House selling, when to take off market?

AshleyC

AshleyC

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Ok in the process of being a first time seller so don't know the game at all. If someone just makes an offer and I say yes, would I take the house off the market at that point?

Reason for asking was I Just got made a stupid offer 10k under value and said no, but the estate agent asked what it would take to remove the house from the market? Wasn't sure how to answer.
 
AshleyC said:
Ok in the process of being a first time seller so don't know the game at all. If someone just makes an offer and I say yes, would I take the house off the market at that point?

Reason for asking was I Just got made a stupid offer 10k under value and said no, but the estate agent asked what it would take to remove the house from the market? Wasn't sure how to answer.
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How much do you want?
That is your answer....
 
£10k under value isn’t necessarily stupid. We paid £12k less than this house was listed for (£280k) and we sold our old house for £5k under the asking (£160k).. The more expensive the house, the bigger those numbers grow without being “stupid”

Anyway, what it would take to remove from the market is an offer you are happy with. You don’t have to remove it from the market even if you accept an offer, unless the offer was made with the agreement of doing so.
 
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Someone wants to avoid gazumping so will make an offer based on you then taking it off the market so that no one else can jump in. You need to be happy with the offer before doing that. Problem is that the person making the offer could retract it so you would then have to put it on the market again.
 
You take the house off the market when you've got a serious offer that is what you want from someone that can actually pony up the money reliably so either cash buyer or someone that has a mortgage in place and nothing to sell themselves. If they have something to sell then that also has to have a firm offer from someone that can buy it.

Find out what position this buyer is in. Or just repeat the asking price as the one that takes it off the market... That's always the fall back
 
Al1944 said:
Someone wants to avoid gazumping so will make an offer based on you then taking it off the market so that no one else can jump in. You need to be happy with the offer before doing that. Problem is that the person making the offer could retract it so you would then have to put it on the market again.
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yes, this i guess. I've got it on for offers over 235, they offered 223. Now i need 235 to buy what i want after fees and its not a stupidly high price. Its similar to plenty of houses that have sold in the area so i know im not ripping people off. I guess taking it off the market is no huge deal. If they drop out i've just lost a bit of time.
 
srichards said:
You take the house off the market when you've got a serious offer that is what you want from someone that can actually pony up the money reliably so either cash buyer or someone that has a mortgage in place and nothing to sell themselves. If they have something to sell then that also has to have a firm offer from someone that can buy it.

Find out what position this buyer is in. Or just repeat the asking price as the one that takes it off the market... That's always the fall back
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they were first time buyers so no chain. I don't think i would take it off if there was a large chain behind the offerer.
 
So the value of the house is £233k?
Are houses in your area selling fast?
Is it a popular location?
Where I live in Scotland, houses are selling fast, and for quite a bit over the valuation.
 
If i were you I would not rush to take it off the market until the buyer has a mortgage in place. Having moved 5 times buyers will say anything believe me We have had them all. From saying not in a chain when they were- had the money when they didn't- sold their house when they had not- even down to a buyer further back in the chain who shot himself and died, hence the chain broke.
Yor best bet is to leave in on the market until the buyers finances are in place or you might still get a better offer as my son in the same position is in now.
 
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When I sold my house, the first offer was £30,000 below the asking price and the estate agent wanted me to accept it,
his argument being that at least I wouldn't have to pay the mortgage so that would go towards it.
I refused, telling him (truthfully) that I didn't have a mortgage so in no rush to sell.
A short while later he came back with an offer much nearer the asking price, which I accepted.
I was more then annoyed that he was supposed to acting on my behalf and told him so. I later found out
that this particular agents were known for doing that to get quick sales, I'd never use them again
 
The main thing is that an estate agents wants a sale. 10k less to you means nearly as much commission to them.
Nearly every buyer offers less.
As for taking the house off the market, only if the offer is from a proceedable buyer. The estate agent normally establishes this.
 
