Agents telling buyers we have accepted offer when we have not.

DamePeggy

I’ve searched the forums, and not found anything that quite matches this, apologies if there is…

We recently put our house on the market and had over a dozen viewings over the ‘launch’ weekend.

The upshot was that we received two offers of the asking price. On Monday the agents told me that they were doing the relevant position to proceed checks, but assured me that in the meantime the house would still be marketted as usual.

We were a little surprised not to have been receiving any further viewing bookings (which appeared to have been sent automatically through their booking system), so I asked a friend of mine to give them a ring to ask about our house.

The agent who answered the phone said that they thought the house was under offer, but they would check. They came back and confirmed that yes the house was under offer and that the offer had been accepted and then went on to tell our friend about another house they were just ‘typing up’.

This was most definitely not the case – we had not, and still have not, accepted any offers on our property. As far as we were (and are) concerned we were awaiting further information regarding the offers that had been made and that our house was still very much on the market.

The fact that this information was given after ‘checking’ suggests that it wasn’t a simple misunderstanding – although even if it was, it’s still pretty serious.

I called the agents about this and was told they would look into it. They then told me more about the offers that we had received and that they had asked them both to provide their full and final offer. I was very surprised to hear this as as offering this kind of deadline to two potential buyers would appear to be just the kind of decision to be taken after full discussion with the vendor.

We haven’t found anywhere yet that we want to buy and so are not in a rush to accept the first offers made (the agents know this). Certainly we don’t need to restrict it to just one weekend.

We are at a bit of a loss as to how to proceed at the moment. The offers are both of the initial asking price – which is nice, but could suggest that the place was possibly undervalued? How do we know that more potential buyers have not been turned away like this?

The agents give every indication that they’ve selected an offer for us, want to turn the property over and take their fees.

Any advice gratefully received!

hazyjo

I guess they think it only takes two to 'bid' against each other. Adding another one (or several) may just make one/some pull out altogether.

Just make it clear to them you still want viewers and are not necessarily accepting an offer from one of these two parties.

Did you not get a couple/few valuations before putting it on the market?! And did you not do 'homework' as to what other similar nearby properties had sold for?

Just cos something sells quickly (especially in areas such as London) doesn't necessarily mean it's been undervalued.

Jx

pawsies

Could you threaten to cancel the contract with the estate agent if they are not following your instructions?

DamePeggy

hazyjo wrote: »

I guess they think it only takes two to 'bid' against each other. Adding another one (or several) may just make one/some pull out altogether.

Just make it clear to them you still want viewers and are not necessarily accepting an offer from one of these two parties.

Did you not get a couple/few valuations before putting it on the market?! And did you not do 'homework' as to what other similar nearby properties had sold for?

Just cos something sells quickly (especially in areas such as London) doesn't necessarily mean it's been undervalued.

Jx

1. All of which may be true - but the agent making the unilateral decision to go to this stage is not acceptable.
2. We have made this clear - we should not have had to.
3. Of course we did - but this can only go so far. Yu can only ever get the true value of a property in the market by adequately marketting it - taking one of the first two offers and then sending customers elsewhere clearly is not that.

DamePeggy

pawsies wrote: »

Could you threaten to cancel the contract with the estate agent if they are not following your instructions?

We could and we are considering this, but it would be at the expense of further time, effort and possible effect on eventual saleabilily of a 're-marketed' house.

Jason74

There are two related issues imho. One is the conduct of the EA in terms of how they have managed the sale. The other is the lack of communication. In terms of marketed, I don’t think that they have done a great deal wrong. They’ve marketed the property thoroughly (as evidenced by a dozen people through the door), and secured two offers for a full asking price that you’ve agreed with them. They’re then going back to those buyers to get a best final selling price. It’s hard to see what else they could have done, and adding further buyers to the equation from here is just as likely to harm you as help (as Hazyjo pointed out). Yes, if you leave it long enough, someone will almost certainly offer more still, but in a rising market, that will always be the case. I think that the way they have handled the sale is (based on what you’ve said) perfectly reasonable, and I don’t think anyone could reasonably expect more.

However, as you say, this is your house, and the final decision as to what to do with it should rest with you. Even if “closing the book” and getting the best price from the two remaining buyers is the right thing to do (and imho it probably is), that course of action should have been explained to you as a recommendation, and your consent sought to adopt that approach. They shouldn’t have just unilaterally done it.

hazyjo

DamePeggy wrote: »

1. All of which may be true - but the agent making the unilateral decision to go to this stage is not acceptable.
2. We have made this clear - we should not have had to.
3. Of course we did - but this can only go so far. Yu can only ever get the true value of a property in the market by adequately marketting it - taking one of the first two offers and then sending customers elsewhere clearly is not that.

Absolutely agree with you that they're in the wrong, not trying to defend them

Sometimes you do just need to spell things out. I agree you shouldn't have to, but c'est la vie (I always remember someone posting something on a thread here where she'd asked a builder to put a catflap in a door and they put it at the top, not the bottom, and when she asked why, they said she'd not actually specified LOL (sorry but that absolutely still cracks me up)).

Not saying they'll go with one of those two offers, but they may well wait until they have squeezed the highest offer out of those two, then see who else they can get into the ring to offer.

EAs use some strange tactics. Not what you or I would do, but there really are some weird ones out there who like to add their own ways and means into the mix. They're a strange bunch!

Jx

jjlandlord

What do you want to achieve?

You put your property on the market and have 2 offers for the asking price. What more to wish for?

bryanb

I assume you have complained to the EA. If you're not satisfied with their response complain to their professional body, assuming they belong to one.

hazyjo

Jason74 wrote: »

Yes, if you leave it long enough, someone will almost certainly offer more still, but in a rising market, that will always be the case.

Such a good point.

Wanted to add too - they may well be planning to get the best offer off the two parties then get another into the ring - BUT even though that's kind of what you'd want, I don't think it's particularly fair. I suppose it should be about getting the best price, but it's hard to know when to say yes in a rising market. If I was making an offer and went over the asking price, I'd like a yay or nay quite soon. I'd possibly pull out if they said no and still had viewers still with an aim to get a better price.

It is difficult... trying to get them to do the job the way you'd do it, but then not accepting a good result cos you then think if there's that much interest, it's been underpriced or there'll be even more people willing to offer over the asking price...

Jx

DamePeggy

Thanks to everyone for your comments.

There are indeed two aspects to this – whether the marketing was good and then the communication.

Gaining two offers at the agrreed asking price may well have been decent, and adding more buyers into the mix may well have produced more harm than good – but we are NOT talking about offers with confirmed ability to proceed – indeed it is now looking as if one of them is not in a position to do so. Turning potential buyers away on the basis of unsubstantiated offers cannot be acceptable (especially when they categorically assured me that they were still ‘actively marketing’ the place).