Selling House Privately (9 Viewers)

[Kneeza]

We had a further low-ish offer come in yesterday AM, and several others were increased in response to a 'best and final' offers request by the agent.
Nothing topped the two we already had which were at 15k above the asking price, so I was asked to pick one.
I chose a young couple with two small kiddies over a single person who I suspect is a developer (heart ruling head; I grew up there in the fifies and sixties, so it appealed.
Then! The 'developer' came in after close of play with a further 3k. Bugger.
However, I detest the whole gazumping thing (or whatever it would be classed as) so I rejected it and stuck with the original accepted offer.
I'm sure some will call me a soft twat for that, but there you go.
Done, but for the paperwork.
Fingers crossed.

 

---

[Grendel]

We had a further low-ish offer come in yesterday AM, and several others were increased in response to a 'best and final' offers request by the agent.
Nothing topped the two we already had which were at 15k above the asking price, so I was asked to pick one.
I chose a young couple with two small kiddies over a single person who I suspect is a developer (heart ruling head; I grew up there in the fifies and sixties, so it appealed.
Then! The 'developer' came in after close of play with a further 3k. Bugger.
However, I detest the whole gazumping thing (or whatever it would be classed as) so I rejected it and stuck with the original accepted offer.
I'm sure some will call me a soft twat for that, but there you go.
Done, but for the paperwork.
Fingers crossed.

Id have done the same. shake hands on a deal and it’s a deal

 

[Brighton Sky Blue]

We had a further low-ish offer come in yesterday AM, and several others were increased in response to a 'best and final' offers request by the agent.
Nothing topped the two we already had which were at 15k above the asking price, so I was asked to pick one.
I chose a young couple with two small kiddies over a single person who I suspect is a developer (heart ruling head; I grew up there in the fifies and sixties, so it appealed.
Then! The 'developer' came in after close of play with a further 3k. Bugger.
However, I detest the whole gazumping thing (or whatever it would be classed as) so I rejected it and stuck with the original accepted offer.
I'm sure some will call me a soft twat for that, but there you go.
Done, but for the paperwork.
Fingers crossed.

You've done the human thing there, and more to the point didn't go back on something you'd already accepted. Good decision I think.

 

[CCFCSteve]

We had a further low-ish offer come in yesterday AM, and several others were increased in response to a 'best and final' offers request by the agent.
Nothing topped the two we already had which were at 15k above the asking price, so I was asked to pick one.
I chose a young couple with two small kiddies over a single person who I suspect is a developer (heart ruling head; I grew up there in the fifies and sixties, so it appealed.
Then! The 'developer' came in after close of play with a further 3k. Bugger.
However, I detest the whole gazumping thing (or whatever it would be classed as) so I rejected it and stuck with the original accepted offer.
I'm sure some will call me a soft twat for that, but there you go.
Done, but for the paperwork.
Fingers crossed.

£10k more and the young family would’ve been back on Rightmove tonight

Fair play Kneeza, right call ! Hope paperwork all gets sorted quickly

 

[Kneeza]

Ha. Always been a soft touch me. My late dad always said I'd never have any money as long as my arsehole pointed downwards. Silly old sod.
I have a clear conscience though.

 

[Grendel]

Ha. Always been a soft touch me. My late dad always said I'd never have any money as long as my arsehole pointed downwards. Silly old sod.
I have a clear conscience though.

It’s not a soft touch it’s the honourable thing

 

[jimmyhillsfanclub]

Plus we all know the developer would have tried some underhand tactics and a revised lowball offer at the 11th hour...so both honourable and sensible

 

[fernandopartridge]

We had a further low-ish offer come in yesterday AM, and several others were increased in response to a 'best and final' offers request by the agent.
Nothing topped the two we already had which were at 15k above the asking price, so I was asked to pick one.
I chose a young couple with two small kiddies over a single person who I suspect is a developer (heart ruling head; I grew up there in the fifies and sixties, so it appealed.
Then! The 'developer' came in after close of play with a further 3k. Bugger.
However, I detest the whole gazumping thing (or whatever it would be classed as) so I rejected it and stuck with the original accepted offer.
I'm sure some will call me a soft twat for that, but there you go.
Done, but for the paperwork.
Fingers crossed.

Good for you

 

[chiefdave]

Then! The 'developer' came in after close of play with a further 3k. Bugger.

If he messed you around on making the best and final offer I'd be worried there would be more messing about down the line if you accepted his late offer. Think you've done the right thing there.

 

[Kneeza]

If he messed you around on making the best and final offer I'd be worried there would be more messing about down the line if you accepted his late offer. Think you've done the right thing there.

That, I must admit, entered the equation too.

 

[duffer]

We had a further low-ish offer come in yesterday AM, and several others were increased in response to a 'best and final' offers request by the agent.
Nothing topped the two we already had which were at 15k above the asking price, so I was asked to pick one.
I chose a young couple with two small kiddies over a single person who I suspect is a developer (heart ruling head; I grew up there in the fifies and sixties, so it appealed.
Then! The 'developer' came in after close of play with a further 3k. Bugger.
However, I detest the whole gazumping thing (or whatever it would be classed as) so I rejected it and stuck with the original accepted offer.
I'm sure some will call me a soft twat for that, but there you go.
Done, but for the paperwork.
Fingers crossed.

