Question regarding letter from Estate Agents

theblessedone

My parents have recently put their house on the market, to which an offer has been made. A letter came through from the estate agents which reads;

"I am delighted to confirm the sale of the above property to Mr xxxx & Miss xxxx for £xxx subject to contract.

It is at this stage that we consider the property to be under offer and have sent all the necessary documentation to both solicitors involved in the transaction.

To avoid any potential delay you should confirm the following with your solicitor:

1) That you are instructing them to act on your behalf
2) Details of any related purchase.
3) Relevant roll number and where the deeds are held if you have a mortgage.

We will do everything possible to ensure that this matter proceeds to be satisfactory conclusion. Please note that from this point onwards all further matters relating to this transaction through the exchange of contracts and completion can be dealt with by xxxx xxxx who can be contacted on xxxx xxx xxxx.

Please note subsequent negotiations will not be entered into as a result of a private survey having been carried out.

Yours Sincerely,

xxxxxx"

It is the parts I've indicated in bold which I am unsure of and if anybody has any idea what these could mean, I would greatly appreciate some assistance!

Many Thanks!

Yorkie1

Have your parents actually accepted the offer that has been made?

googler

No 2 is asking if and where your parents are moving to. They're selling here, presumably buying somewhere else?

The second phrase basically says that even if the buyer's survey find problems, the EA and your parents won't yield to requests to vary the price.

But yes, we take it your parents have accepted the offer?

theblessedone

Yorkie1 wrote: »

Have your parents actually accepted the offer that has been made?

Yep, they've accepted the offer

Guest101

As the related purchase, if your parents are planning on buying, they should, once they have an offer accepted let the solicitor know the details, so that the chain can be maintained, nothing unusual about that (unless i've misread)

The negotiations aspect basically means nothing - the estate agent is saying if they do a survey and want to lower the price based on that, or for any other reason they can do, up unitl the second that contracts are exchanged.

It seems a fairly standard letter

theblessedone

googler wrote: »

No 2 is asking if and where your parents are moving to. They're selling here, presumably buying somewhere else?

They're not buying somewhere else at this moment in time.

G_M

theblessedone wrote: »

They're not buying somewhere else at this moment in time.

Yes but it's a standard letter. Let's face it - most people who sell, also buy somewhere new to move to.

Granted, 1 in 1000 sell their home, grab the £££, and then refuse to move out, but that is a minority....

theblessedone

G_M wrote: »

Yes but it's a standard letter. Let's face it - most people who sell, also buy somewhere new to move to.

Granted, 1 in 1000 sell their home, grab the £££, and then refuse to move out, but that is a minority....

Oh that terminology in point 2 makes perfect sense now, was just unsure on what it actually meant at first.

And when I say they haven't bought a place at the moment, their each moving in with their new partners for the time being.

vwdreamer

Hi there,
I am on the other side of a chain as a buyer with a nearly verbatim letter. I am worried about the line stating 'Please note subsequent negotiations will not be entered into as a result of a private survey having been carried out.'

I am arranging for a private survey on the flat as we opted for the basic 'free' survey via our lender.

Can anyone confirm that this is still worth going ahead with as a) it offers peace of mind about the state of the property and b) if major fault/repair issues do arise, then there may still be room to negotiate on the price as the flat is sold 'subject to contract'?

I'd be grateful for views on this as the offer letter has only just come through and we've already been making arrangements for a private survey. Some of the work was undertaken by the vendors themselves so we obviously want to ensure it's all up to code, etc and if there are issues then we may well be minded to revisit our offer price.

Thanks!

kingstreet

vwdreamer wrote: »

I am worried about the line stating 'Please note subsequent negotiations will not be entered into as a result of a private survey having been carried out.'

Ignore it. If you want to re-negotiate, you re-negotiate.

There's nothing the agent can do to stop that. It's one of the most ludicrous phrases I think I've ever heard of, particularly on a sales memo.

Think "eight stone bespectacled weakling, talking tough" and you won't be far out.

Pathetic.

I've worked for three agents over the years and I've never come across that before. It's really quite funny...

vwdreamer

Thanks Kingstreet, that's really helpful! We'll carry on as planned!