Had an offer accepted - how long before its taken off the market

Old_Git

I have completed on a house and received the keys two weeks ago .
It is still showing on one site as for sale.

banwa

macarena123 wrote: »

"Mind you, not many buyers are a dead cert, most will have a sale to complete so we are no less viable than most buyers."

Really nobody is a dead cert, esp these days with lenders being the way they are! Even if you are a FTB with a stack of cash and an agreement in principle you never know until you get into the nitty gritty of the transaction - there are no guarantees.

So given that the (admittedly very screwed-up) English house-buying process essentially operates on trust, for me it's all about feeling confident that the people you're dealing with are basically straightforward and professional. Tit-for-tat - you are doing your bit, you will not be unreasonable in asking that they are doing theirs.

See what the EA says but to grifferz point, if you get bad vibes about these people and you don't get a straight reply you really are better off walking away. Disappointing but best in the long run.

I liked the people, I trust them, and I kind of think that might be why they accepted our offer, because it was mutual.

Old_Git wrote: »

I have completed on a house and received the keys two weeks ago .
It is still showing on one site as for sale.

That brought a grin to my face. Well done on getting everything through.

It's probably just the EA being a bit rubbish. I am a believer in if it's meant to be, it will be, it usually works out for the best so not feeling too hassled at this early stage. Would be a different matter if it were costing me money though

Thanks for the replies

Banwa

bretts

you can ask one of your friend to call the EA and ask them if the property is on market.

It has happened to me my property is still on market and inspite of asking the EA so many times to take it off, its still advertised, but I made a mistake as I have already spent a lot of money on surveys and everything only to find in the end that it is a probate property just when I was about to exchange. I cant put a lot of pressure on the EA now, just hoping that the exchange goes through.

greenbee

My EA put up the 'sold' sign before I'd accepted an offer... They have taken it down, and although I have now accepted an offer I'm not letting them put the sold sign up until I see some paperwork. I haven't had the final offer (which I have accepted verbally) in writing yet, and apparently the buyers haven't even chosen a solicitor yet, so I'm not taking them very seriously.

Which is a pity, as I've found somewhere to move to. My purchase seems to be moving much faster than my sale...

topbargainhunter

I recently had an offer on my flat and refused to take it off the market until the prospective buyer proved they had the means to buy it and actually spent some of their money on legal fees. We had a buyer pull out before without any reason after 3 months, so we didn't want to take any chances this time.

It's funny reading these boards how the sellers are paranoid about the buyers pulling out (like I was) and the buyers are paranoid about sellers pulling out. The system really needs changing so that either party can't waste thousands of pounds only to be let down.

bluedrop

Insist. Your offer must be on the condition that once accepted, the property must be taken off the market within 24 hours and the sold board must go up at the property within 2 days.

DONT instruct survery unless the property is clearly off the market.

If the property is not 'sold stc' on the websites, get a friend to call and ask for a viewing. If they agree to let her view, all bets off. PULL OUT IMMEDIATELY. Trust lost = not worth it.

jackomdj

bluedrop wrote: »

Insist. Your offer must be on the condition that once accepted, the property must be taken off the market within 24 hours and the sold board must go up at the property within 2 days.

DONT instruct survery unless the property is clearly off the market.

If the property is not 'sold stc' on the websites, get a friend to call and ask for a viewing. If they agree to let her view, all bets off. PULL OUT IMMEDIATELY. Trust lost = not worth it.

But some owners won't take it off the market until you have your survey to prove you are proceedable! Catch 22 situation.

Have you met the sellers? If so I find building a relationship with them can help smooth things along. When we bought this house two years ago we were both keen to push things along. We swapped phone numbers and actually spoke to each other! I remember talking about the completion date, and negotiations over the phone, rather than relying on 2 sets of solicitors plus us trying to sort it.

princeofpounds

My EA put up the 'sold' sign before I'd accepted an offer...

haha yes this was a trend around my area after the financial crisis. Nothing much was moving, so the agents were all keen to demonstrate they could sell stuff.

Cue almost every single board going up with a 'sold' or 'under offer' sign immediately. But on the websites and in the office the properties were all still for sale.

I suppose the logic was that buyers would search the net or speak to them directly, whilst potential sellers would just be looking around to see who had the most presence.

None of the properties I tracked did sell in the end. Most came off the market before re-appearing a year later and then selling.

pops5588

The house that we are (hopefully) purchasing was on with two estate agents which I think worked both for and against us in this situation. Obviously the estate agent we went through wanted the commission of the sale instead of the other one, so were very keen and speedy indeed in updating their website and telling rightmove to put SSTC on the property details. Job done.

However was much trickier getting the other (national) estate agent to take the darn thing down. We were very concerned we were being diddled but we took the advice from here of getting a friend to phone and try to arrange a viewing through the EA but luckily they did tell them that an offer had been accepted and that they couldn't accept any viewings. After that we just went back to the vendor and said the deal was you would get the property off the website, make it happen or we're off. Mysteriously disappeared within 10 minutes...

jibbyboo

The EA of the house I am purchasing refused to change RM or put up a for sale sign (or send out memo of sale) until I had "spent money on the property". Then they changed their minds again, and wouldn't change the status until the survey had been instructed. Then delayed again until the survey came back and I was happy with the result. At this point, I just told them that I had paid money and they had to take it off the market now.

I believe they must tell anybody that enquires that the property is under offer, but until exchange, people can still view and bid etc, even if the property is showing STC.