Sale Agreed Or What?

I have a quick question for anyone in the know!
We are looking at a house that we are very interested in at the moment. To make a long story short . . the house has been on the market for the last two years and hasn't sold. The seller has now considerably reduced the price and we are interested in buying but can only just afford the asking price. We are going to put in an offer (which is the asking price) but my husband and friends seem to think that even if the seller accepts our offer, that if at some stage before the signing of the papers when the house is in the "sale agreed" status that someone else can come along and make a better offer and the seller can accept it thus pushing us out?
So can a seller accept another bid when a his house is sale agreed to us?

yes they can. But normally this doesnt happen a lot.

The short answer is yes- its called gazumping. Only when contracts are signed by you and the vendor is there a binding contract to sell to you at an agreed price.

Hi Martina,

Yes this does happen it only happened to us recently. So get the contracts signed as quick as possible otherwise they can pull out there is no law against it

Pink

Sure it can happen but you can't look on the negative side. The house has been on the market for two years you say. At this stage it sounds like the vendor would be happy to get the asking price. Also bear in mind he may get a better offer but it can sometimes be more hassle to the seller than a blessing. For instance the new buyer will get another survey done, new solicitors get involved. Generally estate agents and solicitors don't like a client acting like this as it brings alot of extra work to there plate. For example an extra €10,000 might seem like alot of money to the seller but to the estate agent it is minimal as there commission cut would only slightly improve.

To put your mind at ease as for the property to be withdrawn from any websites and that no further viewings take place. Otherwise do what everyone else has to do and that is keep the fingers crossed, sit type and it normally works out for the best.