Sale Agreed & For Sale

craic90

Hello all,

In the property bubble of Dec 2015, we have managed to scramble to ""Sale Agreed"" on a property in Ireland, but the EA is not putting Sale Agreed on their website listing or Daft. Deposit given, Survey Complete, Mortage Approval in place. The EA assures us however..."Oh look, the house is yours, its sale agreed, the only thing I can do now is take names from interested parties" etc etc

Q: What's going on here? My understanding is that normally at this point of a sale an EA is more interested in securing their fee, rather than acting on behalf of the vendor by extending the sale period for what would be a very small additional gain to them.

Is this a means to facilitate (i love this word) gazumping?
Is the vendor simply being cautious until contracts signed?
Is there some other phenomenon that explains this sale agreed but still listed approach...

Letree

craic90 wrote: »

Hello all,

In the property bubble of Dec 2015, we have managed to scramble to ""Sale Agreed"" on a property in Ireland, but the EA is not putting Sale Agreed on their website listing or Daft. Deposit given, Survey Complete, Mortage Approval in place. The EA assures us however..."Oh look, the house is yours, its sale agreed, the only thing I can do now is take names from interested parties" etc etc

Q: What's going on here? My understanding is that normally at this point of a sale an EA is more interested in securing their fee, rather than acting on behalf of the vendor by extending the sale period for what would be a very small additional gain to them.

Is this a means to facilitate (i love this word) gazumping?
Is the vendor simply being cautious until contracts signed?
Is there some other phenomenon that explains this sale agreed but still listed approach...

They will keep their options open for either a higher bid or that you may pull out. Until contracts are signed the process in this country leave both parties in a very vulnerable position.

Rew

Its become pretty normal as a huge number of Sale Agreed's are falling though and EA's ads bouncing between states. I haven't heard anything about gazumping in years so don't sweat it and plough on!

Dubwat

I can't answer your specific question but a house near me has gone 'under offer'/'sale agreed' twice/maybe three times recently.
Don't know if the problem is with the house or the buyer(s)...
House is 4-bed, Dublin & approx €400k+.

Marcusm

craic90 wrote: »

Hello all,

In the property bubble of Dec 2015, we have managed to scramble to ""Sale Agreed"" on a property in Ireland, but the EA is not putting Sale Agreed on their website listing or Daft. Deposit given, Survey Complete, Mortage Approval in place. The EA assures us however..."Oh look, the house is yours, its sale agreed, the only thing I can do now is take names from interested parties" etc etc

Q: What's going on here? My understanding is that normally at this point of a sale an EA is more interested in securing their fee, rather than acting on behalf of the vendor by extending the sale period for what would be a very small additional gain to them.

Is this a means to facilitate (i love this word) gazumping?
Is the vendor simply being cautious until contracts signed?
Is there some other phenomenon that explains this sale agreed but still listed approach...

My response to this has always been the same; if you want to hold the deposit then it goes "Sale Agreed" or gets removed. Elsewise, return the deposit and my solicitor can keep working through the documents. In each case, the property has been recategorised. It's rare that the vendor wants it kept "For Sale".

craic90

craic90 wrote: »

Hello all,

In the property bubble of Dec 2015, we have managed to scramble to ""Sale Agreed"" on a property in Ireland, but the EA is not putting Sale Agreed on their website listing or Daft. Deposit given, Survey Complete, Mortage Approval in place. The EA assures us however..."Oh look, the house is yours, its sale agreed, the only thing I can do now is take names from interested parties" etc etc

Q: What's going on here? My understanding is that normally at this point of a sale an EA is more interested in securing their fee, rather than acting on behalf of the vendor by extending the sale period for what would be a very small additional gain to them.

Is this a means to facilitate (i love this word) gazumping?
Is the vendor simply being cautious until contracts signed?
Is there some other phenomenon that explains this sale agreed but still listed approach...

Its normal these days. Don't worry about it if your finances are in order and you dont intend any messing such as last minute brinkmanship.
The agent will not show the property to anybody else as long as the sales process is ongoing. Make sure your solicitor is on the ball to avoid giving the wrong impression to the vendors.

Smiley11

Our house is sale agreed for the last month & its not listed as being so as yet. This isn't strategic on our part & we haven't even discussed it with the EA to be honest. I'm just presuming that they don't de-list it until some certainties are in place & that this is common practice. There have been no further viewings since it went agreed, nor will there be as I know the EA is informing callers that its sale agreed when they enquire. I was sick to the gills of viewings in any case so I'm quite relieved (a good complaint I know!).

From my own personal point of view I have no issue with it remaining advertised as we paid a couple of hundred quid to have it advertised online & I assume we'd have to pay these fees again had we to put I back on the market if our buyer backed out. As sellers in the current environment, we're terrified of things falling through as we have a lot depending on the sale closing. To that end, I'd prefer to keep my buyer happy & the EA is aware of this so if he requests it be marked sale agreed then this should be done immediately. I see no reason to annoy a buyer so you should request it be marked sale agreed as I think its just a matter of the whole system being lax rather than deviousness.

Smiley11

Smiley11 wrote: »

As sellers in the current environment, we're terrified of things falling through as we have a lot depending on the sale closing. To that end, I'd prefer to keep my buyer happy & the EA is aware of this so if he requests it be marked sale agreed then this should be done immediately.