Peter123 said:
The main thing is that an estate agents wants a sale. 10k less to you means nearly as much commission to them.
Nearly every buyer offers less.
As for taking the house off the market, only if the offer is from a proceedable buyer. The estate agent normally establishes this.
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You do not take it off the market because you get an offer.
It is not sold until contracts are exchanged, an agent worth his salt will continue to do viewings etc until a firm offer ( with mortgage offer/ verified funds ) is in place and then it is only sold subject to contract.
Unlike the situation in Scotland the sale is not legally binding until contracts are exchanged, your buyer can withdraw right up to that point ( as can you )
 
Well I beg to differ.
What you describe is the ideal situation.
Most buyers will only proceed with paying for a survey and instructing solicitors if the vendor agrees to take it off the market.
That‘S what happens in most cases. It is far from ideal, but that seems to be the usual way it goes.
ItS a stressful process that’s for sure.
 
srichards said:
You take the house off the market when you've got a serious offer that is what you want from someone that can actually pony up the money reliably so either cash buyer or someone that has a mortgage in place and nothing to sell themselves. If they have something to sell then that also has to have a firm offer from someone that can buy it.

Find out what position this buyer is in. Or just repeat the asking price as the one that takes it off the market... That's always the fall back
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This..

If their offer meets with your approval, they have a mortgage already agreed in principal, and have a firm offer for their property,
 
AshleyC said:
Ok in the process of being a first time seller so don't know the game at all. If someone just makes an offer and I say yes, would I take the house off the market at that point?

Reason for asking was I Just got made a stupid offer 10k under value and said no, but the estate agent asked what it would take to remove the house from the market? Wasn't sure how to answer.
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I would think my answer would be full asking price (or a price you're happy with) and a signed contract... until there's a signed (and preferably exchanged) contract, the house stays on the market and viewings will continue. That would be my answer. The choice is yours, but perhaps speak to a solicitor with good experience of house sales/conveyancing and ask their professional opinion?

This said, given the potential stakes involved, I certainly wouldn't want to go for an 'ask the audience' answer from an internet photography forum, no matter how well-intentioned those suggestions may be. (y)
 
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Mr Badger said:
Is that your agent or the bidder's agent who asked that? I would think the answer would be full asking price (or a price you're happy with) and a signed contract... until there's a signed (and preferably exchanged) contract, the house stays on the market and viewings will continue. That would be my answer. (y)
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The problem with that is that I would pull out straight away. If we reach an agreed price, and my place is sold (under offer) and I have the funds, then I would expect you to take it off the market. It's not a one way street......
 
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troutfisher said:
It is not sold until contracts are exchanged, an agent worth his salt will continue to do viewings etc until a firm offer ( with mortgage offer/ verified funds ) is in place and then it is only sold subject to contract.
Unlike the situation in Scotland the sale is not legally binding until contracts are exchanged, your buyer can withdraw right up to that point ( as can you )
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Even after contracts have been exchanged it doesn't necessarily mean the sale will go through. If purchaser of vendor pulls out after contracts have been exchanged it is down to contract law (specific performance) and this can result in people being trapped in a legal stalemate until the situation is resolved and appropriate compensation (which can run into tens of thousands of pounds and beyond) has been paid by the defaulting party to the injured party.
 
Jelster said:
The problem with that is that I would pull out straight away. If we reach an agreed price, and my place is sold (under offer) and I have the funds, then I would expect you to take it off the market. It's not a one way street......
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That's fine, best of luck finding another house (and a seller who won't mess you about!). My position is, sign the contract and pay the non-refundable deposit and I'll instruct the agent to take it off the market. Anything less and it's still on the market (but if you seemed genuine I'd keep you informed and give you the chance to come up with the cash before someone else did).

Put simply, if you want the house then pay up and you'll own it! (y) 'Under offer' means nothing to me, cash in my bank is what counts. Until I've got that, however nice and genuine you seem, you're just a potential tyre-kicker to me and your words mean nothing!

Harsh? How much weight would you put on a non-binding verbal offer from someone you don't even know from Adam?
 
