Estate Agent Not Going Sale Agreed until Survey and Valuation Complete

burkey2k0

Wondering is it a known practice for an Estate Agent to be paid the booking deposit, and a week and a half later still be advertising the property? No indication on the ad to show it as Sale Agreed, and the ad is still renewed daily.

They are insisting on the survey and the valuation being done before they take the ad down. I have the survey completed, and just waiting on the valuation to be done. They are saying they have stopped viewings, but obviously actions to back it up would be better than just taking them at their word.

It is not filling me with confidence in the Vendors dedication to sell, and at the very least is bad form. I wouldn't have minded as much if I was informed of these pre-conditions before paying the booking deposit.

Also I'm well aware that Sale Agreed means nothing in practice, but this small detail is extremely frustrating.

Dav010

It is extremely frustrating for sellers when buyers back out or they can’t draw down mortgage. So it makes sense that property stays on the market until contract is signed.

cruizer101

I think it is bad form but not sure how much you can do about it.
Booking deposit means sale agreed
Contract signed means sold

Graham

It's not uncommon for offers to be conditional on the property being removed from the market. Obviously not something you can force but always worth trying.

listermint

Our house was the same. Estate agent kept it to very close to solicitors time. Wasn't having any of our requests to take it down. Some of them simply don't care.

It's not right but also not against the rules.

scamalert

recently looked at quite nice house, anyhow when looking history online it showed there was sale agreed few months back, EA told everything was carried out and paper work signed and then buyers didnt get loan approved at the end, so it fell trough, thats 6 months lost and back to square one for person who was trying to sell, and EA mentioned it wasnt first instance either as been happening a lot lately.


so given current situation seems its safer bet to keep ad listed, as people with mortgages can fall trough and EA, seller loses money time. Dont think anyone decent will drag out process given current climate if they are selling to switch their minds or look for better deals.

Graham

Willingness to remove from market on sale agreed is likely to be influenced by the strength of the local market and the strength of the buyer.

TP_CM

You should have someone you know phone up about the property asking for a viewing. Just to see what they say. Also they should ask if there are any bids on it. But as others are saying, there's not much you can do about it

burkey2k0

TP_CM wrote: »

You should have someone you know phone up about the property asking for a viewing. Just to see what they say. Also they should ask if there are any bids on it. But as others are saying, there's not kuch you can do about it

This I shall do.

Claw Hammer

The house can get a bad name when it is known that a sale, or sales have fallen through. Your deposit is paid "subject to contract". There is no binding contract in place so you can take back your deposit anytime you like. In those circumstances there is no good jumping up and down because the property is still being listed.

burkey2k0

I don't believe anyone is jumping up or down, as I don't want the listing removed, just updated to 'Sale Agreed'.

But that logic is flawed. This is making me, the current purchaser, the one who is concerned that sales have fallen through on this property hence why they are hesitant to show it publicly as sale agreed. I'm going to see now if I can dig out any info I can of any previous sale history to see why they would be hesitant to progress the sale.

Sale agreed status is a completely non-binding status, merely a showing of good faith. But if you follow your and someone else's comment that a property shouldn't update it's listing as 'Sale Agreed' until contracts are signed, then it's either 'For Sale' or 'Sold'. There is no such status as 'Sale Agreed' and neither vendor nor purchaser have any mutual faith or comfort throughout the process that they will hold to their word. It is a cutthroat transaction where neither can be trusted. Which is grand to me. Just want to know the rules. 'Sale Agreed' is purely to give both parties a (false) sense of comfort, I completely agree.

I should make it a point to book a viewing of another property with this same estate agent to completely torpedo the relationship! 😂

Marcusm

burkey2k0 wrote: »

Wondering is it a known practice for an Estate Agent to be paid the booking deposit, and a week and a half later still be advertising the property? No indication on the ad to show it as Sale Agreed, and the ad is still renewed daily.

They are insisting on the survey and the valuation being done before they take the ad down. I have the survey completed, and just waiting on the valuation to be done. They are saying they have stopped viewings, but obviously actions to back it up would be better than just taking them at their word.

It is not filling me with confidence in the Vendors dedication to sell, and at the very least is bad form. I wouldn't have minded as much if I was informed of these pre-conditions before paying the booking deposit.

