buyer re sold my house before completion

[brindles]

Hi All,

I will try and keep this short and simple.

Basically after having my house up for sale with an estate agent for 6 months I decided to accept an offer on the advice of the agent as he said there was no interest over the past 6 months.

I accepted the offer June 2009, deposit was paid 3rd November 2009 and the sale did not complete until 16th Nov 2009.

What I have noticed is my house was re sold on the 4th Nov 2009 for 55k more than I was offered.

My questions are,

Can the buyer sell the house before he has paid for it.

He sold it one day after I got the deposit and 2 weeks before he paid for it.
How did he manage to market it as only the estate agent had the keys.

Do you think my estate agent and the buyer had something going between them..basically have i been conned.

How can I have a house on the market for 11 months and only get one offer yet the buyer can find another buyer within a day.

I cant get passed the fact that although the buyer had not paid for the property he was allowed to sell it 12 days before he paid me for it.

I really am feeling sick to the stomach over this as I believe I have been taken for a mug by the estate agent and the buyer.

Any advice please.

Thank you very much

[JustinN]

For the reasons you give, it sounds very much as though the buyer and your agent may well have had an arrangement which was significantly to your detriment. If you can prove that, it would certainly be actionable

I suggest you contact the new owner and find out how he/she became aware of the property; if, for instance, they negotiated the sale with your agent, but your agent interposed a buddy to buy from you at a low price and re-sell at a higher price, then I think you should take it up with the agent - but get the evidence first

[brindles]

Hi,

Thank you for the reply. I will try and contact the new owner just a bit concerned they will be suspicious of a stranger at the door asking personal details.
I will take I.D and proof of sale with me and see what I can find out.

just one more question in the meantime, On what day is a house truly sold. Is it when the deposit is paid, exchange of contracts or when the buyer actually pays in full. I would like to know as my house was re sold the day after the deposit and well before it was paid for.

Thank you for your comments they are much appreciated.

[Mortgage_Adviser]

Just had a chat to one of my estate agent friends. They said they thought this seemed really dodgy and that you should approach the ombudsman.

[brindles]

Hi and thanks for the reply,

I have been in touch with the ombudsmen and they inform me I have to complain to the estate agent 1st.

Not sure of what to say to him, Think I will try and make contact with the new owner 1st just to get a bit more info in the hope to strengthen my complaint.

I still would like to know at what stage of the selling process a new owner becomes the new owner as I find it hard to believe you only have to pay a deposit then you can re sell?

thank you all again.

[JustinN]

Yes - as I originally suggested, gather your evidence first

There is no reason why the new owner should be hostile. If you contact them and explain you were the previous owner, ask whether they have settled in well, see if there is anything (eg: how the central heating works) that you can help them with, ask whether they found any problems, etc, that should seem perfectly friendly. Once you have established your bona fides, you can ask how they came to buy the property, as you sold it to someone else, so there must have been a quick re-sale

Once you have evidence, you can complain to your agent (you may want to use your solicitor for this, to avoid errors). If the agent's response does not satisfy you, then is the time to go to the ombudsman

I hope this helps - good luck!

[Mortgage_Adviser]

Originally Posted by JustinN

Once you have evidence, you can complain to your agent (you may want to use your solicitor for this, to avoid errors).

That's probably very good advcice.

[brindles]

Hi,

I have been in contact with a few solicitors and received differing advice.

A couple say this could be fraud or conspiracy to defraud which is a matter for the police and others say its professional misconduct.

All advice not to make contact with the agent in fear he may destroy evidence.

The ombudsmen would see it as misconduct and a breach of contract as he was to take all possible steps to insure I got the best possible price for the property but they can only impose a fine of up to 25k.

In all events I have been advised a high court order would have to be sought to enable seizure of computers and mobiles to be able to gather communications between the agent and the buyer as this sort of thing would be hard to prove without adequate evidence.

Oh dear it seems to be getting confusing but I will keep on asking and looking for advice before I decide which course of action may be best.

Ant thoughts would be welcome.

Thank you.

[Mortgage_Adviser]

This is an interesting case from an outsiders perspective, so pllease keep us updated.

Have you contacted the current owner yet?

[Mortgage_Adviser]

Just had another of my estate agent friends look at this. He has the following questions:

What was the original asking price?
When was the property originally put on the market?
When did you accept the offer?
How much was the offer you accepted for? How much was it then sold again for?
Why did it take so long from offer being accepted to deposit being received(I assume exchange) & completion? (It seems 5 months or so, any stated reason for such a drawn out sale?)
How do you know that your purchaser resold the property?
How do you know when the property was resold?
How do you know how much it sold for?

These questions would all help build the bigger picture.