Is this situation classed as under offer?

sherbie28

Parents are FTB. We viewed a house this week. I asked the EA if there had been any offers. EA said they'd had two viewings last week, both offered full asking price but they are both part cash and part mortgage both need to sell their own houses. Do these offers mean it will be listed as STC and we will have lost out? Parents are no chain, cash buyers. House has only been listed for 2 weeks. We're weighing up pros and cons at moment as not sure it's right for us. If no one else comes along in a better position than us what do the other offers actually mean? Is it a legally binding thing, or could we come along in 4 weeks say and put an offer in. Thanks 

user1977

Nothing is legally binding. It’s up to the sellers whether they want to consider other offers.

laboy

An accepted offer is formally confirmed via email or letter by the agent to the seller, at which point the property is deemed to be sold subject to contract(ual completion). In your situation, this is not the case: two offers have been made subject to sale of properties, but (you need to confirm this with the agent) neither offer has been formally accepted.  Therefore the property is currently NOT Sold STC.

if and when you make an offer, and if accepted, this will be confirmed by the agent. Then the property will be deemed to have been sold STC.

Tiglet2

If the potential purchasers that have already made offers have still got to sell their properties, it doesn't sound like they are proceedable.  Unless they are purchasing independently without selling their current properties.

Your parents are in a much better position if they have cash in the bank and no need for a mortgage, because they are proceedable.

It sounds as if this property is quite desirable though if two offers have been made since it was listed 2 weeks ago, so waiting 4 weeks before making an offer could be risky.

Nothing is binding until exchange of contracts.

sherbie28

The EA did use the words not proceedable so I wasn't sure what that meant. At least I know what that means now. It's a 4 bed detached, nice road, newish build but I think the houses behind might be shared ownership or HA rented. The gardens are not well kept. It's also a corner plot so all traffic into next road  (cul de sac) will travel past and the house itself doesn't have a front garden so sits very close to the road. The whole estate are cul de sacs so only ppl coming that way are people who live there. It is quite early on in the estate though so I'm not sure if it will be noisy with it sitting so close to road and also added security issues of a corner plot being easily accessible for crime? I don't know if I'm overthinking it all or if it's normal to consider all these things? I do appreciate the info though on the offers, it's very helpful.

Chief_of_Staffy

In order to be SSTC the buyer needs to show proof of funds to the EA. If they haven't sold their own house, and need those funds to buy (which they almost certainly do seeing as they were talking of mortgages), then it can't be considered SSTC. And even if they had sold and have the funds, it's up to you if you accept an offer, not the EA.

eddddy

Until exchange of contracts, your parents are free to put in an offer at any time , and the sellers are free to accept or reject it.

But if, for example, the sellers have indicated/told another buyer that they are accepting their offer - the sellers might feel that, morally, they have to proceed with the other offer - even though they are not required to by law, and your parents offer is better.

So it might be good for your parents to get their offer in asap, or at least start discussions with the estate agent.

Flugelhorn

sherbie28 said:

The EA did use the words not proceedable so I wasn't sure what that meant. At least I know what that means now. It's a 4 bed detached, nice road, newish build but I think the houses behind might be shared ownership or HA rented. The gardens are not well kept. It's also a corner plot so all traffic into next road  (cul de sac) will travel past and the house itself doesn't have a front garden so sits very close to the road. The whole estate are cul de sacs so only ppl coming that way are people who live there. It is quite early on in the estate though so I'm not sure if it will be noisy with it sitting so close to road and also added security issues of a corner plot being easily accessible for crime? I don't know if I'm overthinking it all or if it's normal to consider all these things? I do appreciate the info though on the offers, it's very helpful.

not proceedable means they are not in a position to start the purchase process - unlike your parents.

Perhaps though you need to look at more properties if you have concerns about that one - can then see what is out there. 

remember if they are still doing viewings then they are still open to offers

Albermarle

Clearly if a potential buyer has not even put their own house on the market, ( and they need the money from their house sale to fully or partly fund any purchase) then they are not proceedable.
However if their house is actively up for sale and getting offers etc the EA would probably give them a bit of leeway, especially if they were offering a good price.
In reality about one third of houses SSTC, do not proceed to an actual sale anyway.

Grumpy_chap

I don't think it really matters what other offers there might be - especially if those other offers are not proceedable.  Remember, the EA might be talking up the status of other offers to make the property look more desireable.

All the OP / OP's Parents need to do is decide if this is the property for them and what they value the property at and then send an offer (in writing / e-mail) via the EA. 
The EA is obliged to forward any offer received to the vendor (unless the vendor is explicitly requested not to receive offers for some reason - maybe "no more offers as we will go with XX" or "Don't forward any offers below £YY").

Dustyevsky

sherbie28 said:

 It's a 4 bed detached, nice road, newish build but I think the houses behind might be shared ownership or HA rented. The gardens are not well kept. It's also a corner plot so all traffic into next road  (cul de sac) will travel past and the house itself doesn't have a front garden so sits very close to the road. 

I don't know if I'm overthinking it all or if it's normal to consider all these things?

It's completely normal to visit the location a number of times, on different days and at varying hours, to get a feel for the area.

Without wishing to presume too much, it sounds as if you / your parents should do some more research into the house buying process, and undertake more viewings if this house doesn't feel quite right. It's a buyers' market in many places now. The perfect place doesn't exist, but if you have agreed lists of 'must-haves,' 'nice-to-haves,' and 'mustn't haves' (!) it's much easier to evaluate each house. 

Viewing property is both exciting and stressful, especially if you feel you are in strong competition with others. On the subject of assisting parents in their search, we asked our daughter to be with us when we last viewed property. We guessed she'd notice things we'd miss, and speak her mind. Although it was sometimes humbling, having an extra pair of eyes and a detached opinion helped with a sound choice. We're still here, 16 years on.

(Edited for terrible English)