Cash buyer beat me to it and I didn’t get any chance to do anything about it?

justworriedabit

Thrugelmir said:

jordan3939 said:

Thank you for all your responses - it is my first time of making an offer so a learning curve

There's no need to overpay. Property is like waiting for a bus. More will along shortly. 

I beg to differ.  The road we live on, a property may go up every few years and some areas, rarely a property goes on sales, so it depends on the location/road you are looking at. IMHO, a serious buyer, first time serious buyer does not really ant to waste more than a year of their time waiting in vain.

Op - you state 'how is this fair.' I feel for you and suggest you work longer hours, get a bet a better paid job and/or cut your expenses to save a lot more money to put you in a better position.  Ask yourself this -  would to sell your property, a 100k property to someone going the mortage route or someone that paid about 5k more and was ready to pay cash?   

We've bought for cash and did not even have to go above the price those getting a mortgage.  You are in a good postion as you are in no chain and let the agents know you are serious and want the property off the marker ie no more vieiweing but you can't do a lot if anyone makes a higher or a better offer.

I want a jet, hose in Knightsbridge but it's not going to happen as we don't do the lottery nor do we have any  patents pending

justworriedabit

jordan3939 said:

Thank you for all your responses - it is my first time of making an offer so a learning curve

The positives, you are chain free and I'm guess a mortgage in principal and some type of deposit.

Mr J and I worked long hours and even in jobs we did not like but paid well, we saved hard and did not dream about buying cars, holidays we could not justfy or having to pay on credit.

Why throw your money down the drain the hard earned money down the drain as that is what you are efficiently doing when buying on credit, ie buy a car for 25k and repay 35k, you must be joking. 


No offence OP but are you able to delay, stay with parents ect and build up a much larger cash sum by doing that better job, working longer hours and not wasting money on things that are not essential?

David2710

Lover_of_Lycra said:

David2710 said:

Deleted_User said:

jordan3939 said:

How is this fair??? 

Because it's the seller's property. Therefore they choose who to sell to.

I beg to differ. The practice of Gazumping is not only unethical, it's corrupt and immoral. In Scotland for instance once a seller has accepted an offer, whether in writing or verbally, the seller cannot accept an offer from someone else unless the first negotiations fall through. Just like the private rented sector this gray area needs legal reform to make the practice illegal. This nonsense about "my property my choice" is for the birds. Greedy, unprincipled so and so's. 

That's not entirely correct.  A vendor in Scotland can accept another offer even if the originally accepted offer has not fallen through or been withdrawn.  The vendor's solicitor would no longer be able to continue acting for the vendor though as the rules of the Law Society of Scotland would prevent them from doing so meaning the vendor would need to find a new solicitor.  In practice though I have never seen or heard of this done with any of my property purchases in Scotland or those of friends and family.

Overall though I agree that it is much more civilised process in Scotland.  As a renter you might prefer the Private Rental Tenancies in Scotland over the Assured Shorthold Tenancies in England.

I agree but who wants to live in Scotland under the SNP and the appalling Nicola Sturgeon? No thanks. Not even if you paid me. 

David2710

SpiderLegs said:

David2710 said:

Deleted_User said:

jordan3939 said:

How is this fair??? 

Because it's the seller's property. Therefore they choose who to sell to.

I beg to differ. The practice of Gazumping is not only unethical, it's corrupt and immoral. In Scotland for instance once a seller has accepted an offer, whether in writing or verbally, the seller cannot accept an offer from someone else unless the first negotiations fall through. Just like the private rented sector this gray area needs legal reform to make the practice illegal. This nonsense about "my property my choice" is for the birds. Greedy, unprincipled so and so's. 

Your moral outrage is somewhat misplaced as there hasn’t been any gazumping going on.

the OP made an offer. It wasn’t accepted. Simple.

I would expect an ex EA to understand basic concepts such as this.

perhaps though you could expand on your thinking about why a vendor cannot choose who they sell to?

I never said the OP was 'gazumped' I was merely comparing the legal system to Scotland and England with another poster who made some rather silly comments. In Scotland for instance once a deal has been agreed, written or verbally they usually honour that agreement. The vendor can of course accept or reject the offer but within the law. I suggested the law needs reforming and that was my point.

SpiderLegs

David2710 said:

SpiderLegs said:

David2710 said:

Deleted_User said:

jordan3939 said:

How is this fair??? 

Because it's the seller's property. Therefore they choose who to sell to.

I beg to differ. The practice of Gazumping is not only unethical, it's corrupt and immoral. In Scotland for instance once a seller has accepted an offer, whether in writing or verbally, the seller cannot accept an offer from someone else unless the first negotiations fall through. Just like the private rented sector this gray area needs legal reform to make the practice illegal. This nonsense about "my property my choice" is for the birds. Greedy, unprincipled so and so's. 

Your moral outrage is somewhat misplaced as there hasn’t been any gazumping going on.

the OP made an offer. It wasn’t accepted. Simple.

I would expect an ex EA to understand basic concepts such as this.

perhaps though you could expand on your thinking about why a vendor cannot choose who they sell to?

I never said the OP was 'gazumped' I was merely comparing the legal system to Scotland and England with another poster who made some rather silly comments. In Scotland for instance once a deal has been agreed, written or verbally they usually honour that agreement. The vendor can of course accept or reject the offer but within the law. I suggested the law needs reforming and that was my point.

I think you should contact your MP forthwith.

