Accepting a different offer after sale agreed

Cunning Stunt

Hi all
My mother is selling her house and after verbally accepting a bid from one buyer, another buyer has come with a much better offer. There is nothing signed as of yet. What are the implications of her pulling out of the first agreement? Is it a no-no? Thanks

SB_Part2

I think gazumping is still legal in Ireland

http://www.dermody.ie/FAQ.htm#I_have_just_been_Gazumped._How_can_estate_agents_allow_this_to_happen

If there's no contract been signed I think you can accept the higher offer.

tuisginideach

If you put it as 'verbally accepting a bid', then there's absolutely no problem. If she verbally accepted an offer, then the potential buyers will be annoyed but they can't do anything about it.

marymary1984

I'd get the estate agent to go back to the first party and inform them and give them an opportunity to increase their price as they will be annoyed and very verbal about it - you don't want your mothering having to deal with that.
No legal issues but not a nice thing to do! Be sure the higher is genuine too - if t falls through the second bidder probably won't be interested.

Lumen

Has the Sales Advice Notice been issued yet? That's the normal step immediately after deposit has been paid over to seller's EA.

Sale Agreed is effectively a non-binding agreement to transact. It is common to pull out if something material changes (e.g. poor survey or buyer is having problems with finance) but simply but accepting a higher bid is IMO a dishonourable reason for doing so.

Just because you can doesn't mean you should.

w.r.t implications of her pulling out, the main consequence is that the buyer will almost certainly not come back, so if the higher bid falls through you're a bit screwed.

Cunning Stunt

Hi
Thanks for the replies. Yes she is torn about this, as she doesnt like to mess people around. But the fact remains that the second offer is better for her. Am not really sure what the difference is between an offer and a bid? But i will let her know what has been mentioned here. It is her decision in the end. Thanks again

Lumen

Cunning Stunt wrote: »

Hi
Thanks for the replies. Yes she is torn about this, as she doesnt like to mess people around. But the fact remains that the second offer is better for her. Am not really sure what the difference is between an offer and a bid? But i will let her know what has been mentioned here. It is her decision in the end. Thanks again

The difference is really that the offer is more final. Once you go Sale Agreed (when the offer is accepted) either party needs a damn good reason to change the price. Not legally mind, only in terms of such a change being acceptable to the other party. This is because other bidding parties have been excluded from the process, and because the sales process takes so long they've probably lost interest or found something else.

I went Sale Agreed on a place last year before survey, the survey was unexpectedly bad (planning issues and renovation advertised as no expense spared etc) and I went back to the EA with the expectation of pushing the price back down (we were 30k over the asking price) and was told no dice. So we walked away. I think it eventually sold for the lower asking price.

Nekarsulm

Has the agent taken a deposit, and forwarded a "Sales advice notice" to both sets of solicitors?
If not, there's no problem, ethical or otherwise.
If the agent has, then he is SUPPOSED to accept no further bids.
They would of course be expected to let your mother know if another buyer had materialized. It's then up to you guys as to what your comfortable with.

loveisdivine

It's also not solely about price, are the new bidders in a chain? Do they definitely have mortgage approval?

Are the new bidders offering a substantial amount more? If not, is it really worth the potential hassle.

Cunning Stunt

Hi,
I dont have all the details but basically someone made an offer, my mother said ok - the estate agent immediately marked the property as sale agreed on their website. (We thought this was the norm but now reading the responses it dorsnt seem right ..) no deposit has been paid, nothing signed and now a better, worthwhile offer has been given and we are wondering where she stands now

Nekarsulm

No deposit paid, then it's not "sale agreed".
Tell your agent accept the higher offer and go back to the previous "highest bidder" to see what they will do.
Unless of course the Agent knows this new bidder, and knows them to be serial bidders and/or messers.

Lumen

Cunning Stunt wrote: »

Hi,
I dont have all the details but basically someone made an offer, my mother said ok - the estate agent immediately marked the property as sale agreed on their website. (We thought this was the norm but now reading the responses it dorsnt seem right ..) no deposit has been paid, nothing signed and now a better, worthwhile offer has been given and we are wondering where she stands now

The EA has erred. They shouldn't mark it Sale Agreed until deposit has been received.

In both cases where I've been Sale Agreed as a buyer I've had to pester the EA to change the online ads, even *after* they've received the deposit and issued the Sales Advice Notice.

With reference to "signing", this happens quite late in the process. Nothing is signed until contracts are issued and all solicitor queries (title, planning, maps, etc) have been resolved. After contracts are signed there are usually hard deadlines and penalties for pulling out.

The result of this is that there can be a long period after Sale Agreed where everyone is committed and not-commited at the same time. It's awful.

Millem

Any side can pull out up until contacts have been signed and exchanged .
One thing to consider is legal fees. Has your mum solicitor started dealing with the other solicitor? If so she will have clocked upsome legal fees.
Your mum needs to suit herself, they could pull out on her if they found a better place

Henry Ford III

Millem wrote: »

Any side can pull out up until contacts have been signed and exchanged ....

This.

Deposits, verbal agreements, sales advice notices etc. are of no significance legally.

Only the signing of contracts fully obligates both parties.

4ensic15

It sounds to me like the EA is trying to sell cheaply to a friend. He should be fired straight away.