Offer acceptance on two properties

user1168934

I have been through something similar. I am going to tell you the answer simply because I wish someone had told all me this before I had gone through my ordeals

Ethically speaking it's not quite kosher but this is actually what most experienced people would do. Whether you choose to do it or not is up to you.

Here are some simple ground rules:

You can have as many offers accepted as you like. Remember, it's not legal binding until you exchange contracts.

Never ever tell any estate agent that you are offering on multiple properties.

Estate agents will never be honest and upfront with you - never be honest and upfront with them. It will only hurt you.

Here is what you should do:

Leave property 1 on the back burner. Don't say anything to anyone.

Make the offer on the 2nd property.

When your offer is accepted, ask them for a copy of the lease. At this stage the estate agents will push very hard for you to get a solicitor and request lease through him but push back if you can and ask them to see the lease. They might come up with all kinds of excuses to not send you anything before you give them your solicitor details and get a mortgage in place - push back until you get a copy of the lease.

Once you are happy to move forward, exchange solicitor details.

Inform the estate agents for property 1. (Please read below before doing this).

IMHO I have read some very bad advice in some of the replies above asking you to be upfront and honest with the estate agents. Whilst I agree that you should be honest and upfront in all matters in life I think this would be the worst thing you can do for this transaction. No matter how nicely you tell the estate agents that you are looking to offer on another property it will not bode well with them. You will lose the property and they will probably not show you any other properties in future.

Even when you are happy to proceed with property 2 and you are informing the estate agents of property 1, my advice would be to not tell them that you are buying another property. Just say to them that your circumstances have become uncertain mortgage wise for the time being (e.g. possible redundancy but nothing confirmed yet). Ask them to wait if they can for a couple of months - chances are they will say no to it themselves and will put the property back on the market.

Hope this helps.

lookstraightahead

RS2OOO said:

As a seller who's been stressed to the core due to buyers messing around / pulling out well into the process etc my advice would be to be honest about your intentions. 

It's a horrible process at the best of times and nobody needs a buyer who's not been up front about their intentions. In fact the way I feel at the moment if what you propose happened to me and I subsequently lost my onward purchase over it I'd be wanting to hunt you down.

By all means view the 2nd property but make your decision fast on which you are serious about.

Why is the seller taking an age to make progress? Are they struggling to find a property themselves, taking weeks to respond to basic enquiries, or something else?

What information are you trying to find regarding the lease on second property? If something specific can you not ask the relevant question?

The seller seems to be taking ages. That's plenty enough for the buyer to move on / get aggrieved. 

MysteryMe

user1168934 said:

I have been through something similar. I am going to tell you the answer simply because I wish someone had told all me this before I had gone through my ordeals

Ethically speaking it's not quite kosher but this is actually what most experienced people would do. Whether you choose to do it or not is up to you.

Here are some simple ground rules:

You can have as many offers accepted as you like. Remember, it's not legal binding until you exchange contracts.

Never ever tell any estate agent that you are offering on multiple properties.

Estate agents will never be honest and upfront with you - never be honest and upfront with them. It will only hurt you.

Here is what you should do:

Leave property 1 on the back burner. Don't say anything to anyone.

Make the offer on the 2nd property.

When your offer is accepted, ask them for a copy of the lease. At this stage the estate agents will push very hard for you to get a solicitor and request lease through him but push back if you can and ask them to see the lease. They might come up with all kinds of excuses to not send you anything before you give them your solicitor details and get a mortgage in place - push back until you get a copy of the lease.

Once you are happy to move forward, exchange solicitor details.

Inform the estate agents for property 1. (Please read below before doing this).

IMHO I have read some very bad advice in some of the replies above asking you to be upfront and honest with the estate agents. Whilst I agree that you should be honest and upfront in all matters in life I think this would be the worst thing you can do for this transaction. No matter how nicely you tell the estate agents that you are looking to offer on another property it will not bode well with them. You will lose the property and they will probably not show you any other properties in future.

Even when you are happy to proceed with property 2 and you are informing the estate agents of property 1, my advice would be to not tell them that you are buying another property. Just say to them that your circumstances have become uncertain mortgage wise for the time being (e.g. possible redundancy but nothing confirmed yet). Ask them to wait if they can for a couple of months - chances are they will say no to it themselves and will put the property back on the market.

Hope this helps.

This is a house purchase, not an MI5 briefing.

RS2OOO

lookstraightahead said:

RS2OOO said:

As a seller who's been stressed to the core due to buyers messing around / pulling out well into the process etc my advice would be to be honest about your intentions. 