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Bobsyeruncle said:
So the value of the house is £233k?
Are houses in your area selling fast?
Is it a popular location?
Where I live in Scotland, houses are selling fast, and for quite a bit over the valuation.
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Scotland is a bit different though, for property transactions.
 
AshleyC said:
Ok in the process of being a first time seller so don't know the game at all. If someone just makes an offer and I say yes, would I take the house off the market at that point?

Reason for asking was I Just got made a stupid offer 10k under value and said no, but the estate agent asked what it would take to remove the house from the market? Wasn't sure how to answer.
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You're getting lots of advice - I'll just add in some facts having just bought and sold twice in the last couple of years :)
  1. Despite everybody's good intentions and even if there's no chain, buying and selling a house takes around 3 months. Sometimes it's faster but even what looks like a simple transaction usually isn't. I accepted an offer on my house on 7th September from a purchaser in rented with no chain. I gave them a good price on the understanding we would proceed as fast as possible. We completed on 21st December. Nearly everybody involved (solicitors, estate agents, banks) said "wow that was fast".
  2. Stamp Duty holiday ends on 31st March. The cost of buying your house for £223,000 goes up £1,960 on 1st April (unless it's a first time buyer)
  3. Unless there are changes to the stamp duty holiday, the value of your house falls by at least £2K in the next week or so since it becomes increasingly unlikely a buyer will complete before 31st March (technically stamp duty is calculated at exchange but the delay isn't usually exchange to completion)
  4. The housing market is just crazy ATM - try ringing a removal firm and getting a date. I did in early December - the only firm available wanted an extra £800. Now you may not need professional removals but that shows you how busy the market is. Busy = delays. It can take 2 weeks to get a surveyor to give a basic valuation. Any decent solicitor is snowed under ATM and when somebody in the chain uses a budget solicitor you can add a month to the proceedings.
  5. This is only my guess but I reckon we have a 10 - 20 % price "correction" coming in April. If nothing else changes your house is going to drop 20 - 40k very soon.
Honestly, 10K under sticker price doesn't sound like a stupid offer right now. Figure out what you need and ask for that. But mostly, don't take it off until they are proceedable - and then do so. No sensible buyer will start spending money while it's still on the market. I wasn't allowed to view the house I'm in now until I convinced the estate agent I could afford it - I had to produce evidence of that before they would put the offer to the vendors. They needed a mortgage agreement in principal before they would remove it from the market.
 
"Taking it off the market" just means that the estate agent won't market it to other buyers, it has no contractual effect so if things don't pan out you go back to marketing it again. If I was OK with the price I would give them something like two weeks in which the house wouldn't be actively marketed and in that time they have to get a survey organised, if they haven't got a survey in that time then it goes back on the market. Most of the time buyers have to pay for a survey so it commits them to the sale and you have only lost a couple of weeks of marketing, which probably isn't a lot of viewings anyway.

Bear in mind that houses pretty much always sell for less that what the agent prices them at, agents over price to get your business and expect it to sell for 10% less so don't get too hung up on what it is marketed for, it is only worth what someone will pay for it.
 
Just seen @JonathanRyan comments. It's a gamble but if you are up-sizing you are better waiting until the market falls, yes your house is worth less but so is the one you are going to buy, say house prices drop by 10% and to keep the numbers simple yours is worth 100k and you are buying at 200k, then yours becomes worth 90k but the one you are buying drops to 180k, so you have saved 10k.
 
Jelster said:
The problem with that is that I would pull out straight away. If we reach an agreed price, and my place is sold (under offer) and I have the funds, then I would expect you to take it off the market. It's not a one way street......
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Same here. I imagine most would. If you've agreed an offer, verified funds and started doing registry searches, surveys etc and the buyer is still marketing the property then it's too risky and I'd assume they were a nob that would drop the sale if another buyer came along.
 
