Accepted offer on my house... but now I've got another viewing?

moneyistooshorttomention

BigG10 wrote: »

Being gazumped is AWFUL. Especially if you are a first time buyer. had it happen to me first time. The say that the first buyer who put in the offer has been putting in the offer for 4 months. Surely they have proved they want the house. I think its unreasonable that you haven't taken it off the market. The first time buyer is clearly serious. You should have shown some courtesy and taken it off the market. I also think the EA is in the wrong. Awful. Sorry but awful.

To be fair - this buyer has been messing around for 4 months. If they were going to offer a lower price than they were prepared to pay and then keep upping offers then they should have finished the Offer Game stage of proceedings within, say, a fortnight of the first offer.

I would certainly take it that a buyer who spent as long as 4 months steadily upping and upping the offer as meaning that they had been trying and trying for a rather long length of time to get me to accept a lower price for the house.

I've just made a mental Note to Self not to allow any further offers from a buyer once they reach my own personal mental deadline of 4 weeks from their first offer and that I think I am being quite generous to allow them that long to Play an Offer Game with me. So I reckon I had better say at around Day 21 to anyone still playing that game that they won't be allowed to continue offering after Day 28 and the price they have offered for my house at that date is IT and I will judge that price as to whether it is or isn't acceptable to me and I won't be taking any further offers from them after that.

I'll admit that I've never heard of anyone playing that game for anything like as long as this buyer has and I am presuming that the only reason the OP hadn't sent them packing before now is because there weren't any other offers in sight.

I couldnt say what I would do in OP's position. I know that if the buyer had concluded the Offer Game in a reasonable length of time (ie 1-2 weeks and at most my personal deadline of 4 weeks) then I would stick with them for the sake of that amount of money. But, because they have played around for so long, then I don't quite know what I would do in those circumstances.

Prior to this thread, I just took it as read that anyone would have offered as high as they ever were going to offer within a week (or, at very most, two weeks). So this buyer has certainly been most unreasonable to delay the house sale by 4 months and I would be wondering what to do in OP's circumstances precisely because of this unreasonableness.

hazyjo

Doesn't sound to me like the buyer has been messing around for four months. Sounds like they're keen, but didn't want to/couldn't afford to up their offer. An asking price is not necessarily a formal valuation.

Without knowing the area, other sold prices of similar nearby properties, and how long this property has been on the market, you can't say the buyer's been messing them around. The vendor might be 'optimistic' or 'testing the market' for all you know.

Personally, I would never still allow viewings once I'd accepted an offer.

Have just reassured my buyer I won't be letting anyone else view my house as she was pushing for it to be removed from all internet sites.

Each to their own - we're all born with different views, morals and opinions so I won't attempt to push mine on to anyone else.

Jx

julieb1987

The OP has now said the house was under offer already but then tried to get as much out of the current buyer as possible before accepting their offer. I don't think you can blame the buyer here. They didn't mess around, as such, they made one offer which was rejected. They came back 2 months later when it was under offer with a higher offer. Maybe they went off to sort their finances, maybe they're right at the top if their price threshold. OP has already shafted previous buyers for a better offer, of course they'll do it again. When will it end? If you keep holding out for a better offer you may never sell. You say you want a quick sale, but are willing to delay it. For the sake of a couple of grand. Doesn't make sense. If you want a quick sale, stick. If you want more money then go with the higher offer, but expect it to take longer. If you'd have carried on with the original offer you may be in your new house now.

Yorkie1

hcb42 wrote: »

So after four months, arguing over a few £k, it is likely the buyer hasn't even had a survey yet ( if in England, as that's how we roll) - I don't see anything like a done deal here yet.

Give the buyer a chance - offer was only accepted on 31 Dec!

J_i_m

I think gazumping/gazundering is a horrible concept.

And in this particular the vendor is only realistically going to get a couple grand more than already offered. It's probably not realistic to anticipate a bidding war between the prospective buyers since neither are likely to want to go above asking price.

So why risk losing the already accepted buyer who stuck at offering for 4 months? Surely that shows that they want the house and are not on the mess about. And if this other buyer is so ready to gazump what's to say they aren't likely to mess about?

For such a small financial gain it's a big risk to take. I think the accepted offer is the safer bet.

Oli.s

My policy when house buying is that if the vendor doesn't remove the house from the market upon accepting my offer then the offer won't proceed, I'll be dammed if I'm risking paying out all the valuation/survey fees etc for the vendor to then pull out of the deal.

googler

jason.parker.86 wrote: »

Hello,
After 8 months of having my house for sale, I have accepted an offer from a First Time Buyer who has been putting in offers for the past 4 months.
It is £4,500 less than the asking price but I have agreed with the estate agent to leave the house on the market until exchange of contracts.

...

This morning the EA called and said they have phoned them and requested a 2nd viewing on Saturday/Sunday and are very keen.
My dilemma is what do I do if they come in with a higher offer? I don't want to risk loosing a sale but at the same time I want as much as I can get for the house.
Any advice would be welcome.

As a previous poster just said, where does this end? You reject the first buyer in favour of this new one, you spend a while arriving at a 'final' figure for their offer, and then the EA brings in another 'keen' viewer, who wants to make an offer, so you reject the second one...... when are you going to stop?

I presume you're going to move on somewhere else, so how will you feel, once you've made an offer on someone else's house, only to find them rejecting you after a couple of months in favour of another?

Do unto others .....

googler

Oli.s wrote: »

My policy when house buying is that if the vendor doesn't remove the house from the market upon accepting my offer then the offer won't proceed, I'll be dammed if I'm risking paying out all the valuation/survey fees etc for the vendor to then pull out of the deal.

I concur. It should be standard practice in E&W, once an offer is accepted, to NOT offer the house to others unless the first offer falls through. No need for anyone to make it standard practice in Scotland, for it already is...

emmita

If the second offer comes in higher and you accept it and then falls through you might well lose the first buyer.

I would recommend that you say to these other buyers that the house has been sold STC and that if they are interested you will keep their details.

In a slow market keep buyers as your friend.

Good luck.

adamzetec

HappyMJ wrote: »

Take the higher offer. Get as much as you can. Before accepting though I'd get proof they earn what they say they do (payslips), have the deposit they say they do(bank statement) and I'd even ask for a credit report as well to see if it looks like a mortgage provider would lend them the money based on their income and previous credit history.

This is a terrible suggestion, I'd tell you where to stick it if I was buying your house and you wanted to see such personal and detailed financial records.

You are a party in the sale of a house, not a financial adviser :rotfl: