Dodgy estate agent??

WhiteHorse

Corruption in this sort of situation is common. Proving it is almost impossible.

googler

Chopio wrote: »

We assumed that our first (and only) offer had just been too cheeky because the estate agent never offered us another chance to increase our offer and the house was sold to a developer.
....
Or maybe because he was a cash buyer the estate agent just advised the original sellers to go with him for the sake of speed even though our offer was £12,500 more??

You didn't have any further contact with the agent after submitting a (written) offer?

Maybe the developer gave them a written offer, followed up a few days later, provided proof of funds, then followed up a few days later, and when he hadn't heard after that, followed up again? Maybe his offer had a limit date on it, so the seller had to decide within a set time whether or not to accept his offer?

Maybe when the seller discussed with the agent what level of interest they had, the developer came across as a lot more interested and ready to complete (and you didn't.....

Chopio

JQ. wrote: »

Is it possible to find out which solicitors were dealing with the probate? You could speak to them directly and find out if your offer was passed on by the Estate Agents, but do no more than that (no complaint and don't tell them what your offer was). If they didn't receive it, then a bit of pressure on the Estate Agent with that knowledge in your back pocket may persuade them to push your stupidly low offer through with the Developer.;)

I like your thinking! The thing is, that we put our offer in through another estate agent this time... When the developer put the place back on the market with 4+ local agents, we got called by all of them and we purposefully didn't go back through the agent from the first sale, or the one that had asked us for quiet cash to secure a different property because our gut instincts about them at the time were dodgy. I'm guessing it isn't allowed to swap around now?

Just our of interest, how would one go about finding out the solicitor from the original probate sale? Would it be in the land registry details somewhere?

Jowo_2

Anyway of finding out who the original seller is, to let them know that the EA ripped them off by not submitting your higher bid (which I doubt you can prove anyhow) in case they are not aware that he sold it at 'mates rates'?

Maybe the 'developer' never had any intention to do it up and hoped that by gaining planning permission, he would make the property more attractive to buyers. After all, you're prepared to go up to at least 235k in a flat market for it and the buyer hasn't lifted a finger.

Chopio

googler wrote: »

You didn't have any further contact with the agent after submitting a (written) offer?

Well, the whole thing went through really quickly. We saw the property the day it was put on the market and put our offer in the very next day. The agent said he would put it forward and then called us the next day to say that another offer had been accepted by the sellers. So 3 days in total.

He wouldn't tell us how much the accepted offer was and he said that we couldn't put in another higher offer in for us anyway because it was all accepted/done and dusted already Given the speed at which it all happened I don't think we could have chased any harder to be honest.

Chopio

Jowo wrote: »

Maybe the 'developer' never had any intention to do it up and hoped that by gaining planning permission, he would make the property more attractive to buyers. After all, you're prepared to go up to at least 235k in a flat market for it and the buyer hasn't lifted a finger.

I think this might be partly true. I showed the approved extension plans to a friend who is an architect for a guestimate cost. She reckoned it would cost 50-70k as it was 2 storey and involved moving kitchen and bathrooms across the building. Even if he'd been able to do it for 40k it might not have been commercially viable.

But maybe the developer had every intention of doing the extension until he discovered some horrible kind of fault with the property which made it prohibitively expensive?

aileenlyttle

i put a bid in on 7th june 2012 for a repossesed house my offer of buying a repossesed house was accepted on 18th june 2012 , i have had a verbal yes in principal from my lender on 3rd july awaiting a full process acceptance , i now have been told on 10th july at 4.50 pm the house is to go back on the market 11th july 2012 i really want this house and feel i have had no leeway on this as i cant do anything more untill lender accepts my application please could you advise me on any way i can secure me getting this house , would signing the contract secure this ? if this would be possible how long after signing contract would i be given to complete transaction ????

AlexMac

Chopio- Estate Agents are unregulated in this country (bizarrely unlike in Italy, where they're subject to much tighter legal controls). While agents are obliged to pass all offers to vendors, I recall many exposes of corruption or incompetence in recent years. But, what's done is done, and it will be so difficult to prove malpractice that you're probably best to put the search for justice behind you and concentrate on your future home. After all, as someone above says, it might be that the probate solicitor or original vendor took the view that a developer with ready cash was a better, faster and more reliable prospect than somone like you who'd probably need mortgage surveys and might face difficulties or delays in completing on the purchase of a house that needed work. And arguably by spending a bit of time and money on securing planning assent, the developer has added value- even if it's an expensive extension which makes no economic sense if, for example, it would make the finished project the dearest house in the street (most streets have a 'ceiling value'.

So as you just want a place to live in rather than a piece of speculative appreciation, probably best to just make sure your offer is as attarctive as poss- with solicitor ready to go, finance (deposit and mortgage) as solid and verifiable as poss, and offers in writing reminding that as 'no-chain' buyers you're an attractive proposition.

And also bizarrely, even in the current so-called 'buyers' market' and when prices are said to be falling, there will always be areas which buck the currently pessimistic price-trend. Our neighbourhood is one example; Zoopla says our postcode has returned to 2008 levels and we got 20% more than we dared hope when we sold our flat last year to trade up. Good luck

Hoof_Hearted

googler wrote: »

You didn't have any further contact with the agent after submitting a (written) offer?

Maybe the developer gave them a written offer, followed up a few days later, provided proof of funds, then followed up a few days later, and when he hadn't heard after that, followed up again? Maybe his offer had a limit date on it, so the seller had to decide within a set time whether or not to accept his offer?

Maybe when the seller discussed with the agent what level of interest they had, the developer came across as a lot more interested and ready to complete (and you didn't.....

Or maybe he's bent.....

DVardysShadow

aileenlyttle wrote: »

i put a bid in on 7th june 2012 for a repossesed house my offer of buying a repossesed house was accepted on 18th june 2012 , i have had a verbal yes in principal from my lender on 3rd july awaiting a full process acceptance , i now have been told on 10th july at 4.50 pm the house is to go back on the market 11th july 2012 i really want this house and feel i have had no leeway on this as i cant do anything more untill lender accepts my application please could you advise me on any way i can secure me getting this house , would signing the contract secure this ? if this would be possible how long after signing contract would i be given to complete transaction ????

Start a new thread. As you see, people are answering the old problem, which is well past its sell by date.