Owning your own home

where is it Katie-coo?

oh and good luck of course!

My agent would only take it off the market if I went with their mortgage broker, which I was mildly resentful about but given that I couldn't be bothered to learn about mortgages or find another mortgage broker it worked out OK. No idea what's usual though, having bumbled my way through this. Good luck!

As far as I could work out you can only ask - but not demand - that they take it off the market. With the likes of rightmove, zoopla etc you'll be lucky if they change it to 'Sold STC' within a week of the offer being accepted. Also, regardless of whether it's taken off the market, the agent is apparently legally obliged to forward any offers to the vendor.

That said, there were plenty of places I tried to view and despite the status on property websites was told that they were under offer. Even had viewings cancelled at almost no notice for the same reason.

Good luck!

dk: It's in Bath Close. Thanks!
tb: also thanks! I also have no idea what's usual, but saw someone on Location Location Location once ask for the estate agent to take the house off the market if the offer was accepted and it struck me as a good idea. And loads of the estate agents round here seem to have properties on their websites that sold aaaaages ago (posted as 'under offer'), and sometimes they say things like "offer received, if you have a better offer get in touch".

Unreal that they could 'accept' your offer and have it remain on the market. It's an accepted offer! Gaaaaaah.

http://www.acorn.ltd.uk/property_for_sale.asp?strFileRef=151375&location=Cronin%20Street%20Peckham%20SE15
This one sold ages ago

And there's one on GJM too (which invites higher offers) but their website is playing up right now

Sounds frustrating. All the best with the process.

I think it's quite normal to take property off the market if they accept an offer. As Rich says, it's hardly acceptance if they're still seeking better offers.

Good luck. Sorry to say this but it could be a LOT of fucking stress.

I've seen listings on Zoopla where agents are actively seeking higher offers on properties with an offer. I don't know if the original offer is on the table or it's been accepted but either way it's wrong

^me too, its f*cked up my friend got gazumped after paying out for surveys and stuff, the industry needs some regulation but it won't happen with this govt. How does it work in scotland? sealed bids or something, i don't fully understand it..

It's not unusual to see properties that are being sold on behalf of the mortgage lender (repossession) or a probate sale being advertised with a 14 day notice inviting higher bids. The sellers of these have an obligation to obtain the best price. Gazumping however needs sorting! In the mean time it is possible to insure against being gazumped.

Anyone got any solicitor recommendations? I've just made an offer. Still in my nightie. Like a boss.

Martin Browne at Gisby Harrison.... http://www.gisbyharrison.co.uk/martin-browne.php

Used by at least 5 forum people (including myself), with great success.

Brilliant, thank you! I like that he's been doing he job since the year I was born (!!) and they have someone called Michael Lane who works there.

My agent would only take it off the market if I went with their mortgage broker

That's fucking outrageous! You should have told them to stick it up their arse.

But you can't. I think it's a sign of the problems with the property market that usual 'market' principles don't apply.
My estate agent is shit: my instinct is to go with someone more reliable and knowledgable, but if I do that then I don't get to buy the flat I want. Same goes for prices. I think they're too high but if I don't pay them then someone else will and I don't get to buy anything. And in a few months' time I won't be able to afford anything anyway.

Brilliant, thank you! I like that he's been doing he job since the year I was born (!!) and they have someone called Michael Lane who works there.

Ha! The man knows his stuff. He also appears to be a human being which is nice to see from a solicitor :)

From quotes we had from other solicitors at the time, GH also appear to be very reasonably priced.

^me too, its f*cked up my friend got gazumped after paying out for surveys and stuff, the industry needs some regulation but it won't happen with this govt. How does it work in scotland? sealed bids or something, i don't fully understand it..

Buyer appoints a solicitor, vendor appoints a solicitor, find a house, arrange a mortgage, make an offer. If more than one person makes an offer a closing date is decided and then its sealed bids and the highest wins.

Once an offer is accepted its a binding contract.

Nae gazumping nonsense here.

Repo sold in our block a couple of months ago, nice chap bought it at auction and it looks like he'll make 100K on it for an investment of around 20k.

The main problem people have with gazumping is when they waste money on a survey / legals and end up losing out to a higher bidder.

AIUI the Scots get around this by ensuring everyone wastes money before even making an offer.

At the end of the day we have a system in the UK where contracts for the transfer of property (unlike all other types of contract) can only be made in writing and not verbally. One cannot get to a point of forming a contract without spending large sums.

The only way around it (and this should be done IMHO) is that vendors should be forced to get EVERYTHING in place at the time of marketing (perhaps even including all legals and surveys done by independents who are equally responsible to buyer and seller) so that when a buyer makes a verbal offer and it is accepted they are in a position to exchange contracts almost immediately as all the other work has already been done. I fthe seller is serious then why should they obkect to paying up front, and in theory they should get a couple of £k more for the property as the buyer has a couple of £k lower costs.

In Australia it works something like:

Make an offer, pending legals.
Offer accepted = legally binding contract for both parties (none of this English gazump/gazunder shit)
Buyer has to pay a deposit and seller then has to open up place for building surveys and shit.
If surveys all go well, buyer is legally obliged to complete and seller is legally obliged to complete

Something like that anyway.

The way to get around it would be to make accepting an offer legally binding. If either party pulls out they pay a penalty, which is waived in the event of a bad survey.

Wrote that without seeing hippy's post but that sounds fair

The way to get around it would be to make accepting an offer legally binding. If either party pulls out they pay a penalty, which is waived in the event of a bad survey.

From memory this is essentially what happens in Australia.

What has your estate agent got to do with the property you are buying?

He knows next to nothing about the building it's in, has failed to find out the (perfectly reasonable) information I've asked for, has failed to call me back or reply to emails every single time I've contacted him, and although I made my offer at 11.30 this morning, he's just this minute texted (!) me to say that he'll be speaking to the vendor later and will call me then.
He's got viewings at 7pm this evening, I suspect he wants to show more people the flat (and tell them there's been an offer already) before passing on my offer.