It's a horrible process at the best of times and nobody needs a buyer who's not been up front about their intentions. In fact the way I feel at the moment if what you propose happened to me and I subsequently lost my onward purchase over it I'd be wanting to hunt you down.

By all means view the 2nd property but make your decision fast on which you are serious about.

Why is the seller taking an age to make progress? Are they struggling to find a property themselves, taking weeks to respond to basic enquiries, or something else?

What information are you trying to find regarding the lease on second property? If something specific can you not ask the relevant question?

The seller seems to be taking ages. That's plenty enough for the buyer to move on / get aggrieved. 

Possibly & Probably!

Part of my original response comes from the heart - Getting to the stage of living out of boxes, cancelling removals and losing annual leave I've saved all year, and now Christmas with no decorations for the kids and us being too stressed out to enjoy it, lying in bed wide awake at 3am (3 days on the trot) along with being £3k out of pocket (potentially £6k if it gets to stage of abortive conveyancing fees) - all because (3 consecutive) buyers have not been true and honest from the outset. We have found it really, really painful. A level of honesty from any of the buyers would have at least allowed us to manage expectations.

Quite probably I've been too trusting as well.

Snookie12cat

I hope when you sell your house someone puts your house on the back burner and then you lose the house you have found and are excited about because of it.

It's a horrible thing to do to someone and you shouldn't condone it. There are exceptions, but just doing it because it not right at all.

lookstraightahead

Snookie12cat said:

I hope when you sell your house someone puts your house on the back burner and then you lose the house you have found and are excited about because of it.

It's a horrible thing to do to someone and you shouldn't condone it. There are exceptions, but just doing it because it not right at all.

But sellers let buyers down all the time. None of it is 'nice'. The sellers are keeping the buyers waiting so that's not nice either.
I suppose in each chain it's who is calling the shots, emotionally and financially. 

I personally always tell the truth though and I'm never so emotionally attached to a building that I can't walk away and find another one. I also make sure that if in selling I really want to sell, and will put myself out, a lot, because I really want to sell. 

user1168934

Snookie12cat said:

I hope when you sell your house someone puts your house on the back burner and then you lose the house you have found and are excited about because of it.

It's a horrible thing to do to someone and you shouldn't condone it. There are exceptions, but just doing it because it not right at all.

No need to be nasty.

Condone it or not, this is how I have seen everyone do it. There are no good guys on either side and estate agents are worse than the buyer and the seller combined together. I was simply trying to help the OP by telling him things everyone does but never tell others. You feel free to stay on your high horse.

Snookie12cat

user1168934 said:

Snookie12cat said:

I hope when you sell your house someone puts your house on the back burner and then you lose the house you have found and are excited about because of it.

It's a horrible thing to do to someone and you shouldn't condone it. There are exceptions, but just doing it because it not right at all.

No need to be nasty.

Condone it or not, this is how I have seen everyone do it. There are no good guys on either side and estate agents are worse than the buyer and the seller combined together. I was simply trying to help the OP by telling him things everyone does but never tell others. You feel free to stay on your high horse.

Not everyone does it and shouldn't. It is nasty. If you don't love the house then do not offer on it, the end. 

If the seller is messing you around, tell them you will view other houses and do it. Do not tell them you are super keen on their house and then drop out. It's incredibly upsetting for sellers. If appreciate sellers are crap sometimes as well, but most people do not accept an offer on their house with the intention of messing buyers around. Doing viewings is annoying! 

TripleH

It depends...

If the seller is enthusiastic and pushing to get the sale through as quick as possible, then no, messing them around is wrong.

If the seller expects you to dance to their tune, wants to look around for the perfect property and is unprepared to give any indication of timescale then whilst it's not necessarily nice, messing them around is not 'unreasonable'.

Whilst some FTBers can be a pain, they lack experience (I was lucky to have parents' help on this). Some sellers can also because pain, especially with no chain buyers (they aren't selling so can wait around until I'm ready as they're only renting).

It is an unpleasant business at times, but if you're buying / selling a home sometimes you need to put you first.

eidand

First thing to do is to pay the £3 on land registry website and download the lease. Nobody needs to give you anything, OP.

If you're ok with what the lease says then make the offer on the second property and if accepted, tell the first vendor that you changed your mind for now and might consider their property in the near future. That's it.

Honesty and integrity above anything else. We can't control what other people do but we can control what we do. This is my advice.