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How is a prospective buyer's "cash offer" qualified when they are homeless?
MrsMcEngland
Posts: 1 Newbie
My property is listed for sale with an online estate agent and I paid extra for them to deal with all viewings. I live some 10 miles away from this property with my husband.
And, yes, I unwittingly accepted an offer from a homeless person ... needless to say, this "sale" fell through!
Once I accepted the cash offer at the full asking price, I was inundated with messages direct to my personal email address. This personal information was accessed by the "buyer" from the agency's online portal. This buyer first asked to rent my house "until completion" or be allowed to use my address as their mailing address. Needless to say, I declined.
Apparently, an estate agent is able to qualify a person's cash offer even when they are homeless and living in a camper van! That was news to me!
The estate agent saw the person's online bank statement or a screenshot of this - he wouldn't elaborate any further - I think all of his checks were carried out online, not in person.
I have complained about this but a director of the online estate agency says that this is a perfectly acceptable way of qualifying an offer. He stated that the 'buyer' had a solicitor, so their status wasn't an issue.
However, although the buyer had entered a a legal firm's details at the portal when they put forward the offer, they almost immediately removed this information. They had not formally instructed a solicitor ! The buyer disclosed to me that they were struggling to instruct a solicitor because of the homelessness issue. This was where I was meant to step in and go to their rescue.
Obviously, I'm not foolish enough to give a homeless person permission to use either of my properties as their mailing address!
Regrettably, by the time I discovered that the buyer was homeless, I had already formally accepted their offer through the agency's portal. Approximately four other potential buyers' viewings had automatically been cancelled at the agency's portal and, from online reviews, I gather the messages from the agency are blunt. In addition, my property's status was changed to "sold subject to contract", both online and on the for sale board. I made a special journey to where my other house is to remove the 'SSTC' notice from the for sale board, in the hope that it would not put people off viewing.
In the three weeks since the bank holiday weekend, although we have reduced the price, there has been much less interest in my house. The house is in a village and I expect people will think that it has had a dodgy survey and is too risky a prospect.
What a nightmare... next time I sell a house I'm going to employ a local estate agency on a "no sale, no fee" basis!
And, yes, I unwittingly accepted an offer from a homeless person ... needless to say, this "sale" fell through!
Once I accepted the cash offer at the full asking price, I was inundated with messages direct to my personal email address. This personal information was accessed by the "buyer" from the agency's online portal. This buyer first asked to rent my house "until completion" or be allowed to use my address as their mailing address. Needless to say, I declined.
Apparently, an estate agent is able to qualify a person's cash offer even when they are homeless and living in a camper van! That was news to me!
The estate agent saw the person's online bank statement or a screenshot of this - he wouldn't elaborate any further - I think all of his checks were carried out online, not in person.
I have complained about this but a director of the online estate agency says that this is a perfectly acceptable way of qualifying an offer. He stated that the 'buyer' had a solicitor, so their status wasn't an issue.
However, although the buyer had entered a a legal firm's details at the portal when they put forward the offer, they almost immediately removed this information. They had not formally instructed a solicitor ! The buyer disclosed to me that they were struggling to instruct a solicitor because of the homelessness issue. This was where I was meant to step in and go to their rescue.
Obviously, I'm not foolish enough to give a homeless person permission to use either of my properties as their mailing address!
Regrettably, by the time I discovered that the buyer was homeless, I had already formally accepted their offer through the agency's portal. Approximately four other potential buyers' viewings had automatically been cancelled at the agency's portal and, from online reviews, I gather the messages from the agency are blunt. In addition, my property's status was changed to "sold subject to contract", both online and on the for sale board. I made a special journey to where my other house is to remove the 'SSTC' notice from the for sale board, in the hope that it would not put people off viewing.
In the three weeks since the bank holiday weekend, although we have reduced the price, there has been much less interest in my house. The house is in a village and I expect people will think that it has had a dodgy survey and is too risky a prospect.
What a nightmare... next time I sell a house I'm going to employ a local estate agency on a "no sale, no fee" basis!
0
Comments
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If they have the money in the bank why does it matter if they have a home, live in a hovel or a mansion?!
Yes asking to use your address before you sell to them is odd, but being 'homeless' is not an issue
I don't understand.0 -
Can I buy your house if I send you a photograph of some money ?The estate agent saw the person's online bank statement or a screenshot of this
Sounds as if the EA was a bit hapless.0 -
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You have my sympathies. Selling is stressful enough without incompetent online agents and weirdly time-wasting "buyers" who lose you real potential prospects
So it is helpful for you to post this cautionary tale... especially as you have no legal redress in the unregulated world of online agents of the "blazing saddles" variety...
However, your advice...
is exactly what almost everyone else on this forum has been saying for years.MrsMcEngland wrote: »...
What a nightmare... next time I sell a house I'm going to employ a local estate agency on a "no sale, no fee" basis!
Better luck (or judgement?) next time!0 -
So this 'buyer' has hundreds of thousands pounds in the bank, but has no fixed abode??"You were only supposed to blow the bl**dy doors off!!"0
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maninthestreet wrote: »So this 'buyer' has hundreds of thousands pounds in the bank, but has no fixed abode??
Perfectly possible. When we last sold, we had "hundreds of £k in the bank," so if we'd bought a motor home and stuck our stuff in storage, that would have been one way to get to know a new area before purchasing in it.
But I take your point, which implies people need some sort of postal address, even when so much more can now be done on-line.0 -
Perfectly possible. When we last sold, we had "hundreds of £k in the bank," so if we'd bought a motor home and stuck our stuff in storage, that would have been one way to get to know a new area before purchasing in it.
But I take your point, which implies people need some sort of postal address, even when so much more can now be done on-line.
I agree, I was in this position last time I sold, and while I actually decided to rent before buying again I did seriously consider the camper van option. I wouldn't have considered myself homeless, rather, I'd have categorized my position as between homes. Not having a postal address of my own wasn't a factor, I would simply have used my mum's address for correspondence.0 -
They've been living in a "camper". This is a very flexible term, that could easily cover a hundred or more grand's worth of motorhome.maninthestreet wrote: »So this 'buyer' has hundreds of thousands pounds in the bank, but has no fixed abode??0 -
By you accepting the offer the online EA would now presumably get paid which would be their motivation rather than getting to exchangeGather ye rosebuds while ye may0
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You're essentially saying....
Your EA was paid a fixed fee in advance, so you suspect they were not very diligent in qualifying a buyer (because they had no incentive to be).
An EA who was paid on completion might have been more diligent - because they would want to get their fee.
I tend to agree.
Online EAs seem to be fine for 'hands-off', 'problem-free' transactions - but not so good otherwise.0
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