Keeping for sale property on market after accepting an Offer

I wouldn’t agree if you had a house to sell and an incomplete chain. We have been exceptionally fortunate in never having been in a chain.

But if you didn't want to shake on it GS, how would you feel if I walked away? I guess it's OK if you know you have a desirable house to sell, but wouldn't you be better going to sealed bids then?

In France, the seller has to let his house go if the prospective purchaser offers the full price. And there is only a 7 day cooling off period before everything is then signed.

Joseann

In France, the seller has to let his house go if the prospective purchaser offers the full price. And there is only a 7 day cooling off period before everything is then signed.

Joseann We sold our French house in (22nd April) this year and there was considerably more than a fortnight between making the offer and , essentially, exchanging contracts. It is also possible to put conditions on the offer and acceptance, as we did this when we bought in France, we intitially offered on a house on condtion a problem was resolved. When this wasn't, we were able to just walk away.

More genetally, I quite agree when an offer is made and accepted and negotiations start, the property should be taken off the market, but here can be so many provisos,, doubtful points, re negotiations on the buyers part that the vendor has to protect themselves and sometimes this means keeping the house on the market (with the person who has offered knowing this.

M0nica

It depends on the circumstances, there can be big gap between an offer coming in and proper legal work starting, someone can make an offer, but not yet have a mortgage offer, which might prove impossible.

If you have an older house, you may want to keep your options open until the building survey has been completed and you know whether the buyer is going to use it as an excuse for making a much lower offer, that you decline.

You may want the estate agent to do a thorough check on the potential buyers, claims, about their house ebing under offer, how long there chain is, how secure it is.

I can thing of an hundred reasons, you might want to keep your property open to viewings after and offer has been received and accepted, although I do agree once the survey is done, mortage approved, and the chain tested and the solicitors get down to work. Yes, after that, viewings should cease.

I agree with all you say.

Germanshepherdsmum

Anyone making an offer on a property should insist that it’s immediately taken off the market if the offer is accepted.

As long as you know the buyer has a mortgage in place, or a cash buyer or has accepted an offer on their own house.
They may offer you the asking price but haven’t got their own house up for sale yet.

Then I wouldn’t accept the offer.

I commented on this as we have a couple flats where I live going through sales. As Secretary to our Management Company, I had been contacted by vendor solicitors and had sent all the LPE1 information along with the usual invoice for supplying this,. Several weeks later someone told me they were viewing that flat. I checked with the solicitors and nothing had changed, all was continuing to go its very slow way, but as the vendors had accepted an offer below the marketing price they had asked the E Agent to keep people viewing to see if someone would offer the full price.

Now a second property is again well on its way through the sale, several weeks down the line from when the vendors accepted an offer, but Estate Agent still has it on RightMove.

This maybe legal, but to my mind, it is totally unethical, and I really do wish that someone, somewhere would start to sort out the mess that is conveyancing in England.

Most other countries seem to have far better and fairer systems that work well. It is not as if someone has to invent the wheel.

Germanshepherdsmum

Anyone making an offer on a property should insist that it’s immediately taken off the market if the offer is accepted.

I completely agree!

Sellers and estate agents need to understand what ethics are.

I think we should adopt the Scottish system. I lost two buyers who “just changed their minds” I’d taken the house off the market both times.

MzOops is a cash buyer, she looked at a house, loved it, took the children to see it, made an offer which was accepted, instructed her Solicitor.
A week later she was told that another higher offer had been accepted.
The agent had told her that the property was taken off of the market, but as another couple ( from London) had already made an appointment for the following weekend the Agent had shown them round. If she wanted to raise her offer then he would speak to them and see if they would raise theirs and so it would presumably go on.

She was very upset as she had trusted the home owners, IMO there was no excuse for their behaviour.

Cossy

I think we should adopt the Scottish system. I lost two buyers who “just changed their minds” I’d taken the house off the market both times.

