Its all gone wrong!!!!!

georgem

First timer so go easy!

We had put an offer of £245,000 on a house on the market at £248,000 which was accepted two weeks ago.When we made the offer we were told that someone else has made an offer of £260,000 but not in a position to proceed as they still had not sold their house.Fortunately we have sold and living in rented accomodation.We received notification this morning from our building society that they were happy to make a mortgage offer which we forwarded onto the estate agent.Three hours later we received a phone call from EA that the person who had put in the original offer (260k) had now sold and wanted the offer to be reconsiderd by the vendor. The vendor took no time in snaping their hands off and we were notify that the house would be ours if we upped the offer by 15k. We feel cheated and betryaed by both the vendor and the EA. We are devasted!! ps we cannot afford the extra £260k

JennyB

How awful for you. It's a shame that more sellers don't act honourably instead of thinking it's ok to mess people around (same could be said for buyers too actually!). They shouldn't have accepted your offer if they planned on accepting the 260 once the other buyer sold.

Tallymanjohn

This is why all estate agents should be shot & why they should bring in a system similar to Scotland where first offers are more binding. I'm afraid you're at the mercy of the vendor & agent - it may even be a ploy which you cannot prove anyway - all you can do is say that's your final offer & see what happens. It's coming up to the time of year when it gets to be a buyer's market anyway so keep looking if nothing comes of this, after all, if the other party had already offered £260k, how come they're only asking you to match rather than increase?.

lilyann1

Yes this shouldn't be allowed.How awful

jasons_2

*I know what I'd do*, up thier offer by 10k with no intention of completing.

String them along for a few weeks, or on the off the chance the other people are desperate for the property, let them pay another 5k on top and let them have it!

Not nice, but it will serve the vendor right for being greedy!!

clutton_2

what a blow, but as everyone above has said, this is the dreadful house purchasing system we have ! chin up, there will be another house. this was not meant to be

cattie

It's a dreadful thing to happen & I truly do empathise as when I bought this house exactly the same thing happened to me to the tune of £10,000. I had no option but to cough up as I wanted the house & couldn't have coped with any more house hunting.

To the poster who suggests the ea should be shot, you need to be aware that guzumping is most certainly not the fault of the ea. Most detest the practice, but they are bound by law to pass on any offers to vendors. Besides most guzumpers are rather crafty & approach the vendor direct, who then leave the estate agent having break the bad news to the orignal buyer.

Doozergirl

Why on earth would someone make an offer of £260,000 on a house with an asking price of £248,000? It would send the house soaring above the 3% stamp duty threshold. The buyers will need a big deposit lined up to keep the mortgage valuer happy.

You'd be mad to up your offer. Something else really will be along soon and you'll be glad you didn't get this one. I promise.

RHemmings

I think there should be a law that once an offer is accepted, if one party pulls out without good reason, the other party should be able to recover their reasonable costs.

JennyB

Totally agree with RHemming - it amazes me the number of people who wander into offers and acceptances without any real intention of following through, causing the other party heart-break and financial loss.

busydaffodil1

I think I would initially feel gutted & would want to get my own back by offer the £15,000 & stringing them along for a few weeks. But then, on reflection, what goes around, comes around.
If your in no position to compete, tell the EA that & move on.