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Gazumped on Exchange Day - Repo
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Bumziggy
Posts: 4 Newbie
Hey experts,
We are buying a repossessed property (125k) and have absolutely everything in place. My solicitors rang up the sellers solicitors to exchange only to be told a higher offer has been made that morning and they were told to not exchange until further notice.
At that point in time the higher offer was not accepted and the EA phoned me and asked if I would up my offer, to which I played hard ball and said no.. we are about to exchange. I rang him back later to get an update as to whether they were accepting the higher offer or not (which I believe is 2k more) and he said they were considering it... Couple of hours later he tells me they have accepted the higher offer.
Am I missing something here? None of this makes any sense. Why were we not able to exchange, they had not accepted the offer at that point. It all seems a bit suspicious to me that on the day we are exchanging they receive a higher offer, which should be submitted in writing according to the public notice, and that offer has made its way to the selling agent LSL who then instructed their solicitors to not exchange all within a few hours. During all this LSL has contacted their client RBS advised I'm not upping my offer and RBS have given them a decision to accept the higher offer despite being in a position to exchange now. It took LSL and RBS 3 days to accept my offer and all of a sudden they have a rocket up the rear for the sake of 2k?
What should I do? Can I ask the AE for proof of this higher offer? Should I ask for some sort of letter stating they have withdrawn my offer for it to be official? Do I have a right to know now (not wait for public notice) what the higher offer is? Should I just play it cool, say nothing and hope its all smoke and mirrors to squeeze me? Is that a thing in these circumstances.
As you can probably tell by the time of this post that I'm losing sleep over this. I thought we were home and dry on Tuesday.
Thanks
We are buying a repossessed property (125k) and have absolutely everything in place. My solicitors rang up the sellers solicitors to exchange only to be told a higher offer has been made that morning and they were told to not exchange until further notice.
At that point in time the higher offer was not accepted and the EA phoned me and asked if I would up my offer, to which I played hard ball and said no.. we are about to exchange. I rang him back later to get an update as to whether they were accepting the higher offer or not (which I believe is 2k more) and he said they were considering it... Couple of hours later he tells me they have accepted the higher offer.
Am I missing something here? None of this makes any sense. Why were we not able to exchange, they had not accepted the offer at that point. It all seems a bit suspicious to me that on the day we are exchanging they receive a higher offer, which should be submitted in writing according to the public notice, and that offer has made its way to the selling agent LSL who then instructed their solicitors to not exchange all within a few hours. During all this LSL has contacted their client RBS advised I'm not upping my offer and RBS have given them a decision to accept the higher offer despite being in a position to exchange now. It took LSL and RBS 3 days to accept my offer and all of a sudden they have a rocket up the rear for the sake of 2k?
What should I do? Can I ask the AE for proof of this higher offer? Should I ask for some sort of letter stating they have withdrawn my offer for it to be official? Do I have a right to know now (not wait for public notice) what the higher offer is? Should I just play it cool, say nothing and hope its all smoke and mirrors to squeeze me? Is that a thing in these circumstances.
As you can probably tell by the time of this post that I'm losing sleep over this. I thought we were home and dry on Tuesday.
Thanks
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Comments
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Am I missing something here? None of this makes any sense. Why were we not able to exchange, they had not accepted the offer at that point.
Because both buyer and seller have to agree to exchange - you can't force it on the seller. The seller's solicitor received an instruction not to exchange (because this other offer had been received), so they didn't.
We're buying and have had a minor last minute drama. We'd given our solicitor authority to exchange in the expectation it would happen the following day. First thing the next day we found out about a problem with the house so rang her in a panic telling her not to exchange.
I really feel for you - that's a hideous thing to have happen. If it were a normal purchase (not a repo) then we'd be cursing the seller for doing this to you for the sake of £2k. I don't know quite how repos work though - if it's a lender selling it then they're simply going to get as much money as they can?
Again, as it's a repo, I seriously doubt this is all made up to squeeze you. It sounds very much like they have genuinely accepted another offer. If you still want the house, I'd be upping my offer. Is it worth losing over £2k? I'm guessing you're getting it at a fairly keen price anyway?
However, others may have more knowledge of repo sales and know if it's typical for offers to be considered so late in the day, or for lenders to try to force you to up your offer at exchange...0 -
So do I. All the agent wants is their commission, and a difference of a few thousand on the sale price isn't worth operating a scam for.pinkteapot wrote: »as it's a repo, I seriously doubt this is all made up to squeeze you.
Agents must pass on all genuine offers made before exchange and those acting for the lender are duty bound to obtain the highest price.
I can't comment on the timing but I don't think you are entitled to anything on paper or more than you've been told. With repos and the public notices often posted there's always a chance of a last minute bid, just as it is 'normal' to find the house being sold damaged, or with the central heating boiler absent etc.0 -
Repos are simple - the vendor is the bank in possession. They have a legal duty to get as much as possible on behalf of their debtor, the person from whom they repossessed the property. There is no sentiment. It's business. This is how much is owed, that's how much the property's bringing in.
Remember, if there's a shortfall on what they recover compared to the debt, the debtor still owes them money. If there's a surplus, the debtor gets that paid back to them.
I'm surprised they didn't say "Well, it's only £2k and we're on the eve of exchange, so let's just do it" - but that's repo-buying for you. EVERYTHING is up in the air until exchange is actually done.0 -
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Apologies - please delete this duplicate.0
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