Buying a house, Warnings from other estate agents

Woogie · 4 Mar 2013 at 12:34

Myself and my girlfriend are currently buying a house in Luton that has had 2 buyers pull out after having put offers in. We have been told by the estate agent that the first buyer couldn't get a mortgage after putting an offer in and the second buying pulled out on the day of exchanging contracts with no word to anyone, they just did not turn up and all instructions via Solicitor and bank were stopped.

Now we have the survey being done today yet over the course of the last week I have had 2 other estate agents call me and tell me to be careful when buying this property as it has already had 2 buyers pull out. The estate agent we are buying through has not hid anything from us but are being very pushy for a quick sale and as far as I am concerned 90% of Estate agents are just out for themselves and I refuse to take anything they say as gospel.

Do you think this is just the other estate agents being sly and trying to put us off buying or should we genuinely be concerned. Obviously we will find out ourselves in the coming week I was just curious as if others had seen this kind of behavior before.

Woogie · 4 Mar 2013 at 12:39

See that is what I thought, I mean we had a good look around all 3 times we have viewed the property and highlighted 2 potential issues that we cannot see as being deal breakers. I just found it highly suspicious that 2 unrelated estate agents have contacted us with regards to this house.

Woogie · 4 Mar 2013 at 12:46

The property is only for sale via the Estate agent we are buying through and not other estate agents so this is what initially got me curious as to why the others were calling me. One of them I can guarantee he was trying to put me off to buying a house through them as the house we viewed with them was on our shortlist of potentials where as the second one really surprised me when he called.

The area we are buying in is one of the most sort after areas in Luton and houses do not come up very often and when they do they go pretty quick. There are very few nice areas of Luton this just happens to be one of them.

Woogie · 4 Mar 2013 at 13:28

Morba said:
That is what I was thinking. Do they have buyers/sellers that would like this property and want you to pull out so that they can get their person buying it?

No, As stated the property is only available through the estate agent we are buying through

Woogie · 4 Mar 2013 at 13:55

Woden said:
How would the other estate agents even know your looking to buy? All seems a bit odd to me. Wait and see what the survey report says is all I would suggest.

They knew we were looking as we have looked at houses through these sellers and they call me weekly to ask if we want to stay on the mailing lists or if we have found somewhere.

House has now been taken off the Market as our offer has been accepted and Survey has been completed.

Just got a phone call from my Estate agent saying that 1 concern was raised during the survey, the vendors have been approached and are willing to either get the work done themselves or depending on the cost give us a contribution towards having it done. The issue was 1 of 2 that we highlighted ourselves. The drive way is quite steep and appears to have shifted slightly and the drive way will need redoing and a retaining wall putting in.

mattyg said:
Don't see it so much as a negative. 2 other potentials have pulled out at the last minute. That may help you negotiate a lower purchase price.

It did, 10k less than they wanted

Woogie · 4 Mar 2013 at 14:09

Allow me to Quote myself.

Woogie said:
They knew we were looking as we have looked at houses through these sellers and they call me weekly to ask if we want to stay on the mailing lists or if we have found somewhere.

Woogie · 4 Mar 2013 at 14:14

We have had the full report and will hear back within a week with regards to it all. The house itself is fine as it has proper footings but the drive does not hence the slippage and only had single brick retaining wall. If you look at the Picture below you can see the wall on the right is leaning ever so slightly.

Woogie · 4 Mar 2013 at 14:26

Gilly said:
Sorry I didn't just mean to contact you, I meant about what you were viewing, what you've bid on, etc.

Ah yeah there's no way they knew that information (well the first anyway) The second may have known as we have spoken to there in house mortgage adviser so she will have passed the info along (So much for that being private)

Woogie · 4 Mar 2013 at 15:02

PapaLazaru said:
Fact is though, I would be very wary of that property.

Why? Some further explanation would be appreciated

Nightglow said:
Woogie: What about the outside wall of the garage, definitely concerned about it's footings would definitely have a look at it from the neighbours side.

I would be looking at a retaining wall for the garage as well.
Does that existing single wall run the length of the rear garden as well?
Also as the driveway as settled, any problem with the sewage system, broken pipes,etc.

The right hand wall of the Garage appears to be actually Asbestos (White not blue) or a similar looking material and the wall runs the length of the house and garden (Garden is done slightly differently) I removed the cover that you can see on the drive way and everything down there appears to be perfect, No bulges in the wall and the pipe looked clear and unbroken. We are actually looking at having the garage pulled down in the next few years and proper footings put in if they do not exist in preparation for an extension on the house so a bigger retaining wall would be built at this point for the house.

Woogie · 4 Mar 2013 at 15:49

PapaLazaru said:
I put in an offer on a house last year, but then found out that a previous buyer got spooked and pulled out. I later found out that they had obtained a full structural survey and whilst I was not able to see it, it was enough for me to pull out.

I still do not know what the problem was (there was nothing visible), but if someone does that, there is a serious underlying issue.

I did not want to pay for my own survey to find out the same thing so moved on to other properties, one of which I ended up buying and move into next week.

My other point is that estate agents talk to each other. They even go out socially sometimes, as they like to share gossip and problem purchasers etc. I have no doubt that they discuss problem properties as well which is why you may (or may not) have received those calls. Ultimately they want a sale from you as they know you are in the market so they may well just be giving you a wink there may be an underlying problem.

The previous buyer were aware of the issues right until the day of exchanging contracts then did not turn up. They would have been aware of any major structural issues for weeks prior to this.

We have already paid for the higher of the 2 surveys (21 page document) but I do not believe this is a full structural survey

Woogie · 4 Mar 2013 at 18:50

The wall is one of our 2 concerns with regards to the house and is being budgeted to be fixed the moment we move in, although the Vendor have apparently come forward and said they are willing to either have it fixed or give a fixed amount towards it being fixed.

Woogie · 6 Mar 2013 at 10:07

Crowort said:
I wonder if the ones contacting you are trying make sure it doesn't sell with the current agent so they can contact the seller saying 'we could sell it for you, let us list it'? Just a thought I really don't know anything about buying a house as I've always rented.

We have had confirmation that this is the case, Over the last week the current owners have had 5 other estate agents call them asking to sell through them as they have a buyer lined up

j.col said:
Oi! Luton is not that bad.
@op, are u from Luton or just moved in? and in what part of Luton is the house?
Kind of looks like the Stokingstone road area to me, but i am probably wrong.

Also i know a good driveway installer and builder if u ever need one

Originally from Birmingham but moved to St Albans nearly 2 years ago, moved out of there to Houghton Regis last year and now moving into Luton. Girlfriend works in Luton and its too expensive to buy in St Albans and we have friends who live in the area we are buying so know its nice.

Spot on with the location Just off the old bedford road where it meets Stockingstone. May very well be interested in that thanks

Woogie · 6 Mar 2013 at 18:51

j.col said:
Small world, i live near Morrisons (formely Netto's) in Houghton.
That area is quite good, so you shouldnt have any neighbours from hell around there

Really is a small world, I live by the Total garage opposite the Crown... See anyone on a Blue Kawasaki, Blue and White helmet and bright Orange back pack flying around the area its me

Woogie · 7 Mar 2013 at 07:38

Both of those are being addressed by the current owner before we purchase the property so a brand new drive and retaining wall are being put in. Winner