Offers on an already sold house

Dave_123

Hi
We have had our offer for a property accepted, the estate agent sent us a nice letter congratulating us and subsequently the "Sold" sign went up. Went for a second viewing, everything great, treated us like it was already ours.
Next thing we know we get a call from the Estate Agent saying someone else has put a higher bid in, what do we want to do?
Surely this can't be done!
At the time no Soliciters were involved.
Is this perfectly legal.

Mr_Moo_2

'Fraid so, you've got no final deal with the vendor until contracts are signed and exchanged. I share your pain and frustration....

2 choices - match and/or beat the other offer or move on an look for somewhere else. Hopefully if you've not got got very far you haven't spent (and possibly now wasted) money on significant conveyancing fees and surveys etc?

ReadingTim

In very small letters under the word sold will be the words "subject to contract", and the contract hasn't been signed and exchanged. Therefore the property hasn't actually been sold.

You've been gazumped, and yes, it's perfectly legal.

martinsurrey

Worse still,

Even if there is another "real" offer (who knows, maybe the agent/vendor are chancing it to get more £££), and you agree to increase your bid, there is nothing to stop them doing this again, after you've spent a fortune on fees, as they know you’re on the hook.

I would walk away now, it’s a buyer’s market and I don’t need the aggro (although if this is your forever home, it might be different)

krlyr

Perfectly legal, and the estate agents have a legal obligation to pass all offers on to the vendors I believe. It's quite common for a buyer to make an offer on the condition that the property is marked as sold (STC) and that viewings are ceased but even then, offers must be passed on.
I would be asking myself if I wanted to proceed with a sale when the vendor is happy to do business in this kind of manner. They may not be legally required to go through with your offers but there is a matter of manners when it comes to gazumping. What happens if you up your offer and a larger offer comes in further down the line, when you've had the expense of solicitors, searches, surveys, etc?

And as mentioned above - it may not be a real offer, could be a strategy to up your offer. Could be the vendor playing games, could be the EA trying to get a larger offer which results in them getting a larger fee - could be worth calling their bluff on it if you are prepared to walk away from the house if it wasn't just a strategy. I would have a serious think about whether this house is that unique that it's worth the hassle and stress - if you do make a higher offer you may want to consider proceeding with a quick exchange and completion of contracts to minimise the chance of being gazumped again.

Our vendor knew our offer was our maximum and we were prepared to walk away if it became a bidding war because we simply couldn't afford it - and the house wasn't worth any more to us than our offer anyway. Our vendor was honest about another potential offer but we were the more appealing choice considering we were FTBs so no chain, had a MIP already and could move to suit his timescale. You could put forward all the points that make you an appealing buyer if you're not prepared to up your offer, sometimes convenience can be worth more than a small increase in price.

DRP

Dave_123 wrote: »

Hi
We have had our offer for a property accepted, the estate agent sent us a nice letter congratulating us and subsequently the "Sold" sign went up. Went for a second viewing, everything great, treated us like it was already ours.
Next thing we know we get a call from the Estate Agent saying someone else has put a higher bid in, what do we want to do?
Surely this can't be done!
At the time no Soliciters were involved.
Is this perfectly legal.

be thankful you haven't spent any money yet.

I would go to the branch and get very snooty with the EA in person and in public. Also, I wouldn't be tempted to increase my offer - firstly you can no longer trust the vendor/EA not to try this stunt again and secondly the whole thing could be total BS and the EA may come crawling back to you in a week.

Call the deal off and start looking for other properties. Make sure the EA knows you are doing so.**



** subject to this not being your dream home etc etc

hazyjo

Think about the sellers too - do you still want to deal with them? If I was selling and had another offer, I'd say thank you, but it's under offer - I will get in touch should it fall through. I would not want to deal with vendors willing to gazump. That's me though. Others will say it depends how much higher the offer is. Know for a fact I would not let someone down though.

Had it only just come on to the market when you offered? How long ago did you offer? Are we talking days?

Jx

SecondTimeBuyer

We had this done to us on our ideal place. We did not make a higher offer and then the seller came back to us 2 weeks later as the buyers couldn't get a mortgage. Unfortunately this happens a lot.

Dave_123

Thanks everyone for your replies.
Need to think...as it is our perfect house.
But as Hazyjo states, do we really want to still deal with the seller.

hazyjo

Be careful it's not just the EA though. They might be doing things the vendor doesn't know about. Maybe arrange another viewing and have a word with the vendor... If they do know about the other offer, check to see if (a) it was still being marketed or if it was from someone who'd viewed before you, and (b) if they're planning on taking the higher/other offer if you don't increase yours.

Jx

newbie1980

tell them youll go up 10k then pull out just before getting solicitors involved
that will teach them