Estate agent will not take property off websites - should we proceed?

ssparks2003

watermelonspring said:

Thanks all. 

We haven’t got a mortgage yet but the valuation is booked. 

So, currently you don't have evidence that you can proceed, but you want all the cards in your hand. I assume that you don't have a property to sell.

watermelonspring

ssparks2003 said:

watermelonspring said:

Thanks all. 

We haven’t got a mortgage yet but the valuation is booked. 

So, currently you don't have evidence that you can proceed, but you want all the cards in your hand. I assume that you don't have a property to sell.

Well I do hope I’ve sounded a little less arrogant than your post suggests. We are first time buyers and mortgage applications are generally taking a longer time in recent months. I’m doing everything I can short of visiting the lender at their head office and demanding they speed my application up. I simply asked this question because other estate agents seem to remove the property from the market or at least mark properties as sold stc. I don’t think what I’m asking is inappropriate. 

AdrianC

watermelonspring said:

We haven’t got a mortgage yet but the valuation is booked.  

Do you at least have an AiP?

If not, I'm surprised they've taken your offer seriously.

watermelonspring

AdrianC said:

watermelonspring said:

We haven’t got a mortgage yet but the valuation is booked.  

Do you at least have an AiP?

If not, I'm surprised they've taken your offer seriously.

Yes have an AiP, we had this before viewing. We also have a large deposit. Mortgage applications are taking several weeks these days, I’m sure this can easily be confirmed if you have a look on the mortgage forum board. Some buyers are waiting 6-8 weeks before their mortgage offer. 

Slithery

watermelonspring said:

But the property remains on websites and I’ve read that by law, the estate agent must take every offer to the seller. 

Incorrect. But how many offers do you think there are going to be if the EA doesn't let anyone else view the property?

sweetsand

Slithery said:

watermelonspring said:

But the property remains on websites and I’ve read that by law, the estate agent must take every offer to the seller. 

Incorrect. But how many offers do you think there are going to be if the EA doesn't let anyone else view the property?

Hi
What the OP is saying that an EA has to take every offer to the seller and they are correct, that is the law.
EA will only agree to take of the market a property once offer accepted and everyone is happy the buyer has the funds
and even then if asked to do so. By taking of the market it stays on the web but as Sold STC and no new vieiwings are agreed
by all if not then viewings go on but that will help no one and does not instil confidence in the seller or the buyer and the EY
We have bought several properties in 12 yrs or so so very aware of this

HTH

watermelonspring

Slithery said:

watermelonspring said:

But the property remains on websites and I’ve read that by law, the estate agent must take every offer to the seller. 

Incorrect. But how many offers do you think there are going to be if the EA doesn't let anyone else view the property?

Thanks for clarifying. So when we were negotiating an offer, the estate agent said he had a full weekend of viewings booked with more expected over the week hence we needed to act quickly!

watermelonspring

sweetsand said:

Slithery said:

watermelonspring said:

But the property remains on websites and I’ve read that by law, the estate agent must take every offer to the seller. 

Incorrect. But how many offers do you think there are going to be if the EA doesn't let anyone else view the property?

Hi
What the OP is saying that an EA has to take every offer to the seller and they are correct, that is the law.
EA will only agree to take of the market a property once offer accepted and everyone is happy the buyer has the funds
and even then if asked to do so. By taking of the market it stays on the web but as Sold STC and no new vieiwings are agreed
by all if not then viewings go on but that will help no one and does not instil confidence in the seller or the buyer and the EY
We have bought several properties in 12 yrs or so so very aware of this

HTH

Thanks. Yes, this is what we were worried about. Anyone can make an offer without viewing and the seller can accept it if they prefer the offer over ours. With the property still being listed for sale, there’s a higher chance of this happening than if it was listed as sold. I was just wondering if this is common practice. 

sweetsand

watermelonspring said:

sweetsand said:

Slithery said:

watermelonspring said:

But the property remains on websites and I’ve read that by law, the estate agent must take every offer to the seller. 

Incorrect. But how many offers do you think there are going to be if the EA doesn't let anyone else view the property?

Hi
What the OP is saying that an EA has to take every offer to the seller and they are correct, that is the law.
EA will only agree to take of the market a property once offer accepted and everyone is happy the buyer has the funds
and even then if asked to do so. By taking of the market it stays on the web but as Sold STC and no new vieiwings are agreed
by all if not then viewings go on but that will help no one and does not instil confidence in the seller or the buyer and the EY
We have bought several properties in 12 yrs or so so very aware of this

HTH

Thanks. Yes, this is what we were worried about. Anyone can make an offer without viewing and the seller can accept it if they prefer the offer over ours. With the property still being listed for sale, there’s a higher chance of this happening than if it was listed as sold. I was just wondering if this is common practice. 

Thanks. As I said in the post, you often have to ask and if you prove quickly you have the funds ready and seller agrees, they will put a sign of Sold STC - but as we have not borrowed money to buy a property for years, I'm not sure if they wait for the survey
as many people do pull out after a survey especially a full structural one.

So ask and if you are ready to move ask them and seller should agree if not, be cautious.
ATB

Eilidh1970

I've seen this once recently, when we'd just started looking for something to buy. We spent time thinking about an advertised property and visiting the general area and then requested a viewing, only to be told by the EA that the property was effectively already sold. Sounds like a weird way for the EA to market themselves as it left us with the impression that they were just time wasters for not having the property marked even as being under offer!