interesting reading for sure.

My parents situation is different, the property they are wanting to buy is a residential park home and as such there are no mortgages, no solicitors involved (except for the sale of their current property) and the deposit agreement is with the park home itself, not directly with the owners. On park home sites the park owner tends to deal with the proeprty sales on their site (EA's can of course but to keep costs down to the seller many choose not to).

I will double check everything for them tomorrow, I guess that anything can and often does go wrong when purchasing any property and so they are simply going to be in a "Normal" situation of first past the post.

G_M

Just hope for your sake the owners are reputable.... There are horror stories. Try google. Like here
Or here
or here

sunnyd47

G_M wrote: »

Just hope for your sake the owners are reputable.... There are horror stories. Try google. Like here
Or here
or here

There is good and bad everywhere in the world, its just that for some reason, the "BAD" boys more recently are park home owners instead of property landlords that are getting a bad press.
I do take your point but there are many bodies and laws governing park homes and their owners. Many people, as you have done, confuse park homes with caravan sites or leisure parks, they are totally different and the laws pertaining to them are totally different also.

There are hundreds of Park Home sites in the UK that are run well, professionally and within the law, obviosly some will like to scaremonger as the press love to do at the mearest sniff of anything making an "Ah, those poor people" storyline.

Anyways, I will do as I said, check all of the details on their behalf.
Thanks for your input.

CloudCuckooLand

sunnyd47 wrote: »

my parents situation is different, the property they are wanting to buy is a residential park home and as such there are no mortgages, no solicitors involved (except for the sale of their current property) and the deposit agreement is with the park home itself, not directly with the owners. On park home sites the park owner tends to deal with the proeprty sales on their site (ea's can of course but to keep costs down to the seller many choose not to).

I will double check everything for them tomorrow, i guess that anything can and often does go wrong when purchasing any property and so they are simply going to be in a "normal" situation of first past the post.

bad idea!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

sunnyd47

CloudCuckooLand wrote: »

bad idea!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sound advice, well informed with pertinent information, well done :T

CloudCuckooLand

Any major asset purchase requires sound legal advice.

If the Park Home people have brainwashed you into not seeking it, then I stand by "BAD IDEA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

sunnyd47

CloudCuckooLand wrote: »

Any major asset purchase requires sound legal advice.

If the Park Home people have brainwashed you into not seeking it, then I stand by "BAD IDEA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

FYI, no brainwashing gone on ;-) The park has been in existence since 1960 and therefore not a fly by night "new" setup.

As I have already said in a previous post, I will do as I said, check all of the details on their behalf.