Is it possible to avoid paying for Yopa Auction re. purchasing a house?

AnotherJoe

Good luck. I really cant understand why so many people would just chuck £7k at something that might not happen, totally out of their control.

Obvs the vendor is deluded, so what youv'e done is making best of a bad situation, dont see what else you could do. I'd say good luck but it doesnt seem she will come to her senses.

NameUnavailable

The vendor fell for the line that the agent no doubt spun about the auction encouraging a bidding war and of course they'll be hoping for a higher price - but it just isn't going to happen.

I've not yet seen anything I've been watching sell under this modern method malarky. My mate had his place on the market and wasn't getting offers so also fell for the idea (with Purple bricks). Whereas he was at least getting viewings before after it went up for 'auction' that dried up to nothing at all! He was tied into the auction for 3 months and was then able to revert to a normal sale, and quickly had an offer from someone who was watching but not willing to get tied up with the silly 'auction' process.

Your only option is to continue with your sale and be ready to move into rented. Then you will almost certainly get another bite of the cherry when the vendor faces reality after 3 months or more with no interest. Of course the risk is that they don't end up selling at all.

mistrihelen

Thanks, I just found the very long thread (I think you posted in) about the modern auction method - very enlightening!

I think the vendor probably counts as a bit vulnerable. She speaks poor English (her husband is English but is letting her deal with it all) and was desperate to sell quick for a property she fell in love with years ago - she told us the whole story about how her vendor was willing to sell to her privately but only if she was quick. She's believed the spin.

I'm almost sad for her. We told her on the day when we lost our buyer - if we hadn't, and kept her going for a bit, we'd still be in the transaction. Because we were honest and they didn't wait for us to sell again (it took ten days!), she'll now be locked in for months, and as we've spoken to Goto, most probably they can't sell to us at all now without a fee!

I wouldn't care but there is nothing for sale in my price range now - wah! All the nice houses are being bought up before they get onto the market by people exiting London looking for big gardens.

NameUnavailable

I lost out on a property when I had a 'wobble' with work. I, like you, told the agent/vendor immediately as I thought that was the right thing to do. As it happened I had more reassuring news a week later and could have proceeded but the agent had found another buyer. Seems it's best not to be so up front.

The vendor in your case won't get a quick sale (or any sale) and sounds like she will lose the dream home. If you don't find somewhere you'll lose your buyer too. The only thing you can try, as suggested above, is to speak to them directly and say your previous offer can stand - with no additional fees for you to pay. If they want the other house that badly they should go for it.