Also I'm well aware that Sale Agreed means nothing in practice, but this small detail is extremely frustrating.

Ask them for the booking deposit back and say that you are happy to continue dealing with the negotiations but if they continue to market it while they hold your funds that is a sign of bad faith on their part. I would not have a problem with undertaking the survey etc prior to sale agreed if required but on each case I have purchased a property I have made it a condition that it no longer be marketed as available for sale or have any viewings once the have 1c of my money. Tends to focus the minds a bit.

Claw Hammer

Marcusm wrote: »

Ask them for the booking deposit back and say that you are happy to continue dealing with the negotiations but if they continue to market it while they hold your funds that is a sign of bad faith on their part. I would not have a problem with undertaking the survey etc prior to sale agreed if required but on each case I have purchased a property I have made it a condition that it no longer be marketed as available for sale or have any viewings once the have 1c of my money. Tends to focus the minds a bit.

No agent would agree to that. If the funds go back, end of story. The purpose of the booking deposit is to secure the agents fees. The OP is getting far too worked up about the status of "Sale agreed".

TuringBot47

Claw Hammer wrote: »

The house can get a bad name when it is known that a sale, or sales have fallen through.

+1
They don't want to spook any 2nd bidders or others who were following the sale.

Especially in this climate if a mortgage approval is falling through when the bidders are on PUP or the like.
So it's not too unreasonable for them to wait until both the surveyor and mortgage valuation goes through.

Any sale agreed which falls through might send a signal that the property survey revealed serious structural issues and spook other bidders.
The estate agent is working for the sellers best interest always, not yours.

That said, it would be unethical if the estate agent still views the house to others after accepting a booking deposit.

If you're a cash buyer and not relying on selling your own house then you're in a strong position so I wouldn't worry too much about it.

Dav010

Marcusm wrote: »

Ask them for the booking deposit back and say that you are happy to continue dealing with the negotiations but if they continue to market it while they hold your funds that is a sign of bad faith on their part. I would not have a problem with undertaking the survey etc prior to sale agreed if required but on each case I have purchased a property I have made it a condition that it no longer be marketed as available for sale or have any viewings once the have 1c of my money. Tends to focus the minds a bit.

Seems very reasonable. I assume in this scenario that the seller is free to accept bids and operate a “first past the line” policy.

burkey2k0

TuringBot47 wrote:

If you're a cash buyer and not relying on selling your own house then you're in a strong position so I wouldn't worry too much about it.

You're right. This is a minor thing in the process, but when everyone from the bank to the solicitor is saying this is unusual, it is an annoying situation. As you said, probably nothing to worry about.

Unfortunately for the vendor, the estate agents actions have now succeeded in me booking viewings for other properties, whereas I had zero intention of doing this before.

javaboy

It's in the estate agent's interest to have their name and logo advertised on Daft or MyHome at the client's expense for as long as possible. There were people on this forum a few months back complaining about EAs only telling them when they called up that a property was sale agreed. Could simply be a way to keep their name out there for as long as possible, especially for a smaller agent with fewer properties or in an area with low volume.

The other big difference between handing over a booking deposit vs getting a survey & valuation done is that the deposit is fully refundable, no questions asked. Up until you get a surveyor or valuer in, you haven't actually spent a cent and committed to anything. You could be a neighbour trying to mess up the sale or something.

Markcheese

Claw Hammer wrote: »

No agent would agree to that. If the funds go back, end of story. The purpose of the booking deposit is to secure the agents fees. The OP is getting far too worked up about the status of "Sale agreed".

If the estate agent is still advertising it / showing it , I'd want my deposit back ....

Claw Hammer

Markcheese wrote: »

If the estate agent is still advertising it / showing it , I'd want my deposit back ....

