Buying a new home

chris_h · 6 Feb 2017 at 19:14

Hello all

Me and the misses have put the house on the market with the intention of upgrading to a bigger, smarter house.

We found one at the weekend, visited it twice and decided it is the one. The house is being sold by the same estate agent which is selling our property.

however, when I rang today to put my offer in, they told me I can only put in an offer of interest as we have not sold ours.

IS this true? Am I completely unable to put a real offer on a home until mine is sold? I was under the impression that if the seller is willing to wait, I can do whatever I please.

Perhaps it is because I told them we need the money from my house to fund this one, which has made them cagey. Perhaps they want to manipulate us.

We don't need the money from the home to fund a deposit, I just don't want two mortgages!

Advice needed!

esoteric · 6 Feb 2017 at 19:19

They don't like chain dealings, if 1 person pulls out the whole lot fails. If you've seen the house maybe you saw the owners? talk to them.

cainer · 6 Feb 2017 at 19:20

yep your moving alright, moving to here https://forums.overclockers.co.uk/forumdisplay.php?f=151

(Edit: thread originally posted in GD)

PapaLazaru · 6 Feb 2017 at 19:21

I sold my house recently and had a few people putting in offers who had not sold theirs.

I politely declined and said by all means come back when you are actually in a position to put an offer in.

ahar · 6 Feb 2017 at 19:27

Depends on the seller and what the agent likes to do. It's not unusual to not accept offers from people who haven't sold their house yet

niko · 6 Feb 2017 at 19:41

you could always offer a large deposit if its the one you defiantly want

rubberduck · 6 Feb 2017 at 21:10

It could be that the vendors have requested this but regardless tell estate agent to jog on and specifically request the offer be put forward. Request written confirmation that your offer has been put forward.

Phreaky · 6 Feb 2017 at 21:25

If someone offered on my house with no evidence that they would ever have the cash to complete the transaction I would tell them do one.

To be honest I'm amazed you have even contemplated offering on another house before you have a buyer for yours.

#Chri5# · 6 Feb 2017 at 22:15

Phreaky said:
If someone offered on my house with no evidence that they would ever have the cash to complete the transaction I would tell them do one.

To be honest I'm amazed you have even contemplated offering on another house before you have a buyer for yours.

We moved last year - we were happy to let people who hadn't sold view but if they made offer, our property would stay on the market until they sold or we had a better / equal offer from somebody ready to buy.

OP - what happens if takes you months to sell? Do you expect the seller of the house you want just to sit & wait?

Skillmister · 7 Feb 2017 at 07:10

#Chri5# said:
We moved last year - we were happy to let people who hadn't sold view but if they made offer, our property would stay on the market until they sold or we had a better / equal offer from somebody ready to buy.

This is the logical and almost fair thing to do.

After all, as I've said before, if everyone refused offers from people unless their house was already sold, few people would ever actually sell.

Skillmister · 7 Feb 2017 at 07:11

PapaLazaru said:
I sold my house recently and had a few people putting in offers who had not sold theirs.

I politely declined and said by all means come back when you are actually in a position to put an offer in.

If you were buying as well and the sellers of the house you wanted to buy did the same, it would be a stalemate for all.

robj20 · 7 Feb 2017 at 07:38

Its a tricky situation, we put an offer in on a house and because we were chain free they accepted ours over people who already had offers in, some higher than ours. I would always sell and move back in with family to be chain free, can be great for bargaining.

#Chri5# · 7 Feb 2017 at 09:43

Skillmister said:
If you were buying as well and the sellers of the house you wanted to buy did the same, it would be a stalemate for all.

To a degree but, again, if you want to move in a reasonable time-frame, why would you accept an exclusive offer from somebody who isn't in a position to proceed?

Going back to our move last year, we started viewing properties but then waited until we had an accepted an offer to really seriously view properties. Sure, we hammered Rightmove & Zoopla to watch the market but weren't going to waste people's time making offers we couldn't proceed on.

Also, the OP says they have decided "it is the one". You get emotionally attached to a property you can't buy and get hacked off when somebody else has an offer accepted before you've sold. No point in getting your heart set on something you might not be able to have.

tom_nieto · 7 Feb 2017 at 11:11

chris_h said:
however, when I rang today to put my offer in, they told me I can only put in an offer of interest as we have not sold ours.

Absolute rubbish. The estate agent should be conveying all offers to the vendor regardless of amount and buyer circumstances. If they're not, I would be sorely tempted to put a note through the vendor's door explaining the situation. You might then find that all of a sudden you're not using the same agency as the vendor! It is not up to the estate agency to accept or reject potential offers.

Mercenary Keyboard Warrior · 7 Feb 2017 at 12:12

tom_nieto said:
Absolute rubbish. The estate agent should be conveying all offers to the vendor regardless of amount and buyer circumstances. If they're not, I would be sorely tempted to put a note through the vendor's door explaining the situation. You might then find that all of a sudden you're not using the same agency as the vendor! It is not up to the estate agency to accept or reject potential offers.

They should pass on the offer, insist.

But the vendor will almost definately be advised to either reject, or accept in principle but with the proviso they will see more prospective buyers until someone can put a firm offer with a STC property or a cash buyer.

I offered and had accepted on a house many years ago, hadnt sold mine as was just going on the market, it got accepted subject to confirmed sale on mine and was to remain on the market. Got a call a few days later it ahd sold.
Now I dont look until I have a sold STC property, but this can mean the whole process can take some time if everyone takes the same approach.