Offer accepted and then declined

paye

I had a offer acceptted on a property last week which was confirmed by the agent, I then completed my mortgage application which got approved , the survey was booked in for 30th of december 2013 all running like clockwork. This morning I get a call from the agent telling me that over the weekend someone else put an higher offer to mine and the vendor accepted the higher offer.

Is it true that because the survey hadn't taken place the vendor are still entitled to accept higher offers?

i am well gutted as you can imagine because currently I am living with my mum with two small kids and my wife in one double bedroom . I am grateful for my mum for having us but I need my own space , it also dosen't help the fact that currently in london there are shortage of houses some of the houses are going for stupid amounts of money.Luckily my lender who are tesco bank are very reasonable and have put my application on hold until i find another property. Just !!!!ed of at the moment.:(:(:(

ging84

you have been gazumpped
even if your survey had happened and you'd paid solicitors fees, searches and mortgage fees, it can still happen, assuming your are in England/Wales not Scotland then you can both change your mind right up until exchange

Old_Git

you should have insisted the house was taken off the market and there would be no further viewings.at least thats what Kirsty and Phil tell us to do.

00ec25

paye wrote: »

Is it true that because the survey hadn't taken place the vendor are still entitled to accept higher offers?

no that is not true, the vendor can accept another offer at any time under any circumstance until the moment you exchange contracts. Only then are you both legally bound to each other, prior to then you are as free and the vendor to change your mind and walk away leaving the other person possibly out of pocket having spent out on surveys and/or solicitors

as said above its called gazumping and is a deeply unpopular fact of life about a market where prices are rising. The next person may be able to pay more than you and / or be in a better position to buy than you.

you as the purchaser also have the ability to royally p off the vendor by doing the opposite, ie just before you complete you gazunder: you withdraw your offer and make a lower one in its place on a take it or leave it basis

gazumping and gazundering are the least pleasant side of the English method of property buying/selling

Windsorcastle

It's a horrible thing to experience, but unfortunately some people are very greedy. It's also a good reason why buyers should do everything possible to move to a speedy excahnge before a greedy seller can get a higher offer.

When I sold my property this year, I accepted an offer, and then a few days later, someone else who had viewed the same day, put in a higher offer and was really bullish with the EA, basically saying he would top whatever offer I had. However, I do think what goes around comes around, and I stuck with the original lower offer I had accepted, because that was the decent thing to do.

If karma works, your greedy seller will have the sale fall through a few months down the line when the gazumper walks away!!

TCB1

I believe in karma on this. We were guzumped and very upset about it too, a few weeks down the line the seller came back to us as the new buyer was being slow and uncommunicative. We had already found a better, bigger, cheaper house by then so were able to say NO!

agrinnall

At least you were gazumped before the survey was done so you're not out of pocket for that. You don't have to search very hard on here to find many pleas from people who lost a property much later in the process, and most of them are told the hard truth that they can't reclaim any expenses from the seller.

paye

Thank you for your replies much appreciated :beer:. I believe in karma as well so I've out bidded the higher offer today and when it comes to exchange a couple days before I will lower my offer to my original offer. The seller are in a chain I'm not thankfully so I can pull out any time. What goes round comes around. I know it's out of order but there you go.

When I sold my place I accepted a first offer i got a few days later the agent phoned me up and told me that someone put in higher offer of £6k more so I told the agent I will stick with the original offer.

xylophone

I will lower my offer to my original offer.

What a very unpleasant way to behave - I hope that the vendor will walk away.

verulamium

Two wrongs don't make a right!

paye

xylophone wrote: »

What a very unpleasant way to behave - I hope that the vendor will walk away.

They've behaved very unpleasantly with me aswell by accepting my offer and then rejecting it a week later by accepting £5k more from someone else. I had the survey arranged mortgage agreed and paid for. Dog eat it dog out there at the moment.