Estate Agent Problem
Discussion
Hi all,
Had a house purchase and sale lined up. Estate agent presented a buyer and an offer was accepted.
6 months down the line -after the estate agent constantly saying the mortgage offer is on track, offer being presented etc etc, I have come to find today that there was no offer and the buyer is pulling out as they can’t get a mortgage.
As you can imagine - I’ve spent fees on searches on the property I’m buying, survey fees etc to now not being able to sell my property.
Ultimately, where do I stand now? Can any action be taken against the EA for messing around for so long? (Buyer even used the EA’s in house mortgage broker, so they would’ve know from early doors if there was going to be a problem)
Had a house purchase and sale lined up. Estate agent presented a buyer and an offer was accepted.
6 months down the line -after the estate agent constantly saying the mortgage offer is on track, offer being presented etc etc, I have come to find today that there was no offer and the buyer is pulling out as they can’t get a mortgage.
As you can imagine - I’ve spent fees on searches on the property I’m buying, survey fees etc to now not being able to sell my property.
Ultimately, where do I stand now? Can any action be taken against the EA for messing around for so long? (Buyer even used the EA’s in house mortgage broker, so they would’ve know from early doors if there was going to be a problem)
SSG1000 said:
Hi all,
Had a house purchase and sale lined up. Estate agent presented a buyer and an offer was accepted.
6 months down the line -after the estate agent constantly saying the mortgage offer is on track, offer being presented etc etc, I have come to find today that there was no offer and the buyer is pulling out as they can’t get a mortgage.
As you can imagine - I’ve spent fees on searches on the property I’m buying, survey fees etc to now not being able to sell my property.
Ultimately, where do I stand now? Can any action be taken against the EA for messing around for so long? (Buyer even used the EA’s in house mortgage broker, so they would’ve know from early doors if there was going to be a problem)
Something to take to The Property Ombudsman?Had a house purchase and sale lined up. Estate agent presented a buyer and an offer was accepted.
6 months down the line -after the estate agent constantly saying the mortgage offer is on track, offer being presented etc etc, I have come to find today that there was no offer and the buyer is pulling out as they can’t get a mortgage.
As you can imagine - I’ve spent fees on searches on the property I’m buying, survey fees etc to now not being able to sell my property.
Ultimately, where do I stand now? Can any action be taken against the EA for messing around for so long? (Buyer even used the EA’s in house mortgage broker, so they would’ve know from early doors if there was going to be a problem)
Morning - Sorry to hear about your experience.
Unless the agent has outright lied to you, and you have evidence to prove that, I think it's unlikely you will be able to get any money back sadly. Even if you can prove that, most agents are greedy and will avoid paying for anything they think they can get away with. Going to the TPO for a relatively nominal amount is probably not worth the hassle, though if you have the time it's one worth exploring.
Your best bet is to explain the situation to your onward vendors and hope they are understanding, switch agents and find another buyer ASAP. You then haven't lost the house you want to buy and you don't end up paying the agent who has messed you around.
Good luck!
Source: I'm an agent.
Unless the agent has outright lied to you, and you have evidence to prove that, I think it's unlikely you will be able to get any money back sadly. Even if you can prove that, most agents are greedy and will avoid paying for anything they think they can get away with. Going to the TPO for a relatively nominal amount is probably not worth the hassle, though if you have the time it's one worth exploring.
Your best bet is to explain the situation to your onward vendors and hope they are understanding, switch agents and find another buyer ASAP. You then haven't lost the house you want to buy and you don't end up paying the agent who has messed you around.
Good luck!
Source: I'm an agent.
Most likely the buyer has strung them along. We suffered similar last year. We didn't blame the agent but it would have helped if they'd smelt a rat sooner. Our buyer was a complete messer. The agent realised when they found him in a chain for another property they were involved in!
We lost the property we were trying to buy. We did sell our searches to the people who went on to buy it. Meant we got back some/all of that money. It's a win-win as the new buyer saves time. It was tight to the first stamp duty holiday deadline, so our vendor wasn't prepared to wait for us. My Mrs is in the industry so she was aware of that trick.
We lost the property we were trying to buy. We did sell our searches to the people who went on to buy it. Meant we got back some/all of that money. It's a win-win as the new buyer saves time. It was tight to the first stamp duty holiday deadline, so our vendor wasn't prepared to wait for us. My Mrs is in the industry so she was aware of that trick.
Thanks all for the information.
The buyer used the in house mortgage team, so from what I understand they knew the buyers financial position from day one. Fortunately, i have most correspondence well documented via email (As most of the time i can't reach my phone during working hours) - which shows that the EA was reviewing information, delaying the process & ultimately even said that the buyer raised the deposit by 30k to get the 'mortgage over the line'...... this is where the alarm bells began to rang.
Will first speak to the EA but if not, i will be 100% reaching out to the ombudsmen.
The buyer used the in house mortgage team, so from what I understand they knew the buyers financial position from day one. Fortunately, i have most correspondence well documented via email (As most of the time i can't reach my phone during working hours) - which shows that the EA was reviewing information, delaying the process & ultimately even said that the buyer raised the deposit by 30k to get the 'mortgage over the line'...... this is where the alarm bells began to rang.
Will first speak to the EA but if not, i will be 100% reaching out to the ombudsmen.
Zarco said:
Most likely the buyer has strung them along. We suffered similar last year. We didn't blame the agent but it would have helped if they'd smelt a rat sooner. Our buyer was a complete messer. The agent realised when they found him in a chain for another property they were involved in!
We lost the property we were trying to buy. We did sell our searches to the people who went on to buy it. Meant we got back some/all of that money. It's a win-win as the new buyer saves time. It was tight to the first stamp duty holiday deadline, so our vendor wasn't prepared to wait for us. My Mrs is in the industry so she was aware of that trick.
A very similar thing happened to us too - we had a seemingly good buyer lined up for our house, they had no chain, no house to sell had moved in with their parents and were ready to go, we were well on the way to purchasing a house that we loved, they ended up having to come clean to us that they did in fact have a house they needed to sell (that they were renting out) and had left it till the very last minute to tell us this, the agent had done all the checks beforehand, seemingly came back okay, I guess it just wouldn't have come up as an issue as they had made it clear they didn't have a house to sell. All of this weeks before completing, ended up losing the house we were going to be buying. We lost the property we were trying to buy. We did sell our searches to the people who went on to buy it. Meant we got back some/all of that money. It's a win-win as the new buyer saves time. It was tight to the first stamp duty holiday deadline, so our vendor wasn't prepared to wait for us. My Mrs is in the industry so she was aware of that trick.
Estate agents being light with the truth, not the norm is it?
We had similar. Had an offer accepted on a house. We were in rented, so happy to give sellers time to find a house. Dragged on for 6 months, not a bean.
Turns out the sellers were selling their house AND the MIL's house as they wanted to combine finances and live together. Still angry about it a few years on!
We had similar. Had an offer accepted on a house. We were in rented, so happy to give sellers time to find a house. Dragged on for 6 months, not a bean.
Turns out the sellers were selling their house AND the MIL's house as they wanted to combine finances and live together. Still angry about it a few years on!
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