Pound Coin said:
Scotland is a bit different though, for property transactions.
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Yeah, I know, that's why I mentioned I live in Scotland.
Supply and demand is the same everywhere though. High demand and low supply usually drives higher prices.
 
sirch said:
Just seen @JonathanRyan comments. It's a gamble but if you are up-sizing you are better waiting until the market falls, yes your house is worth less but so is the one you are going to buy, say house prices drop by 10% and to keep the numbers simple yours is worth 100k and you are buying at 200k, then yours becomes worth 90k but the one you are buying drops to 180k, so you have saved 10k.
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Yes that's true. As you say, falling prices can be good for upsizers, even if they don't feel like it :)

Btw good luck with insisting on a survey in 2 weeks. It took a week to get a phone call booked with a mortgage provider to START the application process. And unless somebody has money to burn, surveys don't happen until the bank days so.
 
JonathanRyan said:
I wasn't allowed to view the house I'm in now until I convinced the estate agent I could afford it -
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Not quite the same, but one property I was interested in, the owner wouldn't let me look until my house was sold !
I walked away from it and it seems had a lucky escape.
The person that bought it had to spend a fortune, first off being getting it professionally cleaned and fumigated, previous owner had a couple of large dogs that never went out, next the heaters didn't work nor did the immersion, the list goes on, but she stayed with her daughter for 3 months after and her furniture was stored.
Oh and she kept getting bailiffs letters and knocks on the door
 
Don’t agree with Badger. We moved in December. Had loads of offers and accepted one £15k over asking And stopped viewings- it was still on the market officially but estate agent stopped marketing it. We made an asking price offer on our new house on the basis it was taken off the market and no further viewings. I wouldn’t go ahead with surveys etc. without that proviso (although I know it has no legal basis). We subsequently had a further offer of an extra £5k but refused it as we had already accepted and agreed to take it off the market.
if people continue to give viewings having accepted an offer I would walk away.
The contract was only signed 7 days before we completed.
 
Gremlin said:
Not quite the same, but one property I was interested in, the owner wouldn't let me look until my house was sold !
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Yeah that's where we started "are you procedable?". I actually had to text the owner (long story how I had the number...) And do a bit of persuasion to negotiate from there.

Let's just say, I wanted the house :D
 
JonathanRyan said:
You're getting lots of advice - I'll just add in some facts having just bought and sold twice in the last couple of years :)
  1. Despite everybody's good intentions and even if there's no chain, buying and selling a house takes around 3 months. Sometimes it's faster but even what looks like a simple transaction usually isn't. I accepted an offer on my house on 7th September from a purchaser in rented with no chain. I gave them a good price on the understanding we would proceed as fast as possible. We completed on 21st December. Nearly everybody involved (solicitors, estate agents, banks) said "wow that was fast".
  2. Stamp Duty holiday ends on 31st March. The cost of buying your house for £223,000 goes up £1,960 on 1st April (unless it's a first time buyer)
  3. Unless there are changes to the stamp duty holiday, the value of your house falls by at least £2K in the next week or so since it becomes increasingly unlikely a buyer will complete before 31st March (technically stamp duty is calculated at exchange but the delay isn't usually exchange to completion)
  4. The housing market is just crazy ATM - try ringing a removal firm and getting a date. I did in early December - the only firm available wanted an extra £800. Now you may not need professional removals but that shows you how busy the market is. Busy = delays. It can take 2 weeks to get a surveyor to give a basic valuation. Any decent solicitor is snowed under ATM and when somebody in the chain uses a budget solicitor you can add a month to the proceedings.
  5. This is only my guess but I reckon we have a 10 - 20 % price "correction" coming in April. If nothing else changes your house is going to drop 20 - 40k very soon.
Honestly, 10K under sticker price doesn't sound like a stupid offer right now. Figure out what you need and ask for that. But mostly, don't take it off until they are proceedable - and then do so. No sensible buyer will start spending money while it's still on the market. I wasn't allowed to view the house I'm in now until I convinced the estate agent I could afford it - I had to produce evidence of that before they would put the offer to the vendors. They needed a mortgage agreement in principal before they would remove it from the market.
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Not letting you view, or forward an offer, without speaking to their mortgage adviser is actually illegal but certain estate agents push it in the hope you'll buy that through them too. William H Brown are awful for it where I live.
 
