Selling s house - offer made but they have only just put their house on the market

[buryboy]

As per title , my mum has had a viewing on her house and received an asking price offer .

But the potential buyers say they have offered the full amount because they are so keen but have only just put their house on the market ?

What is the norm to do from here ?

Accept the offer and take off the market ?
Keep it on the market but advise the potential buyers they are the preferred purchasers and keep them informed of any developments ?
Mark it up as ‘ sold subject to contract’ on the estate agents pages ?
Take some kind of deposit refundable if they end up buying - to allow them exclusivity for a period of time ?

I haven’t moved house for 20 years and don’t know what the protocol is here



Thanks for any advice

[Lizzim]

I would say, thanks for the offer let me know when you are in a position to proceed.

It could take weeks or months, so I’d keep the house on the market in the meantime...

[Posiesmum]

What are her agents advising? We’ve just sold at asking price after one week on the market. Our agent dealt with all viewings and offers, then told us which buyers were proceedable so we could choose the best option.

[IlDivoette]

We would tell them that their offer is an acceptable price in the first instance, but advise them that we would be keeping the house on the market, with a view to informing them if any further offers were made. With any luck they will get a quick offer, but could well not, so you need to keep on the market for your own sakes.

[buryboy]

My mum hasn’t been back to the agents yet . Wanted advice from me first but I wasn’t sure what the norm was .
I was concerned the agent may act in their own interests rather than my mums , partly as my mum is half way through a notice period with the agent , as she felt they hadn’t been very pro- active

But I did ask her to get their advice too .

Would you ‘ undo ‘ the notice period and tell them to keep marketing ?

[7SeasSailor]

It's nice to know that somebody is interested but the offer is not firm without a cut off date for placing a deposit.

[parisdisneyfan]

From bitter experience I would say thank you, we like your offer but will keep it on the market. If they are serious then that should make them get a move on. They have a lot to do to prove they are serious! Our first buyers offered full asking on day 1 as cash buyers but turned out they lied and used an old offer of a mortgage to show agent! A month later they couldn’t get a mortgage. We had stopped marketing as they had wished and found a house we wanted. This was last year pre COvid. We ended up having to drop the price and take the most awful buyers in order to keep the house we wanted😡 Took us 5 months in the end! I think there is another thread on here about similar.

Good luck to your mum it is heart breaking hard work moving🥴

[Smilesonfaces]

I think the agent is trying to make themselves look proactive because your mum has given them notice. They have sent someone to view who cannot proceed and I would see both the agent and “buyers” as time wasters. They shouldn’t even be allowing someone to view who isn’t in a position to buy. I would press ahead with changing agents.

[buryboy]

Originally Posted by 7SeasSailor

It's nice to know that somebody is interested but the offer is not firm without a cut off date for placing a deposit.

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Thanks for your thoughts - can you explain ins bit more detail what you mean by this please ?
Only ever moved house once in my life and can’t remember how things work

[meboo]

Originally Posted by 7SeasSailor

It's nice to know that somebody is interested but the offer is not firm without a cut off date for placing a deposit.

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I’ve not come across this in England, as deposits are only put down at exchange, by which time all the legals have to be done. In fact, you can exchange and complete on the same day.

I’d be inclined to politely accept the offer (which no doubt will be subject to survey and might change after that anyway) but find out if they need to sell their house to complete. We had an estate agent tell us we couldn’t view a house without selling ours, even though our intention was to keep it and rent it out! If they need to sell, explain they are the preferred buyers but that the house will stay in the market until they are in a position to proceed.