Offer accepted but house or flat still on the market?
Answer
This comes as a shock to most buyers and quite a few vendors too. Your offer has been accepted but the house or flat is still on the market, still being advertised, still being shown to people by the estate agent. What's going on and how can you stop it?
OK, let's get one thing really clear:
The estate agent acts for the seller, not the buyer
That's not just a throw away comment, it is a legal requirement placed on the estate agent. Your offer has been accepted but you are under no obligation to follow through. You can pull out at any time up to exchange of contracts.
So it is in the vendors best interests to keep promoting their house or flat just in case you change your mind. And as it is a legal requirement for the estate agent to act in the vendors best interests they must keep marketing and showing the property.
They're not being nasty or underhand or trying to get your offer gazumped, they literally have no choice. If you walk away and they haven't been lining up replacement buyers the seller could sue for losses. Some estate agents will pull the property from the market but they are risking legal liabilities.
Morally they should have informed you but they usually don't - they're estate agents.
The only way to get a property off the market is for the vendor to instruct the estate agent - then they are free from the liability.
Most vendors aren't aware of this. If the property is vacant or they are aware they may assume that the property has been taken off the market so don't assume they are trying to shaft you either. They could be just as surprised.
How to get the property off the market from the moment your offer is accepted
OK, if you are reading this and you haven't made an offer yet make sure that your offer specifies that you want the property taken off the market and specify for how long. Say six weeks.
As I've mentioned before my approach is usually to make an initial offer which I am confident will not get rejected and then increase my offer but on the condition that the seller instructs the agent, in writing, to remove the property from the market for six weeks.
Vendors normally assume this is the case anyway so they'll think they got some extra cash for agreeing to something they were going to do anyway or they thought was going to happen anyway.
How to get the property that you have had an offer accepted on off the market
Not so easy. Depending on what you have done so far - instructed a solicitor, paid for a survey - you are in a weaker position because both the vendor and estate agent know you have already invested time and cash.
It doesn't mean you can't request it. Ask the estate agent to ask the vendor to instruct them in writing because you are uncomfortable proceeding any further until viewings are halted.
It doesn't mean you'll get your way. The vendor can make all sorts of assurances but ultimately if there is more cash suddenly put on the table they may be tempted to switch horses.
You can threaten to pull out of the deal but this is a really shaky one. Only threaten to do it if you are going to follow through. If you don't the vendor will realize you are pretty keen on the purchase and if something else shows up, say a damp issue in the survey, they'll be more likely to tell you to take it or leave it but they won't be dropping the price. Basically you'll just have weakened your position by making threats and then backing down.
So there you have it. The property has to stay on the market unless the vendor instructs the estate agent otherwise so make sure, when you make the offer, that this is a key demand.
If its too late for that do go ahead and ask but be aware that you may well be on the back foot.
For the real fine detail in making effective offers see See the Chapter 15 of How to Really Buy a Property: How to Really Make an Offer on a Property
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Property FAQ
- Does an estate agent have to put my offer forward?
- The estate agent says there is more than one offer, is it true?
- Survey valuation lower than offer, what to do?
- Offer accepted but house or flat still on the market?
- What happens if the survey valuation is higher than my offer?
- The property price was £190000 I offered £191000 and accepted the property was showing sold as after survey I lowered my offer to £181000 and provisionally accepted again ,but now it is on market and
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