sirch said:
"Taking it off the market" just means that the estate agent won't market it to other buyers, it has no contractual effect so if things don't pan out you go back to marketing it again. If I was OK with the price I would give them something like two weeks in which the house wouldn't be actively marketed and in that time they have to get a survey organised, if they haven't got a survey in that time then it goes back on the market. Most of the time buyers have to pay for a survey so it commits them to the sale and you have only lost a couple of weeks of marketing, which probably isn't a lot of viewings anyway.
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The problem there is getting a survey organised in a fortnight. As someone pointed out earlier the market is crazy at the moment, mostly due to the stamp duty holiday. We’ve just moved and it took 5 weeks to get a survey sorted. That was back in October, it may well be worse by now as everybody is pushing to complete before the end of March. Our solicitor said moves are taking an average of 12-16 weeks at the moment, so things will be tight if the OP doesn’t agree something soon.

The buyer’s offer of £233k is just that, an offer. Most buyers will deliberately start low expecting the vendor to come back with a counter offer and end up where they’re both comfortable.
 
JonathanRyan said:
Yeah that's where we started "are you procedable?". I actually had to text the owner (long story how I had the number...) And do a bit of persuasion to negotiate from there.

Let's just say, I wanted the house :D
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His loss, another place came on the market a few doors down and cheaper in much better condition, so I bought that instead
 
Mr Badger said:
That's fine, best of luck finding another house (and a seller who won't mess you about!). My position is, sign the contract and pay the non-refundable deposit and I'll instruct the agent to take it off the market. Anything less and it's still on the market (but if you seemed genuine I'd keep you informed and give you the chance to come up with the cash before someone else did).

Put simply, if you want the house then pay up and you'll own it! (y) 'Under offer' means nothing to me, cash in my bank is what counts. Until I've got that, however nice and genuine you seem, you're just a potential tyre-kicker to me and your words mean nothing!

Harsh? How much weight would you put on a non-binding verbal offer from someone you don't even know from Adam?
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I'm not stumping up cash for surveys etc while you are still trying to sell the place to somebody else. In reverse, if I were selling, it would come off the market once we had an agreed offer, on the proviso that you instruct a solicitor and contact has been made within around 10 days. When we moved 18 months ago, our first "buyer" agreed a price and after a week nothing happened, the agent contacted the buyer who said they had yet to organise a solicitor - so it went back on the market that day.

It's not a big thing, the photo's have been done, the description is written up, and it's still on the all the web sites, all the agent has to do is tick the right box to put it back on the market.
 
Is it not the responsibility of the Estate Agent top pre-qualify the 'buyers' ~ when we were looking at buying pre Covid we were asked specifically are our finances in place and how quickly could be move. In other words, when we are looking again to sell I would ask and expect the Agent to only send such pre-qualified buyers to viewings and not just "any & all enquirers"
 
Box Brownie said:
Is it not the responsibility of the Estate Agent top pre-qualify the 'buyers' ~ when we were looking at buying pre Covid we were asked specifically are our finances in place and how quickly could be move. In other words, when we are looking again to sell I would ask and expect the Agent to only send such pre-qualified buyers to viewings and not just "any & all enquirers"
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It’s not a requirement but a decent agent would make sure that any prospective viewers will have an pre-approved mortgage or the funds in place.

It still doesn’t stop the idiots of course. I found out recently that my ex wife and her new husband had put in offers on three different properties, all of which were accepted, on the same day! Two sellers were obviously disappointed when they finally chose the one they actually wanted to buy. You can probably see why she’s my ex-wife. :rolleyes:
 
Box Brownie said:
Is it not the responsibility of the Estate Agent top pre-qualify the 'buyers' ~ when we were looking at buying pre Covid we were asked specifically are our finances in place and how quickly could be move. In other words, when we are looking again to sell I would ask and expect the Agent to only send such pre-qualified buyers to viewings and not just "any & all enquirers"
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In an ideal world yes. I suppose it depends on local demand. We've moved quite a few times in our life, recently sold and bought in 2019 (10 month gap between). We did not encounter this (sold up north, bought dawn saarf) but I hear some vendors can get away with doing this and still sell. What we found is that once a vendor has an acceptable offer the estate agent checks whether it is proceedable before you accept and take it off the market. This checking is normally written proof of funds; mortgage offer, copy bank statements etc. As the vendor you do not have sight of this so have to trust the agent. In my experience the established ones are fine. They would not last long if they breached confidentiality rules.

