Sale agreed, but the seller keep accepting bids

usawinters

Registered User
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Hi, last week (Thursday) I had sale agreed, and I have SMS conformation. Yesterday the owner gave me a call and told me that he has got a new offer and if I want to make a new offer or not. I will appreciate it very much if you could clarify what can I do in this situation.

Originally the seller said that I can pay deposit to my solicitor or to the estate agent, who is based in the Portmanrock, (far away from the place I work). Paying deposit to my solicitor sounds convenient, however after reviewing all options I decided to pay deposit to the estate agent. And yesterday I made a call to estate agent informing about my arrival, I guess he contacted the owner and 10 minutes later I received a call from the owner with a news about a new bid.
 
sounds like a messer.
These days a seller should be glad to get a solid offer. Stick to your original offer and if the seller doesnt like that then move on.
Remember even if you have a deposit paid he can still pull out of the sale. Nothing is set in stone until the contracts are signed.
 
Hi

You should not encourage this behaviour. Tell the estate agent to return your deposit.

There are plenty of properties on the market.

This was quite common during the boom. In one case, a friend of mine refused to increase his offer. And the sellers came back to him within a few days, saying that they would accept it after all. He reduced his bid by 10%.

He eventually got a much better property.

Brendan
 
I think it is better practice to pay the deposit to the seller's solicitor rather than to the seller's estate agent. The solicitors are better regulated and you should get it back a lot quicker.
 
It's normal practice to pay the booking deposit to an estate agent. It shouldn't be a problem to get it back if no contracts are signed.

USA winters, you have no contract, an SMS I don't believe is a contract (in any case we won't go there). There is no sale agreed until a contract is signed by both parties.
 
Booking deposits have no legal basis. SMS not worth the paper it is not written on.
 
@usawinters

as @bronte highlights sale of land must be in writing

The procedure of the 'deposit' but no contract used to protect the buyer - for example unable to get mortgage funding or whatever - but now as we have seen this is working the other way.

You have an option - which is if you are happy and have inspected the property etc. that contracts for sale are drawn up and the deposit is included - present this as a fait accompli i.e. take it now or leave it.

As other posters have indicated he may well have a better offer - whether it completes or not is another matter - finality is what you want.
 
Please confirm if I understood correctly: SMS message confirming our deal can't be used to enforce the seller to keep the deal?
 
Of course not. Seller can pull out of a sale at any stage between "sale agreed" and signing of contracts.

So can the buyer.
 
Please confirm if I understood correctly: SMS message confirming our deal can't use to enforce the seller to keep the deal?

Correct!

Maybe you should re-consider the idea of taking legal advice from a solicitor?

mf
 
Hi

You should not encourage this behaviour. Tell the estate agent to return your deposit.

There are plenty of properties on the market.


This behaviour should certainly not be encouraged but the reality of the property market is that there are very different dynamics in different parts of the market. If you want a family home is certain city suburbs, it has become very competitive. The fact that there are thousands of apartments in provincial towns is probably irrelevant to the OP.

You should definitely get the deposit back but the next step is down to an individual decision. How important is that specific property? How easy will it be to find an alternative? Can you afford to pay more?
 
This behaviour should certainly not be encouraged but the reality of the property market is that there are very different dynamics in different parts of the market. If you want a family home is certain city suburbs, it has become very competitive. The fact that there are thousands of apartments in provincial towns is probably irrelevant to the OP.

You should definitely get the deposit back but the next step is down to an individual decision. How important is that specific property? How easy will it be to find an alternative? Can you afford to pay more?

I agree with all of this. I'm aware of properties in some areas with several actively competing bidders, where the eventual sale price is above the asking. I'm also aware of other areas where you'd have difficulty giving property away. The Irish property market appears to be quite split into regions, much like the UK.
 
I agree with all of this. I'm aware of properties in some areas with several actively competing bidders, where the eventual sale price is above the asking. I'm also aware of other areas where you'd have difficulty giving property away. The Irish property market appears to be quite split into regions, much like the UK.

Definitely agree. I was very interested in a house and before I knew it two bids had been made with the second bid being 10k above the first. I thought the days of 10k bids was well over. It will probably close the deal though.
 
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