In Scotland the deal isn't complete until the written contract is signed (all searches completed, terms agreed etc - can take weeks/months) either party can pull out up til then.

We spent our last 10 years before retirement in England. We put our house on the market in the February, were asked if we would be able to move at 2 weeks notice which we agreed, we finally moved end of September. Fortunately we were going back to Scotland and had a place to live but I dread to think what could have happened if we were staying in England, The Scottish system is a bit more straightforward and has either a closing date fixed and then under offer sign as soon as the offer is accepted. Issues do arise as nothing is perfect, but not very often.

Having bought and sold so many properties we have a saying “buyers are liars”.
We have been let down and lied to so many times, the agents are not always good at screening buyers or checking their financials.
We have accepted offers but allowed viewings to continue to create a reserve list, we have always honoured the original offer as I feel gazumping is disgraceful, we have lost a couple of houses due to this.

I'm in the North East and a local popular estate agent will always have marked on various properties "This property is now sale agreed and there are to be no further viewings". I'd presume this is part of their terms and eminently sensible!

On Rightmove I have noticed they have two descriptions 'under offer' and 'sold subject to contract'.

DD was trying to buy a house recently, and made an offer and the offer was accepted, but legal proceedings stalled very early because, it turned out there was a tenant in the house and the seller refused to disclose what the arrangements were for the tenant to vacate the property (it was being sold with vacant possession). In the end DD pulled out. Throughout that time Rightmove simply described her house as being 'under offer'. It was never described as 'sold subject to contract'

Don't think that happens in Scotland.

After trying to sell my house for nearly a year I now understand why sellers do this.I have experienced two buyers whose offers I accepted only to have them pull out after as much as 3 months,I have had my house off the market and therefore missed possible sales.Many buyers use making an offer as a sort of booking system until they find something else.I have also had a buyer who has kept me waiting for 5 months and then demanded a £30,000 price drop a week before exchanging.I have had to give in to this to keep the property I want to buy.He is supposed to be paying the deposit today so all my fingers are crossed.
There two sides to this,I have tried to behave ethically only to find buyers have not extended this courtesy to me as a vendor.

its always been a thing. Chains collapse, people pull out for many reasons and there are cheeky buyers who will make an offer, get it removed from sale and them negotiate reductions and so on. Its usual to mark such properties as under offer. I get gazumping but I think it would be unreasonable to the seller to insist on this unless the sale became binding at acceptance of offer...and if this did happen, in a fast moving market I could see sellers refusing to accept offers immediately the offer is made.

Oopsadaisy1

MzOops is a cash buyer, she looked at a house, loved it, took the children to see it, made an offer which was accepted, instructed her Solicitor.
A week later she was told that another higher offer had been accepted.
The agent had told her that the property was taken off of the market, but as another couple ( from London) had already made an appointment for the following weekend the Agent had shown them round. If she wanted to raise her offer then he would speak to them and see if they would raise theirs and so it would presumably go on.

She was very upset as she had trusted the home owners, IMO there was no excuse for their behaviour.

except that the house seems to have been worth more than the offer made by your relative?

Agree with Monica re keeping property on the market. From a sellers point of view it makes sense eg if person who has made offer is not yet in a position to proceed. Having said that, we have always insisted that when our offer has been accepted the property is taken off the market. Depends whether you're a seller or buyer.

There is bad practice on both sides, buyers pulling out chains collapsing, sellers changing their minds, property is not sold or bought until you sign the contract.

If you don’t want the hassle put it up for auction, you get a decision on the day, you can put a reserve on and try again if it doesn’t make enough first time.

I agree the whole buying and selling process needs a complete overhaul. Stamp duty is a stealth tax and should be abolished.

Although it is no guarantee that the sale will go through, in France buyers/sellers have to sign a promise to buy/sell with a down payment of a deposit. There are ways to wiggle out of this without losing money but it does make people think before rushing in.