Repossession higher offer rejected!

gimbles

We recently put a higher offer on a house being sold as a repossession and although it was £20k more than the existing offer, they haven't exchanged and it's still being marketed in the agent's website, our offer was rejected! How is this right and proper? 

MultiFuelBurner

The seller (financial institution) wants more than you have offered would be the best guess.

Have you asked?

Mr.Generous

MultiFuelBurner said:

The seller (financial institution) wants more than you have offered would be the best guess.

Have you asked?

I think they mean a lower offer than theirs has been accepted. This is usually because the lower offer is a cash buyer, no mortgage, no valuation and no survey. Sometimes experience tells them the higher offers take a lot longer and are much more likely to not proceed.

I've been on the lucky end of this several times.

CSI_Yorkshire

gimbles said:

How is this right and proper? 

It might be annoying, but there's nothing wrong with it.  A seller can choose to accept or decline whichever offer they fancy, broadly without reason.

peter3hg

CSI_Yorkshire said:

gimbles said:

How is this right and proper? 

It might be annoying, but there's nothing wrong with it.  A seller can choose to accept or decline whichever offer they fancy, broadly without reason.

Not in the case of a repossession. The lender has to sell it at the best price they can reasonably obtain. That doesn't mean they have to accept the higher offer though as they will look at things in the round and they may think there is a reasonable chance the higher offer won't in the end lead to getting the best net outcome.

theartfullodger

The "best" offer is not always the highest.

Someone else they know with say a track record of actually going through with purchase at price offered, plus doing so very fast - maybe a couple of days - may be more attractive to them.

Do you need e.g. a survey & a mortgage or are you buying with cash, early completion??

eddddy

As it's a repossession, perhaps it's worth asking the specific reasons that your offer has been rejected.

The sale price could be challenged in court by the former owner of the house, so the bank should be recording details of each offer - with an explanation  of why it was accepted or rejected.


For example, I doubt that simply saying "the other buyer is 6 weeks further down the track than you" is a good enough reason.  (That's not a justification for leaving the previous homeowner with a £20k larger debt than they need to have.)

But, for example, if the property is in poor condition and believed to be probably unmortgageable - and you need a mortgage - that might be a valid reason to refuse your higher offer (assuming the current buyer doesn't need a mortgage).

kingstreet

Are you in a proceedable position?

MultiFuelBurner

Mr.Generous said:

MultiFuelBurner said:

The seller (financial institution) wants more than you have offered would be the best guess.

Have you asked?

I think they mean a lower offer than theirs has been accepted. This is usually because the lower offer is a cash buyer, no mortgage, no valuation and no survey. Sometimes experience tells them the higher offers take a lot longer and are much more likely to not proceed.

I've been on the lucky end of this several times.

Thanks missed that then yes good catch and reasoning.

propertyrental

Price is a significant factor in repos as the bank has to justify the price obtained - potentially in court.

But other factors apply too, primarily a) the likelihood of an offer actually proceeding to a sale and b) the time it might take, as time costs money. The bank will want the property off its books asap.