Is this how they normally sell property in England?

[stinkwheel]

I've been looking at buying a property and I'm in the position of being ready to make an offer.

It's on the market at a price of £125,000 (nothing saying offers over, offers around etc just a flat price). I've offered them that.

The response was that they've had an offer of higher than that value BUT the property is still for sale and they are prepared to consider higher offers and that the property will remain on the market until completion.

At best, this is holding a silent auction.

At worst, the estate agent is lying about it to get me to make a better offer. I have no way of knowing which is the case.

If this is how they do business in England, it stinks.

In Scotland, if an offer is accepted, you've bought it. Everything goes on hold until completionand the only way it would fall through is if the funding failed to materialise or something dodgy was found on the survey or search.

Also, In Scotland, it would be normal practice to instruct a solicitor to make offers on your behalf and generally handle the sale. I've called a couple and they don't seem to be in the slightest bit interested unless I've had an offer accepted. Is this normal?

Thing is. I have no fucking idea what I'm doing. I'm perfectly prepared to pay someone who does to act on my behalf but who? Do we just have lazy-arsed solicitors in this area or are you really left stuck out on your own to deal with negotiations in six figure sums?

I'm not a stupid person but fuck me, I shouldn't be handling this kind of thing myself. I even had to search the land registry myself to find out if the property was freehold or leasehold because the Estate agent didn't know.
____________________
“Rule one: Always stick around for one more drink. That's when things happen. That's when you find out everything you want to know.”
I did the 2010 Round Britain Rally on my 350 Bullet. 89 landmarks, 3 months, 9,500 miles.

[Ste]

[soforene]

[iooi]

[colin1]

If you don't like our English ways, stay in Scotland. I don't understand why you would want a solicitor to make an offer when all that involves is saying what you are willing to pay for something. No legal training required.

If the sale goes through by all means use a solicitor, that's what they are for.

I'm now curious about why you would want to move to England.

I think estate agents are more in the business of keeping stock moving than getting the best price for the seller, for reasons outlined in that clip I posted before.

I was once in charge of selling a house of a deceased relative. The estate agent suggested I accept the first offer which was low under the asking price. The buyer made a second higher offer which was for the full asking price so by rights I should have accepted the offer, but I had since heard that someone else had shown an interest in the property and more importantly I found out by accident that the buyer making the offers was a doctor. That meant deep pockets to me so I pretended that I thought the other party was more offered than they were, even though they hadnt even made an offer.

I unilaterally decided to up the asking price by 20%, even though really I should have consulted the other executor. I had not consulted the other execturo as she would have told me to accept the offer that was below asking price as she like the estate agent just wanted a quick sale.

The house was in a great location, was structurally sound, but needed a lot of modernisation and with a house that size that would have been a lot of money out of reach of most people in the area.

So there would not be many buyers for that house, but for the lucky few, it would be something they really wanted.

I gambled the family inheritance that the doctor had deep pockets. I could have lost but as it turned out, I won.

Not knowing much about vets, I might suspect vets also have deep pockets as it sounds professional, and a seller might think the way I do, so might be best not to mention to admin staff at the estate agent your line of work. Plead poverty and look scruffy.

Instead of resenting the fact you have to negotiate, see it as a game, and set out to win.
____________________
colin1 is officially faster than god

[WildGoose]

We didn't use a solicitor to make the offer and have it accepted, just rang them up, offered them a figure and they went onwards to the seller with the figure for a decision.
I know what you mean about the scale of the decision, it was far too easy. You put the phone down and then sort of go "oh fuck, where am I gonna get that money from".

The solictor came afterwards for all the other stuff.

If you've offered the asking price that should be the end of it. I would actually be fairly insulted by someone saying "oh we've had a better offer than that".

Requires some investigation and arse kicking if you are set on that house. If not, i'd be tempted to walk away.

What did they mean, until completion? How can it ever complete if they are forever waiting for better offers?
____________________
So in other words, he stopped you for being flagrantly in posession of a motorcycle in direct contravention of the Hippies, Darkies and People Whose Face I Don't Like The Look of (Police Powers) Act. 1976

[stinkwheel]

Trouble is, the seller is Northern Rock or I'd be knocking on the door.

It's a stupid way of selling anything in my oppinion. If you want to sell it for a price, put the price on and the first person to buy it, has bought it. If you want to hold an auction, hold a bloody auction, announce a closing date and get all the bids on the table where everyone can see them.

I'd want a solicitor because it's a lot of money to be throwing around at the say-so of an estate agent who I have caught out openly lying to me about two things so far. I can't not deal with them because they are handling most of the property in my area.

Also, no legal training required? I don't know how the system works here. Supposing I'd been the first person to offer on that property, had my offer accepted and spent a load of money on solicitors and surveyors only to have them turn round and sell it to someone else. I had no idea this could happen.

As it is, I've applied for a mortgage in principle for a property they have already agreed to sell to someone else for more than the advertised price which leaves a footprint on my credit history. It's STILL advertised for sale at the asking price, despite them having effectively already sold it for more than this.

So yes. Some professional advice from someone who is a) Acting in my interests and b) Is not a dishonest liar (ie an estate agent) and c) Knows what they are doing would be worth the money. Then I wouldn't be resorting to asking on a motorcycle forum.
____________________
“Rule one: Always stick around for one more drink. That's when things happen. That's when you find out everything you want to know.”
I did the 2010 Round Britain Rally on my 350 Bullet. 89 landmarks, 3 months, 9,500 miles.

[DanceLikeAMon...]

Yeah, the possibility of being gazumped has always been a bane of the English property system.

Unfortunately there's nothing you can do about it. Until contracts are exchanged (normally in the few days / week prior to completion of the sale) then either party can back out, change their offer or sell it to someone else with no penalties (except for solicitor fees etc.)

