Buying a Repossessed Property - Estate Agent marketing after offer

IamNotAllowedToUseMyName

A young relative of mine has made an offer on a flat. They made an initial offer and then I think they were bluffed into bidding a higher price under "We've had other offers" so he panicked and put in a full and final offer, essentially a sealed bid process. The offer was accepted.

The legals are taking a long time, in part due to failings on the part of the seller to provide information.

We have discovered that the property is still being marketed by the estate agent. They have not disclosed in the advert it is Sold Subject to Contract, they have put it on the market at the offer price but in the description they have quoted the price my relative bid and asked for higher offers before exchange of contract (which is therefore surely a misleading advert).

While my relative is very motivated to buy (as it stands the price appears reasonable), they offered a relatively high bid in the belief that the sale was then closed - what is the point of a sealed bid offer if the next week someone can go to the website, see the offer price and offer a higher sum?

I did a quick phone call to the agents and they excused their double pricing as it being a corporate sale.

The Estate Agents Code of Conduct requires them to be fair, yet they did not make it crystal clear that they would be actively marketing the property. I know the world of house buying is the world of buyer beware, and at this point my relative is probably fully spent on the purchase having gone down the contract route, but are the Estate Agents acting reasonably by hiding behind that the sale is "corporate" to basically say the accepted bid wasn't really accepted, it is just a race to exchange before another bidder might come along on a property being actively marketed?

user1977

Normal procedure in England & Wales. Not sure why really (doesn't happen in Scotland where lenders have similar obligations). All your relative can do is try to progress things as quickly as possible so the sellers aren't tempted to start from scratch with somebody new (why are the legals taking a long time only "in part" due to the seller? And what sort of information is he expecting the seller to have, given they're merely a repossessing lender?).

Also, if your relative wants our advice, probably easier if he just posts here himself?

Smalltownhypocrite

They are buying a corporate sale... thats exactly how corporate sales work.

They will have told you its corporate sale/repossession, they are very clear on this when viewing and offering and if you didn't look up what that means or understand that then thats on you.

They legally have to get as much as possible and market right up until exchange because they owe the most possible repayment to the person in debt not the buyer, which is why you're not suppose to buy unless you can exchange within 28 days to reduced the risk of losing it.

Smalltownhypocrite

Also they won't have 'been bluffed'.

Corporate sales start very low and get lots of offers, we lost out a sealed bids on many corporate as they had loads of offers... they where lucky to be the winner.

Slinky

This is standard practice for repossessed properties.

housebuyer143

Standard for repos. They are required to get the highest price and that means they must advertise for offers until exchange. 

Mr.Generous

Yep, as everyone said this is standard on a repo. They don't usually pull out once into the selling process unless a much higher offer is made that they believe won't fall through.

mlz1413

As others have said any repossession will be marketed until the property is sold, not sale agreed.
Delays are inevitable as solicitors have their own time lines!  
I used to say its 3 months from saying yes to getting keys, but that changed with covid. Now it's anyone guess.

[Deleted User]

Standard practice. 

The goal is to try to exchange as soon as possible and offer something others won't bother coming after but depends on what it's worth. 

In 2015 when I bought a flat the agent were messing about found the contact of the company and sent them a piece of my mind. Did buy the flat successfully. 

RelievedSheff

Standard pratice for repossessions.

We have been watching this one:

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/157569461#/?channel=RES_BUY

Started out with an asking price offer accepted and is now £35k over asking.

IamNotAllowedToUseMyName

Thanks for the feedback, all useful. I think that my relative has misunderstood what the process was when he was bidding. In reality, the chances of it being outbid seem small as it was on the market for nearly a year.