Sure call off the sale. Where does that get you?

scamalert

Markcheese wrote: »

If the estate agent is still advertising it / showing it , I'd want my deposit back ....

advertising works in their favor, as been said to get their name out, that said only exception here is if they still make viewings possible, then OP would have the right to be majorly pi$$ed off, but if someone calls and they are told its sale agreed, then i dont know why buyer would worry, as they can change ad to sale agreed, but most likely google daft etc will pickup that in days time, and if buyer does fall off, next person looking at property will have questions why it fell trough.

annoyedgal

Our estate agent didn't update to sale agreed or remove add until contracts were signed. Didn't think a thing of it to be honest ! You've paid your deposit so unless it falls through for some reason it's yours and i wouldn't worry about it.
I often rang up about a house on daft or myhome to be told was sale agreed so it's not that uncommon i would say.

Marcusm

Claw Hammer wrote: »

No agent would agree to that. If the funds go back, end of story. The purpose of the booking deposit is to secure the agents fees. The OP is getting far too worked up about the status of "Sale agreed".

Turleys, DNG, Gallagher Quigley and Sherry Fitz within the last 10 years would all disagree with your assertion that no agent would agree with it!

C3PO

burkey2k0 wrote: »

Unfortunately for the vendor, the estate agents actions have now succeeded in me booking viewings for other properties, whereas I had zero intention of doing this before.

Ahh ... perhaps the estate agent was right after all?

Dav010

Marcusm wrote: »

Turleys, DNG, Gallagher Quigley and Sherry Fitz within the last 10 years would all disagree with your assertion that no agent would agree with it!

I don’t think that is the EAs call to make, it is the sellers. And having dealt with both Sherry Fitz and DNG in recent years, I have to disagree with you. When selling properties using both, the EAs said the property stays on the market until contracts signed.

burkey2k0

C3PO wrote:

Ahh ... perhaps the estate agent was right after all?

If you read my post in full, I said I'm only looking at other houses now since he has not put it as sale agreed. I had no interest in looking at ads for the last number of weeks, but his policy of waiting until survey and valuation is complete is self defeating, and has made me nervous that he'll sell it from under me.

I've enough experience myself, and have asked enough people, including the bank and my solicitor, to know that this estate agents policy is not standard.

C3PO

burkey2k0 wrote: »

If you read my post in full, I said I'm only looking at other houses now since he has not put it as sale agreed. I had no interest in looking at ads for the last number of weeks, but his policy of waiting until survey and valuation is complete is self defeating, and has made me nervous that he'll sell it from under me.

I've enough experience myself, and have asked enough people, including the bank and my solicitor, to know that this estate agents policy is not standard.

It strikes me that the estate agent, for some reason, isn't confident that you are going to complete the purchase. It probably isn't standard procedure for him either. And the fact that your reaction is to start looking at other properties because your nose is a bit out of joint would appear to support his concerns!

Dav010

C3PO wrote: »

It strikes me that the estate agent, for some reason, isn't confident that you are going to complete the purchase. It probably isn't standard procedure for him either. And the fact that your reaction is to start looking at other properties because your nose is a bit out of joint would appear to support his concerns!

I wouldn’t assume it has anything to do with the buyer, at present with so many employers availing of EWSS and the reluctance of lenders to allow buyers to drawdown finance, it is prudent to leave the ad up until contract is signed.

brisan

Graham wrote: »

Willingness to remove from market on sale agreed is likely to be influenced by the strength of the local market and the strength of the buyer.

Cash buyer (if they show proof of funds ) can insist on property being taken off market ,anybody else ,not really

Graham

That's probably not far from the mark brisan.

brisan

Graham wrote: »

That's probably not far from the mark brisan.

I/we have bought close to 30 properties over the years .
Some cash some financed
Cash was always king
All you needed was a letter from solicitor or bank stating you had access to the funds and you could get the EA to do as you asked
We have put 50% deposits down on the day to get a property off the market
With a financed buyer too much can go wrong ,to shut other buyers out of the market
I have heard anecdotal evidence but no proof of EAs taking 2-3-4 deposits and basically first one over the line gets the property

burkey2k0

C3PO wrote:

It strikes me that the estate agent, for some reason, isn't confident that you are going to complete the purchase. It probably isn't standard procedure for him either. And the fact that your reaction is to start looking at other properties because your nose is a bit out of joint would appear to support his concerns!

After showing him an approval in principle for a mortgage over twice the value of the property, he must be of a very nervous disposition indeed.

And yes, as I said before, he has stated this is company policy.