keep putting offers?

nat38

how does it work when you buy a house in England - once your offer is accepted can you keep looking at houses and putting other offers in case you find something better, or the 'accepted offer' is legally binding? or morally binding? or neither?
thanks!

Good_Money

You are only legally binded once you exchange contracts.

nat38

thanks!
and when do you usually exchange contracts?
also, can the seller keep getting viewings (and offers)?

emmah89

only on a repossessed property can agents take offers (to my knowledge). we are currently in the process of buying our first house- we originally had an offer accepted on a repossession and we almost ready to sign when someone else put an offer in. we now have had an offer accepted 2 weeks ago on a lovely house and the house status has changed to sale agreed, and we are currently awaiting confirmation from co-ownership and then hopefully things will move pretty quickly!

Good_Money

nat38 wrote: »

thanks!
and when do you usually exchange contracts?
also, can the seller keep getting viewings (and offers)?

This would happen after the survey is completed and solicitor is happy with all the answers to any questions asked of the seller.

The seller should be asked to take house off the market by the buyer but the seller could continue to market the property if the buyer has not done anything to progress the situation (sorting out mortgage and getting survey done for example)

Fortheloveofmoney

emmah89 wrote: »

only on a repossessed property can agents take offers (to my knowledge). we are currently in the process of buying our first house- we originally had an offer accepted on a repossession and we almost ready to sign when someone else put an offer in. we now have had an offer accepted 2 weeks ago on a lovely house and the house status has changed to sale agreed, and we are currently awaiting confirmation from co-ownership and then hopefully things will move pretty quickly!

This isn't true I'm afraid. Offers can be made and accepted on any property in E & W up until contracts have been exchanged. Whether this is morally right is a whole other question.

Fortheloveofmoney

nat38 wrote: »

how does it work when you buy a house in England - once your offer is accepted can you keep looking at houses and putting other offers in case you find something better, or the 'accepted offer' is legally binding? or morally binding? or neither?
thanks!

You can legally do this but I think it's unfair on the seller you're buying from.

With the system we have in place in E&W there has to be an element of trust in the process which goes both ways. I'm selling my house at the moment and if I thought our buyer was doing this then I wouldn't sell to them and would find someone else to buy it.

nat38

Fortheloveofmoney wrote: »

You can legally do this but I think it's unfair on the seller you're buying from.

With the system we have in place in E&W there has to be an element of trust in the process which goes both ways. I'm selling my house at the moment and if I thought our buyer was doing this then I wouldn't sell to them and would find someone else to buy it.

Totally agree.
I should have said that actually our main concern is the seller pulling out, (not us finding something better) that's why we're wondering whether we should keep viewing, just in case.

Fortheloveofmoney

nat38 wrote: »

Totally agree.
I should have said that actually our main concern is the seller pulling out, (not us finding something better) that's why we're wondering whether we should keep viewing, just in case.

I see. Well I guess if you don't think it's going to happen then it doesn't hurt to have a back up plan. I wouldn't offer on others though unless you are prepared to pull out of the original house.

What have they done to cause your doubts?

JimmyTheWig

nat38 wrote: »

how does it work when you buy a house in England - once your offer is accepted can you keep looking at houses and putting other offers in case you find something better, or the 'accepted offer' is legally binding? or morally binding? or neither?
thanks!

Not legally binding. That happens at exchange of contracts, which is normally a week or two before you move.
Morally binding, yes. If there's a valid reason to pull out (e.g. survey showed up something nasty, couldn't get mortgage, etc) then fine but if not then it's certainly frowned upon. Might also get you a bad reputation with the estate agents who might not be so keen to show you new properties if they think you're going to pull out again.

Unless you've got real doubts about the sellers I wouldn't view any other places. Looking online is fine, but you never know who knows who. If the sellers find out you've been viewing other places then they might pull the plug because of that and the whole thing becomes self-fullfilling!
If you've got valid reasons for thinking they might pull out then you can use this as a negotiation tool. E.g. tell the estate agents that you are concerned about what is happening and if things don't progress within the next week, say, you'll start looking around.

Bufger

emmah89 wrote: »

only on a repossessed property can agents take offers (to my knowledge). we are currently in the process of buying our first house- we originally had an offer accepted on a repossession and we almost ready to sign when someone else put an offer in. we now have had an offer accepted 2 weeks ago on a lovely house and the house status has changed to sale agreed, and we are currently awaiting confirmation from co-ownership and then hopefully things will move pretty quickly!

Dont think you're safe or have any recourse until you've exchanged contracts. You could even be £1000 in solicitors fees and £400 in surveys into the sale and then be gazumped.

Try googling: gazumping