can one bid for a property that is 'under offer'?

Question

sometimes i find many properties that are 'under offer' for a couple of months. i was wondering, can you outbid that offer?

Answer 1

You can put in a second offer or back up offer. If the seller has already accepted the first offer, they will consider your offer should the first offer fall through...if the seller has not yet accepted the first offer, they will likely go with the best offer...if the house is under contract, that means that the offer has already been accepted, but most people welcome back up offers in case the first falls through.

Answer 2

yes
irrespective of where it is in the UK you can make an offer/bid at any stage. If the seller has entered into a contract to sell to a third party thats irrelevant... after all you are potetnailly entering into a contract to buy the property from Party A. It is up to party A (the vendor) to make sure they comply with relevant contract law.

The much heralded Scots property system is not that different in legal tersm, it is in terms of practise as usually its the lawyers (or their reprresentatives who do the selling. In terms of when the property is irrevocably sold its no different. The major difference is the concept of chains which dont exist in Scotland... effectively each transaction exists separately and it is upto the purchase / vendir to make sure they are out of the property as requried.

Only when contracts are exchanged is a sale (theoretically) irrevocable, buit that doesn't stop the seller entering into a contract with you. They'd be b1oody stupid to do so, but thats their affair

In practise however if soemone has already put a bid in then that other party is a lot further down the puchasing route that you are, so theoretically they should be able to exchange contracts quicker. Its up to you. If you can move fast then its possible that you could put together an offer and get it to contract stage faster than the other party then you could get the property. But generally I reckon the earlier party will exchange first, leaving you with various bills & expenses that you will probably incur through tryong to expedite the purchase.

there are things that you can do to expedite a purchase such as
>make sure all the documentation is available and uptodate
>tell you lawyer that you will chase the searches (possibly go get 'em yourself in person), chase your lender(s)
>be on your lawyers case.. there is no reason why contracts cannot be exchanged within 2..3 days of receipt of the searches, mortgage offer etc..... except lawyers like to delay things (makes it look as if they are earning their fee for getting their secretary to do the work.

So if you fancy a property, and its been sold subject to contract for a while it may be worth while appraoching the seller directly, or if you feel the need to meet with a estate agent do that. If the property is in England or Wales then its quite possible its part of a chain that is stalling because someoone in that chain is unable or unwilling to complete.

Answer 3

In the UK you can approach the esate agent, it depends what agreement the prospective buyer has made with the seller.
I have just bought an investment property that was under offer I just offered a higher amount and it was accepted, I then asked the estate agent to take the house off the market so no other offers will be accepted.

Answer 4

I'm not sure about England, but in Scotland, it's general practice to show a property as "under offer" if, to all intents and purposes, it is sold, but the paperwork is not yet complete. Gazumping is illegal in Scotland anyway, so once an offer has been accepted, it is binding.

Answer 5

It's not a question of whether ?
It's why ? Don't you think it's wrong - A hard working family may be desperately trying to sell their house and whilst things are moving along - some cocky idiot turns up with a higher bid, destroys the process, and his mortgage fails at the end and nobody gains.
This has to stop and should be made illegal. So please don't try.
There are loads of properties, loads of women, loads of cars out there - pls don't infringe.

Answer 6

In England: by law, the estate agent has to put all offers through to the vendor. Its obviously up to the vendor whether they accept the offer after accepting another one. The practice is highly unethical - after all, you wouldn't want someone doing that to you.

Answer 7

yes but it's not really ethical. Just think if the vendor accepted your gazump offer they could do exactly the same once you've confirmed.

Answer 8

no