One of the problems we encountered buying was the vendor who said "when we sell this we will look for a property and when we find one we will proceed with you (having given them an acceptable offer). Happened 3 times to us last year. By then we were cash buyers so we walked away.
 
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Mr Badger said:
That's fine, best of luck finding another house (and a seller who won't mess you about!). My position is, sign the contract and pay the non-refundable deposit and I'll instruct the agent to take it off the market. Anything less and it's still on the market (but if you seemed genuine I'd keep you informed and give you the chance to come up with the cash before someone else did).

Put simply, if you want the house then pay up and you'll own it! (y) 'Under offer' means nothing to me, cash in my bank is what counts. Until I've got that, however nice and genuine you seem, you're just a potential tyre-kicker to me and your words mean nothing!

Harsh? How much weight would you put on a non-binding verbal offer from someone you don't even know from Adam?
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Absolutely not.

Contracts generally aren’t signed nearing the end of the transaction.. like hell Im Going to pay for searches and surveys on a house I’m interested in after making an accepted offer with the house still being actively marketed. That’s madness. If you are mortgaged, the funds aren’t released from the bank until exchange, so what you are saying is impossible for most people. They cant stump up money for you to take the house off the market until the mortgage funds are released, which doesn’t happen until the very last day of the transaction After contacts are exchanged for all parties.

The purchase of the house I’m in now took over 6 months. Contracts weren’t signed or exchanged until the week before completion. We were in a chain of two, so it was a very simple transaction, our buyers were in rented and this house was vacant.
 
Box Brownie said:
Is it not the responsibility of the Estate Agent top pre-qualify the 'buyers' ~ when we were looking at buying pre Covid we were asked specifically are our finances in place and how quickly could be move. In other words, when we are looking again to sell I would ask and expect the Agent to only send such pre-qualified buyers to viewings and not just "any & all enquirers"
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Yes, they should ask questions. But in our case, we had a mortgage adviser but William H Brown wouldn't put our offer forwards without me booking an appointment with their mortgage adviser.
 
Box Brownie said:
Is it not the responsibility of the Estate Agent top pre-qualify the 'buyers' ~ when we were looking at buying pre Covid we were asked specifically are our finances in place and how quickly could be move. In other words, when we are looking again to sell I would ask and expect the Agent to only send such pre-qualified buyers to viewings and not just "any & all enquirers"
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My wife worked for an estate agent for over 10 years, and the issue you have is that anyone can say they are a cash buyer, or they have a mortgage in principal. It is true that a decent agent will try and get proof, but it isn't always becoming. Also, they may have a mortgage in principal, but not enough to cover the purchase as they don't have a large enough deposit.

Before we moved this time and we had the house up for sale before, we had 2 different buyers with mortgages, but then wanted us to drop the price because they could get the balance. The cynic in me says it was all a ploy in the first place, but as we weren't in a hurry to sell we told them to naff off....
 
Unfortunately some people seem to have a head full of magic and don't have the money to back up their tastes in property. At least an agent who vets potential buyers' ability to afford what they're wanting to view should help screen out some of the total timewasters and dreamers. Last time I moved house the agent vetted my ability to afford what I wanted to view. As I'd sold my house, was living in rented accommodation and had the cash in the bank I was seen as the ideal purchaser and given red carpet treatment.

Contrast that with some dopey dreamer who hasn't even put their own house on the market before wanting to view houses! I wouldn't even want to waste my time showing someone like that round my house!
 
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