Scotland's method isn't perfect either though. My family bought houses there when I was growing up and they always hated the fact that you could fall in love with a property and put your sealed bid in, just to find out a fortnight later that you'd been outbid and someone else has got it - giving you no chance to increase your offer.

[Catalyst]

I'm guessing it's a repossesed property?

If it is a repo property then it stays on the market until the contracts exchange, not until completion. This is because it's usually going for dirt cheap and also the estate agents only get 1% commision on the sale. 9 times out of 10 there is always a bidding war on a repossesed property as well. If you're a cash buyer, FTB or an investor then they may actually accept your offer over someone elses offer who's is higher if they don't have a complete chain.

If you had made an offer on a property owned by an indivisual then it usually comes off the market as soon as it's accepted.


____________________
|--Previous--|:2007 Aprilia SX50...--Current--|: 2007 Kawasaki ER-6N
SlimRick - I can cook really well - but it's a useless skill, as I'm not a woman and it's their fucking job!

[Ichy]

I hate buying houses, its far too stressful and you have to deal with idiots, greedy idiots at that.

First thing, never offer the full asking price, leave room to negotiate. Be sure to check the price of similar properties in the area, Estate agents only guess at a selling price and most sellers will go with the agent that suggests the highest price. 10-20k under the asking price isn't an unreasonable start point. Don't be forced to pay more than you feel comfortable with, there are plenty of houses to choose from. Make your offer and walk away, occasionally you will get a call once the seller has sat and thought about it.

Your plus points are that you have an approved mortgage (did you get a certificate?), and you're a first time buyer without a chain.

Before you make an offer be sure to check EXACTLY what you are going to get. Some people will literally gut the house when they leave, taking everything but the plaster on the walls. I've had sellers that were planning to take the doors, another planned on taking all the plant out of the garden, and another who had already sold half the garden to the neighbour but hadn't put up a fence creating a false impression.

Unfortunately you have the unenviable task of finding a decent solicitor. Mine failed to exchange contracts due to an error on their part and on the second attempt the buyers solicitor decided to go to the races for the day, luckily I had insurance so all costs were covered.
____________________
https://www.metacafe.com/watch/1972097/how_to_behave_on_a_forum/

[Robby]

Sounds a bit like my buying experience. A repo property in need of some work (that you can DIY), far cheaper than market value. You'll find that very people are able to get a mortgage on it.

The estate agent is lying, they always do, and more so when they're selling a repo for hardly any commission on behalf of a bank, through an existing contract. The other offer doesn't exist, they're just hoping someone else will come along. I had lots of threats that cash buyers were going to gazump me throughout the process, or that it was going to pulled off the market and go to auction.

Never seen someone look as grumpy as that estate agent the morning I picked up the keys. It is also a bit shit when you want to spend an unbelievable amount of money on something, and all the seller's agent does is lie, deflect, and hide.

[Raffles]

It is also possible that the estate agent is not forwarding any offers to Northern Rock. After a period of no apparent interest the estate agent will then purchase the property through an associate at a price considerably lower than it's true worth. This practice is common amongst estate agents and is just one of the many reasons that they are despised and considered to be the lowest of the low.
____________________
A good loser will always be a loser.

[Ste]

There must be estate agents on BCF... but are any of them willing to admit it?

[Catalyst]

[colin1]

[Ste]

[colin1]

[stinkwheel]

[Barry_M2]

Down here the Estate Agents usually act as the go-between. So you tell them what to offer, they call the seller, phone you back with the answer etc.... much like your solicitors would do in Scotland is sounds.

Are you a cash buyer or do you have a chain?
____________________
ZXR750R (M2) - For the road.
CBR1000 RR4 - For the track.
https://www.bikechatforums.com/profile.php?mode=viewprofile&u=4332

[stinkwheel]

[Barry_M2]

[angryjonny]

[dogbot]

I'm currently going through all of this joy at the moment, too. Lying agents, 20 year old photos, utterly false descriptions of the property.

Oh, and people have really strange ideas about what their houses are worth, too. Especially during times like this, when prices are depressed and falling.

Went to see a house yesterday on the market for £120k, purporting to be a 3 bed ex-council semi, with a garage. The garage was a wooden/prefab shed with 3 walls and half a roof.

The brickwork on the house needed complete renovation. The boiler and GCH needed re-doing, the kitchen and bathroom needed to be replaced and the whole rest of the interior needed redecorating. Oh and the driveway needed relaying.

Other than that, it was great. I wouldn't have paid half that for it, though, even when all the work's done it'll still only be worth £120k...

Agent wasn't happy, genuinely seemed to believe we might consider buying this one... but fuck him.

It's a buyer's market. Don't rush into anything, innit.

[chris-red]

Them that's your final offer then walk away if they come back to you offer 5k less.
____________________
Well, you know what they say. If you want to save the world, you have to push a few old ladies down the stairs.
Skudd:- Perhaps she just thinks you are a window licker and is being nice just in case she becomes another Jill Dando.
WANTED:- Fujinon (Fuji) M42 (Screw on) lenses, let me know if you have anything.

[Robby]

Asking for proof of money, more parallels with my buying experience.

When I bought mine, I think that a few people had tried to buy it before but hadn't been able to secure a mortgage. The agent wouldn't even take me to see it without a mortgage offer in principle (didn't have to pay anything to get this), which took a week or so to get. It had also come onto the market originally at £125k, and gone down to £87k over 6 months.

Can you print out a screen grab of the account or something? Going down to the office and showing them that should do the job.

At the end of the day, it's a massive ballache trying to buy a cheap house and estate agents are no use whatsoever. You do get to save thousands after a load of cocking around though.

See if you can contact Northern Rock to talk to them about it, although chance are that they'll just refer you back to the agent.