Why Was Our House Taken Off The Market

Border_Reiver2

We have a house for sale and after advertising it at a high price with no offers forthcoming we decided to drop the price. The estate agent phoned and wrote to tell us that an offer had been put in for the new asking price and would we accept the offer. We accepted the offer and we were informed that the buyer still had to get a mortgage after a valuation. The estate agent then immediately altered the sign and adverts to say that the house was "SOLD stc". Now, 7 weeks later, the buyer has been in touch to say that their mortgage company will not give them a mortgage and they want us to drop the price by a further £20,000 so they can try another mortgage company.
Surely the estate agent should have checked that the buyer had actually got the money before the house was effectively taken off the market. We have lost 7 weeks of time where other potential buyers could have viewed the property and maybe met our asking price.
Any thoughts on this please?

Comms69

You accepted the risks, otherwise you would’ve said- no keep marketing it, until they come back with an AIP

PassingOutInTheParade

Any decent estate agent would have checked the buyer was proceedable before removing your property from the market.

I'd be changing to a different firm and insisting they make all those checks.

I'm buying a house at the moment and was literally interrogated by the seller's agent. I had to prove funds, ID, etc. I'm glad they did; it meant they were diligent and my offer was the best for a number of reasons.

mouthscradle

Perhaps the buyer had an agreement in principle but when it came to applying for the mortgage formally, were rejected. No agent could have foreseen that.

AdrianC

Border_Reiver2 wrote: »

Now, 7 weeks later, the buyer has been in touch to say that their mortgage company will not give them a mortgage and they want us to drop the price by a further £20,000 so they can try another mortgage company.
Surely the estate agent should have checked that the buyer had actually got the money before the house was effectively taken off the market.

The buyers may very well have had a decision in principle, which they showed to the agent. They may well have then found that the lender would either not lend the full offer amount against your property - they've downvalued it, effectively, whether because of their valuation survey or not lend at all, perhaps because that particular area is over-represented on their books. It happens.

pinklady21

That is very irritating. The same thing happened to us - agent assured us that the buyer was procedable, turned out that they had not in fact sold their house, were in a chain and completion was contingent on a house sale abroad. They pulled out eventually when we pressed them to conclude missives (Scotland).
Sorry it has also happened to you. We fired our first estate agent and remarketed with another agent. Best of luck.

Border_Reiver2

Thanks for your replies folks - mixed opinions. It's the first time we have had to sell a house (left empty after my father died earlier this year) and we have just been taking everybody's word as fact and hoping that all was going well. It's been a very steep learning curve. It may work out ok in the end.

eddddy

Unfortunately, it's unlikely that you have any recourse against the EA.


And FWIW, the buyer may be making up the whole story.

It could also be that the buyer planned this strategy all along...

... string you along for 7 weeks, in the hope that you get desperate, then reduce their offer by £20k.

(I guess I'm just cynical, but my default position is not to automatically believe anything buyers tell me.)

hazyjo

Well, they couldn't exactly have got a mortgage before a valuation or before offering, so I really don't see how you can blame the EA. Unless you were told they were a cash buyer? The EA would have absolutely no way of seeing if they had the money if they were relying on a mortgage (not without a crystal ball!).


It is common practice to take a property off the market once an offer has been accepted. Some confirm this when making the offer, but it's mainly presumed. If you wanted to continue to market, you should really have told the EA. But be warned, some (including me) would walk. I'm not about to spend money on a valuation, survey, mortgage, solicitor, etc if someone else is going to come along and buy it instead. A SOLD board basically means 'SOLD SUBJECT TO CONTRACT' and you will prob find it does say that. They don't put a sold board up once it has literally sold, or even at exchange, it's when an offer has been agreed.


Do agree with others who have said their lender has more than likely undervalued it. There was no way of knowing that would happen - although it can be common when people pay asking price with a small deposit. You may have dropped the price, but that's irrelevant really.

lisyloo

We accepted the offer and we were informed that the buyer still had to get a mortgage after a valuation.

I think you accepted this risk when you accept an offer from someone without a mortgage.

It is common practice to take a property off the market once an offer has been accepted.

I thought (and was told recently here) that offers shouldn't be accepted from people who are not pro-ceedable. I don't know who is correct, but I thought that it was normal to continue to market a property if buyer was not procedable.

I'm not about to spend money on a valuation, survey, mortgage, solicitor, etc if someone else is going to come along and buy it instead.

I thought this was why mortgage lenders agree to give a mortgage in principle.

ReadingTim

Flip the question around - would you, as a buyer, be happy to proceed with organising a survey, completing a mortgage application etc whilst the vendor keeps on marketing it as if they never accepted your offer?

Thought not.