Was I conned?

The_Biff

I looked at a house which was for sale & empty in a town about 20 miles away from where I live.The vendor showed me round it. I discussed it with the agent twice & was told not to put an offer in as my house as not yet for sale. I got my house listed that day with a local agent. The vendor's agent assured me I would be notified of any action on the house. "your card is marked" was his strange expression.
I pressed ahead with my house, painting & tidying it up & the first viewer was very keen (this was about 7 days later). (They have been back again & still are very keen- am expecting offer).
Imagine my surprise when the vendor's agent called to say the house had been sold (offer accepted), at less than the asking price, to a local couple of first time buyers (who might know the agent).I was too gobsmacked to voice my displeasure.
I feel gutted that I was not able to even get a bid in. I do not mind losing out to a better bid.
Any advice, sympathy welcomed.

John_M_Business

Sorry to hear your news. On the one hand I completely sympathise with your situation - wanting to purchase a house and willing to put in a good offer (if not asking).

However, the couple of important issues here to note are:
1. House was empty
2. FTBs offering

If the house was empty, then it's very likely that the Vendor wanted a quick sale. Which is why the EA may well have been briefed to look for someone who had the cash ready to hand, or was further down with their own sale (i.e. Under Offer / Close to Exchange). You would have meant at least 10-12 weeks turn around, probably longer, a FTB could have exchanged and completed in less than half that time.

Sometimes there are more factors involved in house sales than just the price - it's the ease of sale, purchase price, timing etc. It seems that this is the most likely reason.

kamaran

You werent conned. Unless your in a position where you can proceed (your house under offer, mortgage arranged etc) than your offer is usually deemed worthless which is why the agents are reluctant to put an offer forward.

However they could still have put forward your offer and stated your position, but in that case you probably would have lost the property to the FTB. That would have been an even worse situation.

Keep looking - something better will probably come up!

Conrad

The_Biff wrote:

I looked at a house which was for sale & empty in a town about 20 miles away from where I live.The vendor showed me round it. I discussed it with the agent twice & was told not to put an offer in as my house as not yet for sale. I got my house listed that day with a local agent. The vendor's agent assured me I would be notified of any action on the house. "your card is marked" was his strange expression.
I pressed ahead with my house, painting & tidying it up & the first viewer was very keen (this was about 7 days later). (They have been back again & still are very keen- am expecting offer).
Imagine my surprise when the vendor's agent called to say the house had been sold (offer accepted), at less than the asking price, to a local couple of first time buyers (who might know the agent).I was too gobsmacked to voice my displeasure.
I feel gutted that I was not able to even get a bid in. I do not mind losing out to a better bid.
Any advice, sympathy welcomed.

An offer from a buyer who hasnt sold (to a completed chain) is like a car without petrol.

If you are serious about moving you need to get yours sold to a FTB or complete chain first. I run my own mortgage company and I can tell u we have clients waiting to move but unable to sell thier own. Some have been on for 12 months!

Good luck, although I am bound to point out that sucessful selling is more about price rather than luck.

GreenB_2

I agree win conrad.

When selling our house we wanted to make sure that the buyer was ready to go (i.e they hadn't got a house to sell or it was already near top exchange).

If you are in a chain and there are people all the way up still trying to buy or sell a house the process takes forever and one problem can cause a major headache to everyone. Yet if you have no house to sell you may be able to get a good bargain and move quickly!

lush_walrus

Its all been said above, and I do sympathise but there is nothing untoward here, other than the agent not informing you perhaps that there has been a successful offer.

Never will any agent hold a house for someone who doesnt have a complete chain, it just isnt realistic to expect. Say they did save it for you, and then it takes a year for your house to sell, do you really think it is fair to bind the sellers into waiting that long for you when they can sell it and move much quicker if they accept offers from complete chains?

The agents were fair in advising you to put your house for sale and to not offer. To both you and the vendor,the only way you can buy is to sell your own, the only way the vendor can complete their chain is by considering offers from comlete chains only.

I really am sorry about your news, buying and selling houses are heartbreaking and stressful things. At least now you can sell your house and then look around for somewhere else, in the knowledge that you can buy.

The only other thing I will advise is that do not take anyone seriously till they DO offer, you may be lucky and the ones who have visited keenly may buy, but many many potential buyers visit properties giving all the signs they are interested to only not put in an offer. So don't get your hopes up too soon, the only thing that counts is offers and even then you are still at risk till exchange.

My advice will be keep your property up for sale, if you get an offer then start looking, and not to get your hopes up but you may well find the property you like comes back available, it really isnt over till the money is on the table

Good luck x

mountainofdebt

as the OP was in a very similar position to the one we were in 8 years ago.

We were looking to move the following year and decided to see what was available and at what price. We viewed our (now present) house on the Sunday (shown around by the then owners) and decided it was a bargain and we'd be fools not to buy it, especially as it was at a reduced price.

Anyway at 9.00am the following day I phoned the EA, offering the asking price, and she was quite shirty especially when she learnt our house wasn't even on the market and it took a rather iriate husband to get her to even tell the vendors of our offer.


I do have sympathy for you but I'm not sure there is anything you could do.

frugal_dougal_3

Do keep an eye on it in case the sale falls through. Continue to do all you can with the sale of your own house in case you get a second chance to buy the one you want.

I don't want to build your hopes up just to have them dashed again, but a lot of house purchases do fail along the way.

The_Biff

I wrote to the vendors & they phoned back saying they were pressurised into selling at a lower price. (They are in their 70's). They did want us to buy their house (we are fairly similar in age) & were suprised we did not put in an offer.
I have accepted an offer on my house.
So -1) am I up the creek here ? Should I complain to agent?
& 2) how do I stop this happening to me on another house?

hopefulfooluk

If they haven't exchanged contracts yet, they are perfectly entitled to withdraw their acceptance of the other person's offer and go for yours instead. Is that still an option? It's not long since you initially posted about this, so it may still be just "Sold STC" - which means that it's still up for sale, although not being openly marketed.

mountainofdebt

Not sure you could complain but I would sure as hell encourage the sellers to complain....why on earth were they 'pressurised' into accepting a lower offer - certainly does make you wonder if there was something going on behind the scenes