Ha-ha-ha!
Took, in all, a 10% hit on our old place (£177k, dropped it to £169k, took offer of £162k) and got exactly nothing off the new one as we had to match a full price offer but we had a chain and they didn't. So we won.
Was it worth it?
You betcha!
To the OP: If offers haven't been forthcoming, just take the 185k. As mentioned before, it doesn't make a huge difference to the next mortgage and, even if you're only selling for tuppence more than you bought, you've made a profit.
Latest development: Agent has made an appointment to come around and discuss offer with me face to face! Heavy mob? Should I get tooled up? I'm off to buy a sausage roll from Tesco's for reinforcement.
MM
Separate to Richard's helpful advice, I have since located the Ombudsman for Estate Agents' Code of Practice, in which para 6a reads:
6aBy law you must tell clients as soon as is reasonably possible about all offers that you receive at any time until contracts have been exchanged (in Scotland, missives have been concluded) unless the offer is an amount or type which the client has specifically instructed you, in writing, not to pass on. You must confirm such offers in writing at the earliest opportunity and keep a written or computerised record of all offers you receive (including the date and time of such offers) and the client?s response.
As of this Thursday pm I have not received any such notice. "Looks like war, Matilda." "Oh, what is to become of us, Harry?" "Matilda, I just don't don't know what the world is coming to any more." "Never mind, Harry, at least we've got each other!"
MM
Heh, I'd rather gain on my sale AND gain on my purchase! Crikey, they could get it for 10 grand below asking price! It's not like I'm robbing them blind or something.
MM
"stuart noble"
with recent house price inflation everyone is being robbed blind. There are very few winners.
*one of the few puts his hand up*
RT
And I've just checked the contract I signed the last time I employed an estate agent, in which I specifically instructed (the estate agent) in writing not to pass on details of offers in writing *unless I had accepted them*. It was a fairly standard term in the contract which the agent drew my attention to before I signed.
You need to check what you signed to know if they are still obliged to notify offers in writing. None of us know what is in your contract with your estate agent.
Al
Let us know what they say...
In message , MM writes
Dont forget that you really want the estate agent on your side so, unless you are planning to sack them and go to Trading Standards, you should be wary of declaring war.
In real terms, what have you lost by not having the offer in writing?
Let me stress that I am not defending the estate agent, merely suggesting that you could cut off your nose to spite your face here.
Hi,
Are they in a hurry and able to exchange before a given date? It might not be good to get strung along in a patchy market.
cheers, Pete.
Very relevant. My personal approach on selling is:-
1) Take the money and run. ( Every experienced salesman's approach, before the buyer of the product finds that it doesn't suit his purpose!) 2) ALWAYS leave the property on the market until the contracts are exchanged. 3) Remember the market traders maxim, 2% profit on something is much better than 50% of nothing!You may get a better offer as a result of 2), (IMO not likely in the current climate.) but it concentrates the mind of the buyer and reduces the risk to you of wishfull purchasers. If the buyer doesn't like it, IMO they are a doubtful proposition and you may well be disappointed in a couple of months time. We are coming up to the "dead" period of the year, when buyers start thinking about Xmas and not moving house, so bear this in mind when taking decisions.
With some i/p prices to producers rising by 3% last month AIUI, it looks to me that we may heading into another high inflation period with corresponding interest rates and mortgage costs, so, I'd personally sell like a shot at almost any price and gamble on prices falling for the next house. I've managed to guess right twice now, so I'm probably wrong this time round, but I can't see much upside to property prices in the next couple of years. The B of E governor won't hint at stable interest rates, so he's not very confident of the future.
Regards Capitol
Don't agree at all. One of our (many) problems in Britain is that we never put things in writing, thinking a quick phone call will suffice. But with nothing written down it's easy for the other party to claim whatever they want to later on. It's a legal obligation as per the Code of Practice and that's what the agent must comply with.
MM
Good one, Cap!
MM
Yep. They want to be moved by Christmas and the agent is "stipulating" a 28-day exchange. No skin off my nose as I can always live in a long-stay B&B if need be.
MM
In message , MM writes
Only trying to help you to avoid cutting off the hand that feeds. The moment you go to war, your relationship ends. Why not give them a call and ask for confirmation of the offer in writing.
In message , Capitol writes
I always tended to find that people making offers at this time of year tended to want to be in for Xmas. It wasnt until mid Novembers' offers that most realised that this was unrealistic, although some would still have a go.
But not if you signed something in your contract with the estate agent indicating that you only required written notification for an offer which you are going to accept.
The legal obligation is:
So if, in the contract with the agent, you indicated that offers of the type "not going to be accepted" should not be passed on in writing, then the agent won't pass these on in writing. The last time we sold a house we had about seven offers notified by phone, but only the one we accepted was notified in writing, because we had signed a clause in the contract which made precisely this request.
Have you checked your contract?
Al
Sounds ideal to me.
If you're still desperate to get more than £185000, I would tell them that your prepared to sell without an onward purchase, thus terminating any chain. This makes their dream of exchanging within 28 days much more likely so they might go up to £189000 (don't call it £190000 - it sounds too much more ;-). Of course, they might not bite, in which case it might have to be £185000.
You walk away with a big wad of cash which you can use to buy whatever house you like at the drop of a hat.
Al
Yes. There is no such waiver.
MM
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