Having a really hard time with estate agents

[PINKSHARK78]

We are/ were in the process of buying our first property. Our offer was accepted below the asking price, solicitor instructed. Then came the call, that someone put a much higher offer in. We did not budge we thought/ still think agent was bluffing, 2 days later agent franticly calls that vendor changed their mind they still want to go with our offer. Than five days later agent calls, there is a real offer on the table that is higher than we put in. Now we are furious, we think for all this time we were led on, whilst agent still conducted viewings behind our back. We already spent couple of hundreds of pounds on solicitor/ mortgage fees.

Is there any advice out there for us, what we could have done better? We were assured by agent that they have cancelled all viewings..Also agent said that vendor does not wish to disclose how much higher was the offer and that the offer come from another estate agent who was also advertising the property.

[TheArtfulDogger]

The estate agent works for the vendor and as such will try to get as much as they can for a property as that maximises the commission they get

With two agents in play they normally charge a higher percentage to the vendor as there is a bigger risk of not making anything over the sale should the other agent sell it.

Sadly there is nothing you can do although it may be worth finding the other agent and putting an offer in slightly higher then you have now to see if it is accepted, if it is your agent is bluffing remove the other (higher) offer and hold your ground ... If your new offer isn't accepted then you have to consider your next move.

[Earl Aelfheah]

There is not much you can do unfortunately. It's easy to blame the agents, but it's the seller's decision whether to keep taking viewings after accepting an offer and whether to allow/encourage gazumping (it's pretty unethical in my opinion).

[Earl Aelfheah]

...in fact, you might want to write a polite letter to the seller, explaining how their behaviour has caused you unnecessary stress and expense and that you think it's pretty poor. it might make them think about their actions (or not), but at the least, it could prove cathartic.

[Mick Mac]

Using more than one agent can be a sign of a seller who is very keen to maximise the selling price.

When an offer is accepted, its worth asking that you see this acceptance in an email (written from the seller to the agent). It's not a legal commitment, but its at least evidence that the seller has accepted your offer and that they state that the house is off the market.

maybe next time ask to see something like this before engaging solicitors / suffering costs

In your case, whilst agent 1 may not have being taking additional viewings, as he's happy to have a sale and the commission, he cant speak for agent 2, who still wants to steal the sale. Hence it's useful to have something informal in writing from the vendors that no one is still advertising the property for sale.

All a little too late now though. Bad luck, not a very nice outcome.

[DuncanW]

Agree that it's the vendor who is likely to be more at fault than the agent.

I don't agree with this from Artful: "The estate agent works for the vendor and as such will try to get as much as they can for a property as that maximises the commission they get "

Of course, they will try to get as much as possible for the property, but the stronger driver for them will be to clinch a sale regardless of it maybe being a small % below asking. For example if they are on 2% with the vendor and the property is worth ?500K, a sale at ?485k still brings in fee of ?9.7k. So whilst the vendor may not be best pleased about a drop of ?15K the agent can probably live with dropping ?300 - especially if a likely outcome is that if he doesn't put that deal through, his competitor might sell it and he'll get nothing.

[JohnL]

It goes both ways - Outside London some sellers struggle - and if buyers have the whip hand they gazunder.

http://www.firsthomebuyer.co.uk/gazunder-recipe.html

[peckham_ryu]

Always make your offer conditional on the house being taken off the market.

Assuming the seller agrees, make sure you check the listings have been updated to 'sold' the next day, and phone the estate agent to chase them up if (when) you find they haven't. Also do a regular RightMove search until you have exchanged, in case the seller advertises again via another agent - that happened to me when buying my current house, and a quick call to remind them (via the original agent) that the offer was subject to the house being off the market, had the desired effect.

Sellers will be cheeky and try to get a higher offer if they can. But they are often more worried about losing the offer they already have, so your position is usually stronger than you might feel. (In fairness, buyers are often cheeky too - simultaneous offers on multiple properties, fully intending to cancel all but one. Just the rules of the game really.)

[PINKSHARK78]

Although second agent did not take it off the market, I called them twice in two weeks 'to arrange a viewing' and was told in both instances, that the property was sold..