jezandem

Ummmm. Or perhaps you are just waiting for a higher offer!

Best wishes anyway, the market definately seems to have picked up around here the last couple of months!

Jerseygirl

Nope...I believe in karma. Once I've given my word...that's it...unfortunately plenty of other people don't think the same way.

Paul B

Indeed, why shouldn't you?

I am simply stating what we did.

But, I for one would not bother wasting my time trying to buy a house if I knew the seller was actively trying to sell it to someone else!

jezandem

Well, I don't believe in karma, but I do believe in keeping my word. Best wishes again!!

AnneLee

You got a really good deal we negotiated the Agent down to 1 and a quarter %. Plus our epc was £90 plus vat (robbers). I think if you don't expect to get the valuation price then you'll probably sell ok, it's horrible taking less than what you really think your place is worth but I'm just concentrating on the bigger picture. Hope it all goes great for you too.

marco88

Hi

Indeed as per previous poster, London is doing ok in the high end market because of foreigners buying the expensive properties. However the rest of the UK is not doing so well. Most part of UK have seen house prices stagnate or worse decrease.

If both valuations are very similar then it is likely to be a fair valuation also you could ask for another agent to value the property just to make sure.

Sadly if you need to sell your house quickly you may find that a little difficult as there aren't many buyers around due to the poor economy and mortgage lenders being very careful who they lend to.

Bermudashorts

I think people are disappointed and annoyed when a sale falls through, but that does not mean that they do not understand that an offer is not legally binding. Again, I have not met a single adult in UK that is not aware of this.

Bermudashorts

Trouble is, how do strangers know how good your word is? I would want action not words, which would mean no marketing or viewing once I have had an offer accepted. Sellers usually agree, I personally would chose not to deal with one that did not.

rozellem

Our "buyer" was aware that we would not take the property off the market till she signed on the dotted line. She did know that she was our preferred party and we were giving her the contents too. She is still living in a hotel round the corner from our place and her post has started turning up at ours! So she must have thought till the end that she would proceed. The summer market is much cooler that the flurry of viewings and offers we got in spring.

I dont have the balls for the UK selling process anymore. I am 7 months pregnant with my second child and have broken my leg. So, what seemed importnt a month ago, now seems laughable. I do still dream of a day when we would not be renting anymore. As soon as we are settled in a rental, they start talking about selling it. We in our 3rd rental in 2.5 years in Sydney!

steen1976

Agree. I walked into an Estate Agent once after having had an offer accepted on a flat and happened to hear her on the phone organising a viewing for it. I said I would pull out. The vendor apologised and said the EA had advised him to keep marketing it but I was having none of it.

JAJ

And a different vendor would have said go right ahead and withdraw from the deal if that's what you really want to do. You would, in that case, have had to find a new property to buy.

steen1976

And I would have done.

JAJ

A note to sellers. If your property is reasonably priced, I would not be concerned about a potential buyer walking away because you don't take a property off the market based on a legally meaningless offer.

With a reasonable price, another buyer should not be hard to find. (of course, most seller overprice their properties).

Based on anecdotal evidence, a significant % of sales "fall through" anyway, so if you take the property off the market you are exposing yourself to this risk simply for the convenience of a buyer.

steen1976

Balls. It's about trust. I'm not going to begin the process of instructing solicitors and paying lots of money for surveys when I know someone is still actively marketing the property and could be tempted by a better offer. You're wasting the time of anyone who comes to view your property anyway unless you have a intention to accept a higher offer should they give one.

I have always taken the property off the market when someone has offered on mine but I ensure that they have at least proof of a mortgage offer. The sooner some regulation was brought in to make offers in some way binding to prevent gazumping and gazundering the better.

Obviously there are folk like you out there but thankfully I've never tried to buy a house from them

JAJ

Not really, one could tell them there was a buyer in place but if that buyer fails to complete the deal (as many buyers don't) they will be next in line if they want the property. It's really not about looking for a "higher offer" and it would actually be quite foolish to abandon one serious buyer in favour of another who might also not complete the deal.

You could have the Scottish system as an alternative, when offers are legally binding, but then you're line to waste a lot of money on legal and survey fees to make an offer on a property which can be refused.

There are things that could be done to make offers more serious, for example, requiring buyers to put down perhaps 2% of the purchase price as a deposit in return for the seller being bound not to sell to someone else.

But for now, when an offer means nothing legally, why should a seller place any value on it other than a general intention to do a deal at a certain price?