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House sale. Previous buyer trying to claim costs?
Terrence
Posts: 10 Forumite
Hi,
Because of health issues with several members of the family, we decided financially and practically that we should sell our family home of 30+ years and move in with a grandparent who also needed to be cared for. The house recently sold (at a big loss) after being on the market for 3 years. Because of the family's ongoing medical treatment we had left the house sale almost completely in the hands of the agents to deal with. A very low offer was made and the agent advised us in the current climate that it was best to take the offer as a "last case" resort and they will look to get a better offer in due course. We were reluctant to do this as we are very straight and honest and didn't want to mislead anyone but they insisted it was the best course of action with little or no sales likely in today's market that at least one buyer was on board even with his reduced offer. In hindsight I assume that they were desperate to bring in any sales for their commission.
Within a few weeks a slightly better offer was made and the agents proceded with the sale keeping the original buyer on the back burner uninformed (against our request to inform them) just incase the new buyer pulled out. The sale went through and was completed a month ago.
The agent has now contacted us today to say that the original buyer is threatening that unless we pay them £300 cash settlement they will take us to small claims court for the fees they incurred for surveys and solicitor etc. In a panic this afternoon I have tried to read up on line about it and it states that there is nothing legally that they can do unless a "lock-out" agreement was made (which there wasn't) but the agent insists that they could try to sue us ethically? The agent is taking no responsibility for this and said they were just following OUR advice!
Is this possible? Can they take us to the small claims court for ethical reasons?
I'm really very upset about this, this was all down to the agents dealings, my family has no income at all at the moment not even benefits and we've taken a big loss on the house because we were desperate to sell so that we can get on with our lives.
Terrence
Because of health issues with several members of the family, we decided financially and practically that we should sell our family home of 30+ years and move in with a grandparent who also needed to be cared for. The house recently sold (at a big loss) after being on the market for 3 years. Because of the family's ongoing medical treatment we had left the house sale almost completely in the hands of the agents to deal with. A very low offer was made and the agent advised us in the current climate that it was best to take the offer as a "last case" resort and they will look to get a better offer in due course. We were reluctant to do this as we are very straight and honest and didn't want to mislead anyone but they insisted it was the best course of action with little or no sales likely in today's market that at least one buyer was on board even with his reduced offer. In hindsight I assume that they were desperate to bring in any sales for their commission.
Within a few weeks a slightly better offer was made and the agents proceded with the sale keeping the original buyer on the back burner uninformed (against our request to inform them) just incase the new buyer pulled out. The sale went through and was completed a month ago.
The agent has now contacted us today to say that the original buyer is threatening that unless we pay them £300 cash settlement they will take us to small claims court for the fees they incurred for surveys and solicitor etc. In a panic this afternoon I have tried to read up on line about it and it states that there is nothing legally that they can do unless a "lock-out" agreement was made (which there wasn't) but the agent insists that they could try to sue us ethically? The agent is taking no responsibility for this and said they were just following OUR advice!
Is this possible? Can they take us to the small claims court for ethical reasons?
I'm really very upset about this, this was all down to the agents dealings, my family has no income at all at the moment not even benefits and we've taken a big loss on the house because we were desperate to sell so that we can get on with our lives.
Terrence
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Comments
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Until contracts have been exchanged there is no responsibility on either side. Tell these prospective buyers to naff off0
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Assuming you are in England/Wales...Act in haste, repent at leisure.
dunstonh wrote:Its a serious financial transaction and one of the biggest things you will ever buy. So, stop treating it like buying an ipod.0 -
Don't worry.
The LAs are dirty tricksters and this happens a lot!
You are right there was nothing signed and no clause they can claim from. They could try and sue you but they are likely to lose.
I believe they are trying to scare you into paying them off. If I were you I would tell the LA you will wait for their solicitors letter.
House sales fall through all the time for many reasons, and until a contract is signed neither party has a legal obligation to the other.0 -
If you have owned the house for 30+ years, how could you possibly be selling at a big loss?0
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How do you sue someone ethically?!
The solicitor should not have had two sets of contracts out at the same time without informing both parties, but we don't actually know that there was. Either way, that isn't your issue.
You're under no obligation to give anything to the jilted party at all. Where there is no exchange of contracts, there is no contract. Whether you feel that you should offer something out of obligation is another matter but there is no way that the EA should be telling you that you owe anyone anything. They are clearly and utterly clueless about the job they do.
For what it's worth, if was offering very low on a house and was gazumped, I probably wouldn't be that surprised. Certainly not enough to go after people for costs that I knew I couldn't claim.Everything that is supposed to be in heaven is already here on earth.
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A year ago they were worried about CGT, not a loss...could be talking about "against peak prices" rather than a real loss.Act in haste, repent at leisure.
dunstonh wrote:Its a serious financial transaction and one of the biggest things you will ever buy. So, stop treating it like buying an ipod.0 -
Thanks for all the replies, they are a big help.
The loss is that we eventually sold the house for 2/3 of it's devalued amount.
P.S. We've not heard regarding the CGT yet, do they contact us? I'm not sure how that's done. That's another concern
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A very low offer was made and the agent advised us in the current climate that it was best to take the offer as a "last case" resort and they will look to get a better offer in due course. We were reluctant to do this as we are very straight and honest and didn't want to mislead anyone but they insisted it was the best course of action with little or no sales likely in today's market that at least one buyer was on board even with his reduced offer.
Within a few weeks a slightly better offer was made and the agents proceded with the sale keeping the original buyer on the back burner uninformed (against our request to inform them) just incase the new buyer pulled out. The sale went through and was completed a month ago.
The agent has now contacted us today to say that the original buyer is threatening that unless we pay them £300 cash settlement they will take us to small claims court for the fees they incurred for surveys and solicitor etc. In a panic this afternoon I have tried to read up on line about it and it states that there is nothing legally that they can do unless a "lock-out" agreement was made (which there wasn't) but [I]the agent insists that they could try to sue us ethically[/I]? The agent is taking no responsibility for this and said they were just following OUR advice!
I don't think the agent knows the meaning of the word "ethically"!0 -
Oh right, so not a loss then, just an over-optimistic initial valuation/marketing price? Don't be negative about it, after 30+ years you probably have a profit of several hundred percent.0
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I wish it was from an over-optimistic initial valuation/marketing price, we were realistic in the recent housing market and in fact to make sure that it stood a fighting chance of selling at all I renovated it extensively spending thousands of pounds and then it was listed significantly lower than all the houses in the area (including the run down ones). The offer accepted in the end was 2/3 of the price it was listed for. Not much to end up with for my parents retirement after paying it off for 25 years but that's the state of thingsDannyboyMidlands wrote: »Oh right, so not a loss then, just an over-optimistic initial valuation/marketing price? Don't be negative about it, after 30+ years you probably have a profit of several hundred percent. 0
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