In your position, one month after going sale agreed, the exchange of contract should be coming up very soon. If a buyer asked to change the status at this stage I would get suspicious that his intentions were not honourable. If he wants certainty now, all he has to do it sign the contracts and return them.

In my view a property that goes 'sale agreed' and then back to 'for sale' is in a weaker position for getting sold than one that has always held its 'for sale' status. Potential buyers will fixate on the failed sale and will regard the price it went 'sale agreed' (if they can discover this) at as the upper limit. This doesnt happen so much in the other scenario.

The Mulk

Smiley11 wrote: »

Our house is sale agreed for the last month & its not listed as being so as yet. This isn't strategic on our part & we haven't even discussed it with the EA to be honest. I'm just presuming that they don't de-list it until some certainties are in place & that this is common practice. There have been no further viewings since it went agreed, nor will there be as I know the EA is informing callers that its sale agreed when they enquire. I was sick to the gills of viewings in any case so I'm quite relieved (a good complaint I know!).

From my own personal point of view I have no issue with it remaining advertised as we paid a couple of hundred quid to have it advertised online & I assume we'd have to pay these fees again had we to put I back on the market if our buyer backed out. As sellers in the current environment, we're terrified of things falling through as we have a lot depending on the sale closing. To that end, I'd prefer to keep my buyer happy & the EA is aware of this so if he requests it be marked sale agreed then this should be done immediately. I see no reason to annoy a buyer so you should request it be marked sale agreed as I think its just a matter of the whole system being lax rather than deviousness.

Mine has gone back on the market, sale agreed 3 months and the buyer pulled.
We didn't have to pay anything to put it back up.
The only thing is it hasn't gone onto page 1 on my home.ie, instead going back to it's original position.
I'll talk to them in the new year about bumping the ad.
We went sale agreed in early Sept. so we're hoping the market has at least stayed the same.

delahuntv

Under very strict EA regulations the EA must get everything in writing regarding the property (text/email is usual)

So you won't hear of many bad stories anymore as the fines and penalties are extreme and have already been applied in some cases.

However as above, until you sign contracts the sale has not gone "agreed" more "under offer" as you and seller can withdraw without penalty until contract is signed.

The Mulk

delahuntv wrote: »

Under very strict EA regulations the EA must get everything in writing regarding the property (text/email is usual)

So you won't hear of many bad stories anymore as the fines and penalties are extreme and have already been applied in some cases.

However as above, until you sign contracts the sale has not gone "agreed" more "under offer" as you and seller can withdraw without penalty until contract is signed.

Our buyer had signed and paid his 10 per cent, pulled out the night before we went to countersign.
Solicitors are very good in including conditions in contracts to allow buyers to pull out, one such one is contracts aren't binding until bank issue cheque.
Very hard to deal with when you're in a chain. But we'll know in future and will go into the next deal better prepared

alastair

Went sale agreed twice this year. First buyers pulled out literally two days after sale agreed, and second buyers pulled out a day or so before contracts were due to be signed. At that stage the place we had made an offer on had gone to a cash buyer, and there was nothing else as good/affordable available, so it wasn't as awful as it could have been. We've taken the place off the market and will have a breather until next year to decide if we still want to sell / if there's something worth moving to.

I Am The Law

Buyers pulling out may be a sign of a healthier property market, people asking themselves if the price they have just agreed is realistic when compared to their income not just now but over the life of the mortgage. They are to be commended for some mature reflection.

The Mulk

The Mulk wrote: »

Our buyer had signed and paid his 10 per cent, pulled out the night before we went to countersign.

Bloody Hell! That was unfortunate! It shows the importance of sitting on your solicitior to keep the process moving. I heard of a case recently where the solicitor didnt call the vendor in to countersign until two weeks after he received the contracts signed by the purchaser.

The Mulk wrote: »

... one such one is contracts aren't binding until bank issue cheque.

This kind of clause would also explain why sales aren't listed as 'agreed'!

Smiley11

Deleted User wrote: »

In my view a property that goes 'sale agreed' and then back to 'for sale' is in a weaker position for getting sold than one that has always held its 'for sale' status. Potential buyers will fixate on the failed sale and will regard the price it went 'sale agreed' (if they can discover this) at as the upper limit. This doesnt happen so much in the other scenario.

Exactly. I don't want that to happen either. Its genuinely not about the price for us even though we achieved a great one but blood sweat & tears went into our home over the years. Its structurally sound (survey done) & in great condition & I don't want it looking like theres something wrong with it. I've just heard so many stories about sales falling through these days that I'm not going to be happy until the house is sold full stop. At the same time I'm happy to accommodate the buyers wishes & requests within reason & all is going well so far so I don't want to put them out.

Rew

The Mulk wrote: »

Our buyer had signed and paid his 10 per cent, pulled out the night before we went to countersign.
Solicitors are very good in including conditions in contracts to allow buyers to pull out, one such one is contracts aren't binding until bank issue cheque.
Very hard to deal with when you're in a chain. But we'll know in future and will go into the next deal better prepared

That clause is common now and its that the contract isn't binding if the bank refuse to issue the cheque. So it only gives the buyer an out if the bank pull out. Once countersigned the buyer can't initiate the pull out it would have to be some catastrophic issue with the mortgage.

Unfortunately no contract is binding till counter signed.