Gazumping Drama

babyblade41

Totally agree with @davilown , the procedure for buying in England and Wales is a bit pants and can be stressful, it's why I never understand why people go for cheap conveyancing factories to add to the stress

EA's are usually blamed for pretty much everything as well when most are just messengers .
The EA I always use is a small independent who lives miles and miles away from me but we have built up a rapport over many years and understands how I like to do things especially what type of people will be interested in my property . we set the price between ourselves and he has a great  relationship with my long term solicitors as well which makes the process so much easier 

Flugelhorn

probably a good escape at this stage - the vendor accepted another offer within days, at least they didn't let you get to nearly exchange and change their minds / accept another offer

14sprocket

babyblade41 said:

Totally agree with @davilown , the procedure for buying in England and Wales is a bit pants and can be stressful, it's why I never understand why people go for cheap conveyancing factories to add to the stress 

How does a conveyancer make a difference here?
Local authority searches were taking up 8-10 weeks in London this year no matter who you use - a "factory" or a personalized service with a 5-figure tag 

14sprocket

davilown said:

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.

This is where I fundamentally disagree - it is inappropriate to continue marketing push on the property after the offer has been accepted. EAs live and die by their reputation, and this is where they failed in my eyes. Reluctance to own up to this mistake and acknowledge it only adds to this perception

mooncake89

I too would be very annoyed by this, as I'm sure most of the people saying something along the lines of "oh it's fine, what did you expect" would as well, if it happened to them. 

If it had been agreed at the time of the offer being accepted that the house would be removed from the market, then the EA have acted in a very shady way I think. If they had passed on a message to you from the vendor that the house would continue to be actively marketed then fair enough, but it doesn't sound as though this is what happened. They've deliberately misled as there's a difference between passing on any further offers to the vendor, as they're obliged to do, and actively encouraging gazumping. 

Ultimately it's done now but I would definitely be writing some reviews, just to warn others thinking of offering on a house marketed by the same EA to keep their eyes open to what might be happening on their Instagram page if an offer gets accepted. 

Sebo027

14sprocket said:

This is where I fundamentally disagree - it is inappropriate to continue marketing push on the property after the offer has been accepted. EAs live and die by their reputation, and this is where they failed in my eyes. Reluctance to own up to this mistake and acknowledge it only adds to this perception

Agree. The estate agent basically squeezed the highest offer from the interested parties and then went to market looking for one better, no doubt informing the new interested party what they'd need to offer to "win." Arguably they're acting in the best interests of the sellers, and themselves and it's a symptom of the property market in England and Wales. The Scottish market is alot fairer in this respect. 

babyblade41

14sprocket said:

davilown said:

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.

This is where I fundamentally disagree - it is inappropriate to continue marketing push on the property after the offer has been accepted. EAs live and die by their reputation, and this is where they failed in my eyes. Reluctance to own up to this mistake and acknowledge it only adds to this perception

The EA is bound to pass on any offer , it's not a mistake and EA's do it all the time... it happened to me ..you move on to the next and hope it doesn't happen again .. but it might .
I'm not sure what you are hoping for  tbh , maybe the other offer was also more proceed able than you ..who knows but as it's perfectly legal and EA's are working for their client only and get the best they can 

74jax

14sprocket said:

davilown said:

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.

This is where I fundamentally disagree - it is inappropriate to continue marketing push on the property after the offer has been accepted. EAs live and die by their reputation, and this is where they failed in my eyes. Reluctance to own up to this mistake and acknowledge it only adds to this perception

In which case why did you try to buy through them?  I'm guessing you researched seeing as you understand how they live and die by reputation..... 

Seriously, you're annoyed at the owner for wanting the best price.  You're annoyed at the EA for doing the job in promoting a property. I get it. But you move on to the next property.

If it's a global EA, then they have more important things to do than deal with a complaint that isn't a complaint. This will not affect Joe's bonus, it won't affect how they look at him, honestly it won't. Maybe if it was a small 2 man business, but not a global one. You'll get an email back, they spoke to him, he's being trained yada yada.

Keep looking, more people will put their property on with them, more people will but through them, owners will continue to use them and give instructions to them. The owner is the client, not you.

Buy through someone else.  Offer explicitly that it is never marketed and ask if there's any more authorised marketing planned.

The world will keep turning. 

Elliott.T123

Is it ethical for the EA to continue to market after a sale, no
Is it ethical for the vendor to accept an offer after B&F offers, no

Is it against any rules for either of those to happen, no

House buying in England and Wales can be a horrendous process, there is a reason people say it is one of the 3 most stressful periods of your life. 

While you (and most people) would agree that what happened wasn't right there were no laws or rules broken and you are unlikely to get any response from the agent, if you do the most you would get is a quick, sorry you feel that way blah blah blah. Ultimately the best thing to do is move on, forget it and find somewhere else.

youth_leader

So sorry you have suffered this, I was anxious up until exchange because of the interest in the bungalow I was buying.  I had also bumped into a disappointed villager who had also bid for it - I did wonder if she'd gazump me. I wish you luck finding somewhere new with a seller with more principles.