I think it's something to be proud of mate. You stuck to your word and the developer missed his chance. If I'd have been the agent I wouldn't have even passed it on to you, at least unless every other party was also given a chance to reconsider and was made aware of the new, increased offer.

In fact, it strikes me as deeply unprofessional - it's a practice designed to encourage gazumping, which should be outlawed (I think it is in Scotland).

Either way, all credit to you, hope it all goes through smoothly.

 

[Kneeza]

TBF, the agent was very uncomfortable about the call, but said that as the offer had come in, they were legally bound to make me aware, and that rings true. After all, if I was greedy and found out later that they hadn't put the offer through, it could have resulted in some bad blood, n'est-ce pas?
So, I thanked them, firmly rejected the offer, and gave them explicit permission to reject any further offers on my behalf without consultation.

 

[duffer]

TBF, the agent was very uncomfortable about the call, but said that as the offer had come in, they were legally bound to make me aware, and that rings true. After all, if I was greedy and found out later that they hadn't put the offer through, it could have resulted in some bad blood, n'est-ce pas?
So, I thanked them, firmly rejected the offer, and gave them explicit permission to reject any further offers on my behalf without consultation.

I take your point entirely mate, but flip it around - if I'd have been a potential purchaser and found out that that someone had been allowed to make another 'final' offer after the estate agent had closed the book, I'd have been outraged (and raised a complaint at the very least). I'm not convinced the agent acted fairly here in regard to the other potential purchasers, though clearly you did. (Which again is entirely to your credit and has my absolute respect).

 

[ovduk78]

In fact, it strikes me as deeply unprofessional - it's a practice designed to encourage gazumping, which should be outlawed (I think it is in Scotland).

I'm not sure it is outlawed in Scotland, it certainly wasn't in 2007 when we sold our guest house in Inverness & received a substantially larger offer after already accepting one and had the solicitor going through the legal process. Our solicitor told us we could accept the offer but he could no longer represent us and he thought we would struggle to find another solicitor and we stuck with the original purchaser on this basis as well as we thought it was morally the correct thing to do. The original offer was also increased but was still considerably less.

 

[Kneeza]

Well, it's been a long old haul, but we finally completed today.
Mixed emotions as we'd owned that house since I was three (1956), but hey, money in the bank, and mum's much safer and warmer, and loves it, in her new place, and it's much easier for us to get there too.
All round, happy days.

 

[duffer]

Well, it's been a long old haul, but we finally completed today.
Mixed emotions as we'd owned that house since I was three (1956), but hey, money in the bank, and mum's much safer and warmer, and loves it, in her new place, and it's much easier for us to get there too.
All round, happy days.

Bittersweet, I'm sure, but it sounds like you've done a good job at a hard time. I'm glad she's settled in and it must be a huge weight off you too. Lovely to hear a bit of good news, thank you for sharing.

 

[Kneeza]

Bittersweet, I'm sure, but it sounds like you've done a good job at a hard time. I'm glad she's settled in and it must be a huge weight off you too. Lovely to hear a bit of good news, thank you for sharing.

Thanks for the kind thoughts. Bloody relief I can tell you.

 

[stay_up_skyblues]

We had a further low-ish offer come in yesterday AM, and several others were increased in response to a 'best and final' offers request by the agent.
Nothing topped the two we already had which were at 15k above the asking price, so I was asked to pick one.
I chose a young couple with two small kiddies over a single person who I suspect is a developer (heart ruling head; I grew up there in the fifies and sixties, so it appealed.
Then! The 'developer' came in after close of play with a further 3k. Bugger.
However, I detest the whole gazumping thing (or whatever it would be classed as) so I rejected it and stuck with the original accepted offer.
I'm sure some will call me a soft twat for that, but there you go.
Done, but for the paperwork.
Fingers crossed.

Fair play to you on this. Yesterday we had an offer at £10k over asking price accepted on the perfect house for us and the kids. Wife was ecstatic (we’ve been hunting for a good 9 months). Had given the good news to family and booked the mortgage app, got solicitor in place etc.

This morning we had a call to say he’s gone with someone else. I came up another £10k but still no good. A cash buyer so no doubt an investor. Second time this has happened to us.

I don’t begrudge anyone getting as much as they can but why accept if you’re clearly open to higher offers? At least ask for best and finals.

Its ridiculous at the minute, friends and family who already own their own homes can’t believe what we are offering and still not getting a house.

 

[Sky_Blue_Dreamer]

Fair play to you on this. Yesterday we had an offer at £10k over asking price accepted on the perfect house for us and the kids. Wife was ecstatic (we’ve been hunting for a good 9 months). Had given the good news to family and booked the mortgage app, got solicitor in place etc.

This morning we had a call to say he’s gone with someone else. I came up another £10k but still no good. A cash buyer so no doubt an investor. Second time this has happened to us.