Murphybear

Mickey666 said:d

jordan3939 said:

Yesterday I put in an offer on a flat and the estate agent informed me someone had gone higher than the asking price. I said was it 5k more? If so I will match and she said it was. I then got a call later saying the seller had accepted his offer as he was a cash buyer. How is this fair??? I was going to offer more if they came back to me but I didn’t get a chance to. Any tips for battling against cash buyers for next time? Thank you.

Why does it have to be fair?  Life isn't isn't fair, so why expect the house-buying process to be fair?  Just be glad that you're even in the position to be able to afford a house - billions of people on the planet don't have that luxury.  Is that 'fair'?

When I was young I used to say “it’s not fair” to my father.  His response was usually “what’s not fair, a dark horse?”

[Deleted User]

David2710 said:

Lover_of_Lycra said:

David2710 said:

Deleted_User said:

jordan3939 said:

How is this fair??? 

Because it's the seller's property. Therefore they choose who to sell to.

I beg to differ. The practice of Gazumping is not only unethical, it's corrupt and immoral. In Scotland for instance once a seller has accepted an offer, whether in writing or verbally, the seller cannot accept an offer from someone else unless the first negotiations fall through. Just like the private rented sector this gray area needs legal reform to make the practice illegal. This nonsense about "my property my choice" is for the birds. Greedy, unprincipled so and so's. 

That's not entirely correct.  A vendor in Scotland can accept another offer even if the originally accepted offer has not fallen through or been withdrawn.  The vendor's solicitor would no longer be able to continue acting for the vendor though as the rules of the Law Society of Scotland would prevent them from doing so meaning the vendor would need to find a new solicitor.  In practice though I have never seen or heard of this done with any of my property purchases in Scotland or those of friends and family.

Overall though I agree that it is much more civilised process in Scotland.  As a renter you might prefer the Private Rental Tenancies in Scotland over the Assured Shorthold Tenancies in England.

I agree but who wants to live in Scotland under the SNP and the appalling Nicola Sturgeon? No thanks. Not even if you paid me. 

Me for one. 

That would be the SNP that introduced the Private Housing (Tenancies) (Scotland) Act 2016.

[Deleted User]

Murphybear said:

Mickey666 said:d

jordan3939 said:

Yesterday I put in an offer on a flat and the estate agent informed me someone had gone higher than the asking price. I said was it 5k more? If so I will match and she said it was. I then got a call later saying the seller had accepted his offer as he was a cash buyer. How is this fair??? I was going to offer more if they came back to me but I didn’t get a chance to. Any tips for battling against cash buyers for next time? Thank you.

Why does it have to be fair?  Life isn't isn't fair, so why expect the house-buying process to be fair?  Just be glad that you're even in the position to be able to afford a house - billions of people on the planet don't have that luxury.  Is that 'fair'?

When I was young I used to say “it’s not fair” to my father.  His response was usually “what’s not fair, a dark horse?”

I like that.  My parents went for, "life's not fair, get used to it."  Harsh but fair 

olgadapolga

Lover_of_Lycra said:

Murphybear said:

Mickey666 said:d

jordan3939 said:

Yesterday I put in an offer on a flat and the estate agent informed me someone had gone higher than the asking price. I said was it 5k more? If so I will match and she said it was. I then got a call later saying the seller had accepted his offer as he was a cash buyer. How is this fair??? I was going to offer more if they came back to me but I didn’t get a chance to. Any tips for battling against cash buyers for next time? Thank you.

Why does it have to be fair?  Life isn't isn't fair, so why expect the house-buying process to be fair?  Just be glad that you're even in the position to be able to afford a house - billions of people on the planet don't have that luxury.  Is that 'fair'?

When I was young I used to say “it’s not fair” to my father.  His response was usually “what’s not fair, a dark horse?”

I like that.  My parents went for, "life's not fair, get used to it."  Harsh but fair 

I like it too. Won't get a chance to use it though as my children never say, "It's not fair".

My mother used to tell me that, "Life is what you make it!" whenever I moaned. She was right.

David2710

Mickey666 said:

jordan3939 said:

Yesterday I put in an offer on a flat and the estate agent informed me someone had gone higher than the asking price. I said was it 5k more? If so I will match and she said it was. I then got a call later saying the seller had accepted his offer as he was a cash buyer. How is this fair??? I was going to offer more if they came back to me but I didn’t get a chance to. Any tips for battling against cash buyers for next time? Thank you.

Why does it have to be fair?  Life isn't isn't fair, so why expect the house-buying process to be fair?  Just be glad that you're even in the position to be able to afford a house - billions of people on the planet don't have that luxury.  Is that 'fair'?

I agree life is cruel but it doesn't have to be unfair. I have spoken often about how unfair and discriminatory the private rented sector is, it's basically free market capitalism gone mad. Reforming the Housing act has been debated ad nauseum in Parliament in regards to capping rents, compulsory purchase orders, long term tenancy's etc., as they do in other parts of Europe, but sadly it never passes into law because the Tories always vote the motion down. I'm just saying with a different government the balance of power can be swung in favour of the tenant and not the money grasping landlord and agent.

In other country's gazumping is strictly forbidden and in parts of the mid-east the punishment is much more severe, so in the end it's all about political choices. That's why I say "my house my choice" is not always the case in other parts of the world. The Housing act and specifically the private rented sector needs root and branch reform and if that means rogue and or amateur landlords leaving the playing field then I say that's a good thing. Maybe then and only then will this government act to build genuinely affordable social housing to rent. One day the housing market will collapse as it did in the early 90's and I predict street parties across the land not seen since VE day. Life's cruel but can be fairer.