Gazumping Drama

14sprocket

Flugelhorn said:

not unusual for an EA to continue marketing a place until there is proof of funds / ID etc etc 

They did all the checks before accepting our offer: IDs, mortgage in principle approval etc etc. It was all done and dusted, and we got a sales memorandum before getting gazumped

Monsternextdoor

14sprocket said:

Monsternextdoor said:

Out of curiosity was this property a repossession  ?

No, it wasn't

Interesting, normally once a price has been accepted they take it off the market.

Im buying a repo and the issue we have is that if a cash buyer comes along then we lose the property its available till the exchange is done.

14sprocket

NameUnavailable said:

As above, the vendor decided to take the higher offer, not the EA.

What you haven't said, or maybe didn't think about - was the offer on condition that the house is taken off the market and no further viewings allowed? Some vendors will tell the EA to keep marketing a property up to exchange, in case the buyer drops out.

You can escalate your complaint but ultimately all you can hope for is a letter saying how sorry they feel for you but their client made the decision as to which offer they'd take.

The Instagram post may well have been lined up prior to your offer having been accepted (but in any case is a moot point if the vendor asked them to keep marketing).

It was indeed agreed that the property will be taken off the market immediately. They moved the status to "Under Offer" on their website the same day as we checked. 

The Insta post may have indeed been prescheduled - that's still lame, as they should have canceled it.

andy444

I would be annoyed in the same situation but ultimately the EA did nothing 'wrong' as such and a new bid can always be submitted and accepted until contracts are exchanged.

Persuing your complaint probably won't get anywhere. Just write a few bad reviews about the branch on Google and what not and move on.

NameUnavailable

14sprocket said:

NameUnavailable said:

As above, the vendor decided to take the higher offer, not the EA.

What you haven't said, or maybe didn't think about - was the offer on condition that the house is taken off the market and no further viewings allowed? Some vendors will tell the EA to keep marketing a property up to exchange, in case the buyer drops out.

You can escalate your complaint but ultimately all you can hope for is a letter saying how sorry they feel for you but their client made the decision as to which offer they'd take.

The Instagram post may well have been lined up prior to your offer having been accepted (but in any case is a moot point if the vendor asked them to keep marketing).

It was indeed agreed that the property will be taken off the market immediately. They moved the status to "Under Offer" on their website the same day as we checked. 

The Insta post may have indeed been prescheduled - that's still lame, as they should have canceled it.

The EA was still under the obligation to pass offers to the vendor and ultimately it's them, not the EA, who have dropped you as a buyer.

As it happens something similar happened with the place I'm buying, I was in negotiation and got to the point where the vendor said they'd accept £X which I agreed, only to be told shortly after that another party who viewed the property had offered more and did I want to increase my offer. I declined and carried on looking, only to be contacted a couple of weeks later by the EA to say the other buyer had dropped out and would I still be interested at my last offer.

If the buyer is getting a mortgage the place still has to pass the valuation survey too.

Jeepers_Creepers

The agent did nothing wrong?!!

Blimey, I'm surprised at some of the answers on here.

Yes, the EA is obliged to pass on any offers received, but that isn't 14sprocket's issue, I don't think. He/she - rightly - is cheesed off at the way the EA appeared to encourage fresh offers, keeping on very actively promoting the property, after having their above-guide-price offer accepted. Quite possibly this new offer was as a direct result of the further advertising on Insta - not that the EA is going to 'fess up to that if it was.

And if the new offer was from another 'b&f' bid person, then it makes a mockery of that process too; don't bother trying what might end up being a silly-high bid, instead just wait until that process is over and the highest offer has been accepted, and then saunter into the EA's and ask "how much higher do I need to go to gazump? Nice - pass it on, pal". 

It is slimy and underhand at best. Either way.

The vendor/EA agreed to go to 'best and final', and then reneged. Yuck.

Whether this breaks any rules, I don't know. Whether it breaks any EA codes, I don't know - but I'd be surprised if it didn't.

What to do, 14? I guess outline the case as simply and succinctly as you have, and try the ombudsman?

kungfu_navs

if this buyer came from Instagram, did they actually view the house before placing their offer? 

Justonemorecupoftea

If it was only a day or so after accepting I'd wager it was either a scheduled post they forgot to cancel or the sale info didn't get through to the admin responsible for their social media.

The day our MoS was issued we had a call to book in a viewing and the receptionist didn't have it noted we'd accepted an offer. We said no to the viewing.

I'd be more annoyed at the seller tbh.

babyblade41

I'm not sure why you want to complain tbh, agent did nothing wrong, vendor did nothing wrong, ,, this can happen all too often but although horrible there is nothing illegal happening 

davilown

I think people are getting their knickers in a twist with this.

As said so many times on this forum, a sale isn’t a sale until you’ve exchanged. 

Up to that point, either party can do what they want. If another offer comes in, the EA is duty bond to pass it on - the same way they have to pass on any potential reduction just prior to exchange that a buyer may deem necessary.

It may not be morally right, but they’ve done nothing wrong.