Just got gazumped :(

youth_leader

Personally I'd leave a scathing review on the 'famous estate agent's' portal.  If you went to best and sealed bids, acceptance should have been binding.   The gazumping bidder should have been told it was closed.  Otherwise, where does it stop?

14sprocket

Thrugelmir said:

14sprocket said:

Not sure if people have any suggestions or recommendations how to deal with this

Have a go at the EA to vent your frustration. Then continue to search bad mouthing the agents in the process. 

The agent is sympathetic to our situation, but I'm not sure if there's much they can do really... Don't want to badmouth them for no reason either

14sprocket

youth_leader said:

Personally I'd leave a scathing review on the 'famous estate agent's' portal.  If you went to best and sealed bids, acceptance should have been binding.   The gazumping bidder should have been told it was closed.  Otherwise, where does it stop?

Apparently it's not binding until the execution stage - at least in England (Scotland has different laws).
I don't think the agent could have done much tbh - this is due to dishonesty and bad ethics of both seller and the other buyer... I could send homeowner a letter venting my frustration, but what good will it do?

Suseka97

Sorry to hear this, but if a seller is willing to do this to you now - they really aren't the reliable type and you're best off out of it.  People tend to use the term 'dream house' a lot, but the reality is you never know what may yet come onto the market and I'm sure you'll find something equally as good, if not better, in the future.  

14sprocket

Suseka97 said:

Sorry to hear this, but if a seller is willing to do this to you now - they really aren't the reliable type and you're best off out of it.  People tend to use the term 'dream house' a lot, but the reality is you never know what may yet come onto the market and I'm sure you'll find something equally as good, if not better, in the future.  

Thank you for your kind words, I certainly hope so

pjcox2005

I'd walk away, although you could increase the offer and then make no attempts to do mortgage, surveys etc, waste a few weeks before pulling out 

14sprocket

pjcox2005 said:

I'd walk away, although you could increase the offer and then make no attempts to do mortgage, surveys etc, waste a few weeks before pulling out 

That will be cheeky!
I don't want to level with the sellers though - not being a religious person, I still believe in "what goes around" etc. Don't want to burn bridges with the agent either, as they may still come through with some other property...

MysteryMe

Really sorry to read this, very poor form by the vendor. Best and final should mean just that.  I would not get involved in a bidding war, leave your last offer on the table and keep looking.

AlexMac

purplebutterfly said:

... ethical EA  ...

definition of "oxymoron"...?

sammyjammy

14sprocket said:

purplebutterfly said:

As a FTB, this absolutely terrifies me.   Why would any ethical EA  even accept the offer after a sale is agreed? This is truly horrible and my heart goes out to you

Apparently EA is under legal obligation to pass any offers over to the vendor, regardless of circumstances. Not sure if there's much blame to be put on the agent, to be honest.
This is really down to the ethics of another buyer, as well as the seller who already accepted our offer and "shook hands" on it

If its the agent i think it is they have a very poor reputation and IMO would encourage sellers to do this, move on and forget it, it wasn't meant to be.  You'll find better