Putting an offer on a SSTC house

Pepzofio

Ankatden wrote: »

Too easy to say its all wrong without knowing the specifics of each transaction

If Vendor selling because partner abandoned them and facing reposession because can no longer afford it. After many months has a sale agreed that just clears the mortgage then after SSTC someone else comes in and offers 15k more than enables vendor possibility of a positive start elsewhere.

Is Vendor wrong to accept later offer ?

OP assumes that by increasing offer they will win, what happens if once their offer is accepted the original purchasers move £5k above you forcing your offer price up.

In that instance, then you might not particularly blame the vendor for accepting the offer, but it's still not very nice of the second bidder to come in and gazump the first. Afterall, they are hardly likely to be aware of the vendor's dire straits - it's hardly a strong bargaining position, is it? And maybe the first bidder was trying to pick up the pieces after their own relationship breakdown, this house was the only one remotely within their price range, and unable to increase their offer they now stand to lose the money they've already shelled out on surveys etc...

In OP's case, the house came on the market at some point in August and was SSTC 3 weeks ago, which means that it was sold within at most about 3 weeks of being put on the market.

You say it is too easy to pass judgement without knowing the specifics, but in truth even the potential gazumper is unlikely to know the specific circumstances of both the vendor and the original bidder - not to mention people further down the chain who could be affected. (And let's face it, they are not acting in anyone's interests except their own, so they can hardly claim some altruistic motive for derailing someone else's house purchase.) So on that basis all anyone can really comment on is the general concept of gazumping.

A lot of people seem to agree that it is Not A Nice Thing To Do, but equally it is not illegal and others have said that it is part and parcel of the house buying process and would not offend them as a vendor (or even a gazumpee). All OP can really do is weigh up whether or not they are happy to do it - but they should not kid themselves that they will not be directly responsible for the other vendor losing out.

hazyjo

I'm selling at the moment and when we previously had a buyer, I told the EAs I wanted it off the market. They would have continued marketing. There was a tick box on the form which basically gave me the choice.

If they are still showing people round, it will say that on the details on rightmove. There's one or two like that where we're looking.

Okay to have a look, but I'd certainly just say 'if it falls through, please let me know'. I definitely wouldn't put in a higher offer. I think it's horrendous for the people trying to buy it. Had it done to me, and it's almost enough to put you off house buying in the future.

I too remember the '80s. People were being gazumped left right and centre and eventually it was frowned upon and most EAs through the '90s and even 2000s didn't allow viewings. I can't say I'm impressed with the way a lot of them are sliding back to their old ways and still allowing viewings once a property's under offer.

If someone came along and offered me even £20k over what my previous buyer had offered, I'd have said no. That's not moneysaving (as per this site), it's because of reasons I won't go into because I don't want it to sound patronising or insulting to you or others who'd take the money.

Each to their own.

Definitely register your interest... what you choose to do after that is up to you. Chances are the EAs won't give you the option to view anyway. Most don't (to the best of my knowledge) once a property's U/O.

Jx

sonastin

Then there's the unscrupulous EAs who take advantage of naive vendors and persuade them to sell to the EA's developer-mate who's piddlingly low offer is "probably the best you are going to get in today's market". Of course these EAs are hardly likely to keep these properties on Rightmove so I doubt this is one of those cases. But if an honest purchaser got in touch with the vendor and offered a decent price, gazumping in this situation wouldn't just be acceptable - I'd say its probably downright respectable.

I would never EVER advocate gazumping or gazundering in transactions between everyday folks acting in good faith and proceeding with best endeavours to get to exchange. But not all property transactions fall into that category and there are some grey areas where a blanket "don't do it" just doesn't fit.

Fly_Baby

sonastin wrote: »

You said you hadn't actually viewed the property yet so you might think that it is perfect and ticks all your boxes but you don't know yet. We've all viewed houses that looked awesome on paper and just didn't live up to it in reality. We might all be getting hot under the collar about nothing here. Are you sure you're not building this place up to being better than it really is, just because the advice on here is to walk away. Its easy to get carried away in the heat of the argument but in the cold light of day would you really consider this to be the one that got away? If it hadn't been SSTC when you got back, would you be so excited about it?

I see your point and I agree with you generally. But as I said, these houses are pretty standard so I would know what to expect. If it comes back on the market for whatever reason (a couple of other houses that I viewed - different ones - have!) I know I will be excited! And grateful that my prayers were heard.

Davesnave

The gazumper cannot stay anonymous. The person gazumped will always know exactly where they live.

While there would normally be nothing to worry about, I'm still sure that it doesn't feel good, knowing that someone out there might harbour a real grudge.

Just thought I'd mention it, now that the moral arguments have been aired, and you seem to have taken them on board.

Fly_Baby

Davesnave wrote: »

The gazumper cannot stay anonymous. The person gazumped will always know exactly where they live.

While there would normally be nothing to worry about, I'm still sure that it doesn't feel good, knowing that someone out there might harbour a real grudge.

I thought about it too. And it would worry me.

Fly_Baby

Anyway, I spoke to the EA and they said that they are not taking any more offers (what I expected). So I made sure they put name down for this property in case it becomes available and they checked that they have my details and promised to contact me as soon as they get a new instruction. I was quite reassured to hear that they have these properties coming all the time so maybe there is hope for me too.

Alessandra_2

After 1 year looking for a house to buy, we found the perfect one. Made an offer after 1st viewing then called Barclays Morgage guy to book the survey (essential to take the property out of the market). Our Barclays guy was on holiday: it took Barclays 2 weeks to arrange a survey. In the meantime there were (apparently) 2 new offers on the house (10.000 higher then ours). We had to add 5.000 pounds to the initial offer (accepted by the seller on paper) to not loose the house. We are now trying to get back at least our 500 pound fee for the survey but Barclays doesn't even admit their mistake. They offer us a bowl of food.....Really? We are now thinking to take more action against them. Any suggestions?

Many thanks

A

Yorkie1

@Alessandra, you've already started your own thread on this - there's no need to hijack someone else's thread too.