I don’t begrudge anyone getting as much as they can but why accept if you’re clearly open to higher offers? At least ask for best and finals.

Its ridiculous at the minute, friends and family who already own their own homes can’t believe what we are offering and still not getting a house.

It is silly, and unfortunately it does show that greed takes over.

While the housing sell off was good to allow people to own their own homes, as those homes get sold off they completely disregard the things that made them enjoy living there in the first place - community, long term neighbours etc. But when it comes to selling price trumps all, and more and more are being snapped up by people looking to rent them out for a profit and losing all that. This is especially so for those houses which are now being sold after the owners have died. If there's no beneficiaries it'll be auctioned off to the highest bidder and any children may well not have the same affiliation with the local community to care about what happens after they sell it

If we're not careful we'll end up in a situation that is effectively like landowners of old. A few rich people owning all the property and everyone else renting from them, making inequality forever worse.

I'd love to be able to think of a way that would make rental properties less attractive, but everyone I come up with I know would just lead to the extra cost being passed onto those renting and making the situation worse. if you limit the number of properties a person can own they'll set it up as a company. Banning rental companies is going to cause a lot of problems. I wondered if there might be a way that a tenant could get a percentage of ownership for every year of tenancy, but all that would do is see landlords evicting after 9 months or so and/or just increasing the rent to cover the hit.

 

[Kieranp96]

Fair play to you on this. Yesterday we had an offer at £10k over asking price accepted on the perfect house for us and the kids. Wife was ecstatic (we’ve been hunting for a good 9 months). Had given the good news to family and booked the mortgage app, got solicitor in place etc.

This morning we had a call to say he’s gone with someone else. I came up another £10k but still no good. A cash buyer so no doubt an investor. Second time this has happened to us.

I don’t begrudge anyone getting as much as they can but why accept if you’re clearly open to higher offers? At least ask for best and finals.

Its ridiculous at the minute, friends and family who already own their own homes can’t believe what we are offering and still not getting a house.

With me we asked everyone for their last offer and accepted one that was £2000 under the highest just because one was chain other was first buyer so chose the easier one. Money wasn't a issue when I was getting 30k more than expected anyway

 

[stay_up_skyblues]

With me we asked everyone for their last offer and accepted one that was £2000 under the highest just because one was chain other was first buyer so chose the easier one. Money wasn't a issue when I was getting 30k more than expected anyway

Yeah all the agents telling us we’re prime buyers because we’re not in a chain, have a big AIP and can be very flexible with moving dates. But apparently not

 

[Kieranp96]

Yeah all the agents telling us we’re prime buyers because we’re not in a chain, have a big AIP and can be very flexible with moving dates. But apparently not

Just pricks out there, keep looking you will find the perfect one soon.

 

[Sbarcher]

We moved 6 weeks ago into a new build. Our original buyer for our old house came back 3 days before exchange with a reduced £15000 new price! Luckily our agent had another interested party on the books who viewed and loved the house so much offered the full asking price which was £3000 more than the first buyers original offer. It stretched the process out with new searches etc. but so pleased we stuck 2fingers up to the first buyers.

 

[Deleted member 5849]

Our original buyer for our old house came back 3 days before exchange with a reduced £15000 new price!

That's low. I was fairly sure when I bought mine I could have done similar - they had two mortgages at the time, and a previous sale had fallen through... but a deal's a deal, isn't it.

 

[stay_up_skyblues]

We moved 6 weeks ago into a new build. Our original buyer for our old house came back 3 days before exchange with a reduced £15000 new price! Luckily our agent had another interested party on the books who viewed and loved the house so much offered the full asking price which was £3000 more than the first buyers original offer. It stretched the process out with new searches etc. but so pleased we stuck 2fingers up to the first buyers.

Equally shitty behaviour on the buyer’s part. What happened to a bit of integrity

 

[Sky_Blue_Dreamer]

Equally shitty behaviour on the buyer’s part. What happened to a bit of integrity

It's what happens when you base your culture around greed and self-interest.

 

[Sbarcher]

It's what happens when you base your culture around greed and self-interest.

There's still a few of us who will always do the right thing regardless, ably asisted by my very Christian wife!

 

[stay_up_skyblues]

Well….. the gazumping Hong Kong based investor who the vendor went with pulled out, and the vendor came back and asked us if we still wanted the house. I agreed, but only at the original amount we offered (£15k below our final offer). I would have gone up but on principle I felt like playing hardball.

He accepted! And we’ve been given assurance there will be no more viewings and no other bids entertained. Woo fucking hoo!

 

[Kneeza]

Well….. the gazumping Hong Kong based investor who the vendor went with pulled out, and the vendor came back and asked us if we still wanted the house. I agreed, but only at the original amount we offered (£15k below our final offer). I would have gone up but on principle I felt like playing hardball.

He accepted! And we’ve been given assurance there will be no more viewings and no other bids entertained. Woo fucking hoo!

Bet it still leaves a bitter taste and an underlying current of mistrust though.
There was no way I was going to subject my buyer to that. I owed them absolutely nothing, but morally it just didn't sit right with me.
Hope it all pans out for you.