A friend has placed a deposit on a house. Can i buy instead?

[Ronan]

Myself and a friend had both planed to buy homes in a new development. Unfortunatly the development which comprised of only eighteen houses sold out within a single day. I was too late in placing a booking deposit on one of the houses and so i missed out. My friend who did place a deposit on one of the houses has now established that he cant get mortgage approval and will be unable to buy the property. I have mortgage approval and was hoping that i may be able to buy the property which my friend had intended buying. As the booking deposit was not subject to any formal contract would it be possible for me to purchase the home which my friend had intended buying if i reimburse the €5,000 deposit to him.

I know that there are a number of people who were also interested in buying one of the homes and they may have registered their names on the cancellation list. Essentially what i need to know is whether i can buy a property which was booked by a friend rather than myself. Would the estate agent be agreeable to me accepting my firends "interest" in the property or would they simply put the house back on the market and the first person on the cancellation list would then buy it.

Looking forward to receiving any replies

 

[CCOVICH]

I would have thought that the estate agent would be only too happy to accept you, as it is less work for them.

 

[mikeyny]

I bought the house my sister had put a booking deposit on , the names were changed and it was easy from there. if you were intrested in the development you should have put your name on a cancellation list , nothing is certain until the contracts are signed , make sure you have 5k handy to give as your deposit if the estate agent requires it ...... money talks and bulls**it walks . have a confirmation letter form the bank re. mortgage approval to prove your point

Good luck to you


mikeyny