Gazumping

Personally I’d go with the first, they’ve put in a firm and above asking price, the papers are in and they’re ready to go.

What if the second viewers change their minds don’t put in an offer?

If I were the first to put in an offer which was accepted and then told to wait a couple of days, I’d be looking elsewhere, just in case, and possibly find something better.

I always stuck to my word re an offer that I accepted, even if I was then offered more later

I agree with Karmalady. It’s the honourable thing to do.

Are you in England? In Scotland in that situation a ‘closing date’ would be set, and everyone would make their best offer by that date. The seller can accept any offer, it needn’t be the highest eg someone might be a cash buyer.

Is there a method of doing that in the English system?

Yes, sale by tender. Not that common.

If you have accepted the first offer, you should keep your word.

Gazumping is a horrible thing.

I would stick with the first offer,I hate to break my word.

Germanshepherdsmum

Yes, sale by tender. Not that common.

Is that what it’s called? Interesting! A shame it isn’t used more often, I think it gives everyone a fair chance. We had fourteen viewings on our house last year and went to a closing date within two weeks, when we received five offers.

Just my personal view but if I accepted a serious offer, then I wouldn't go back on my word at all....

My son experienced this twice when house hunting and it was awful for him. In fact on the last occasion he was contacted by the agents as the people had withdrawn just prior to exchange causing real problems for the seller and they wanted to see if he was still interested...he said no!

Having been the victim of gazumping 20 years ago I feel it is totally immoral.

I agree with Greenfinch; to renege on your acceptance would be utterly immoral.

I was gazumped and the disappointment is awful. I would never do that to someone else. I did get an offer above the one I accepted when I downsized but went with the first offer.

You’ll all be pleased to hear that, having discussed it further with OH and some trusted friends, we have decided we will stand by the first offer.

Agent informed and, fingers crossed, hopefully all will proceed smoothly.

Thank you all for your input.

Well done and good luck!

Glad to hear it! Hoping your move is stress free.

Great 👍

I think it was right to stick by your word and keep to the first offer.

I am surprised that you got so much interest putting your house up for sale in June. In our area I've been told that the housing market is slow and I have a friend who has been trying to sell since early spring, but only two viewings and no offers. Which part of the country are you in?

No experience either way of any of it.

But, DH and I always say, it is not over until it is over.

When someone jumps up and down and says "we bought a house" we always think, no, you have put in an offer.
A long way to go[including surveys etc] before you have the keys as far as we are concerned.
Maybe it is just us.

We viewed a property last Tuesday and had our offer accepted on Friday.
I've already had to send £700 to the conveyancing company to start the searches so yes it's right for you not to pull out 👍

We’re in the north east, Gateshead.
The agent advised us to put the house up for more than we thought it was worth (just to see what interest there might be at a higher price) so, tbh, we settled a figure lower than first advised as we felt we would get more footfall (which we did)

I know some people are swayed by agents who suggest higher prices than others and then they wait forever to sell, often having to eventually reduce the price which was something we didn’t want.

My daughter recently bought a house in Scotland, which went to a closing date.
The owner sold the house to my DD and her DH, despite their offer not being the highest one.
Who knows why, but they were very fortunate, because houses for sale are rare here.

My MiL house has sold within a fortnight. It's Scotland but the offer was sufficiently over the upset price to be perfectly acceptable.
Things can still go wrong but once contracts are exchanged, there's no going back

Our inlaws' house went up for sale on the Monday - even before it had been listed online, we had a viewing booked. She made an offer that day, it was accepted and so it was 'sold subject to the conclusion of missives'. All things being well, the new owner should be moving in next month - but we'll not be counting our chickens until everything is signed and sealed!

Yes we would do the same, no way would we entertain and accept a second offer if we had accepted on a first, just couldn’t do it