Bizarre convo with Estate agent

girl_withno_name

sandsni wrote: »

I don't know anything about estate agent law or ethics, but it seems to me the agent overstepped a bit telling you as much as they did about the vendor's business. If they were genuinely worried about your purchase falling through, all they had to say was "if I were you I would consider altenative options as this sale is not guaranteed to proceed". It's none of your business WHY the vendor is having problems, all you need to know is whether your purchase is going to go ahead or not.

Surely, at the stage which the OP is at, no sale is guaranteed to proceed? If the EA's going to state something along these lines, then I'd say that some timescales at least are helpful - how else would the buyer know whether they're prepared to sit it out?

evansmummy

We've decided to leave it on the back burner and see if anything else comes along in the meantime. If not and they are more serious about selling we'll revisit it.
Luckily we have cash buyers and they have told us they are happy to wait til Sept when our son starts school in the area we're moving to.
So now it's the waiting game for a suitable house to come up in our price range.

sandsni

girl_withno_name wrote: »

Surely, at the stage which the OP is at, no sale is guaranteed to proceed? If the EA's going to state something along these lines, then I'd say that some timescales at least are helpful - how else would the buyer know whether they're prepared to sit it out?

You're right, maybe what I said was too vague in the context, but I suppose what I was trying to get at was whether the EA should have disclosed specific problems the vendor was having. I don't know how much of that information would be considered confidential between the vendor and agent, other than to tell the prospective purchaser if the sale was going ahead. (I hope that makes sense).

harryhound

Check the title at the Land Registry - I did in similar situation, the seller was very vague about exchange and completion.

What was really happening was that the mortgage company was threatening to re-possess BUT it was an ex council house and freedom to sell and pocket the subsidy still had 6 months to run.

societys_child

sandsni wrote: »

I suppose what I was trying to get at was whether the EA should have disclosed specific problems the vendor was having. I don't know how much of that information would be considered confidential .

Hardly specific:

They don't know whether they will get the house they are after and won't know for a month or more

Don't think that breaks any data protection or confidentiality laws.

lynnemcf

evansmummy wrote: »

We've decided to leave it on the back burner and see if anything else comes along in the meantime. If not and they are more serious about selling we'll revisit it.
Luckily we have cash buyers and they have told us they are happy to wait til Sept when our son starts school in the area we're moving to.
So now it's the waiting game for a suitable house to come up in our price range.

Are you joking? Buyers are like gold dust and you are not even bothering to look for a new house when you have a buyer for yours? I would find somewhere to rent rather than risk losing my buyer!