Another house in the village has had its "Sold" board changed back to
"For Sale". This is the third house I know of where this has happened
recently. My house was valued, at least in part, based on the sale of
that house and that it had attracted much interest and numerous
viewings and received an offer at the asking price within ten days of
going on the market.

But now the sale must have fallen through, as it is now on the market
again. Maybe the reason is totally beyond anyone's control, like the
buyer dropping dead or something pretty terminal. But in the case of
another house where the same thing happened, I know relatives of the
vendors in question, and they said that the buyer had just offered
"some lame excuse".

If agents were not allowed to erect the "Sold" board until contracts
had been exchanged, the meaning of "Sold" would carry a lot more
weight. As it is, I feel it is being used as a kind of scam to force
up the market and make would-be vendors believe that the agent in
question must be doing a good job by apparently selling a house so
quickly.

MM

In an earlier contribution to this discussion,
Mike Mitchell wrote:

Another house in the village has had its "Sold" board changed back to
"For Sale". This is the third house I know of where this has happened
recently. My house was valued, at least in part, based on the sale of
that house and that it had attracted much interest and numerous
viewings and received an offer at the asking price within ten days of
going on the market.

But now the sale must have fallen through, as it is now on the market
again. Maybe the reason is totally beyond anyone's control, like the
buyer dropping dead or something pretty terminal. But in the case of
another house where the same thing happened, I know relatives of the
vendors in question, and they said that the buyer had just offered
"some lame excuse".

If agents were not allowed to erect the "Sold" board until contracts
had been exchanged, the meaning of "Sold" would carry a lot more
weight. As it is, I feel it is being used as a kind of scam to force
up the market and make would-be vendors believe that the agent in
question must be doing a good job by apparently selling a house so
quickly.

MM

Am I missing something here? I can't see any advantage to the agent in
pretending a house is sold when it isn't - because the "sold" notice will
put off any other potentially interested parties from investigating it.
--
Cheers,
Set Square
______
Please reply to newsgroup. Reply address is Black Hole!

"Mike Mitchell" wrote in message
...

If agents were not allowed to erect the "Sold" board until contracts
had been exchanged, the meaning of "Sold" would carry a lot more
weight. As it is, I feel it is being used as a kind of scam to force
up the market and make would-be vendors believe that the agent in
question must be doing a good job by apparently selling a house so
quickly.

MM

I agree. Also, prospective buyers can be put off making an offer on a house
they're keen on if they think it's gone. There used to be a 'Sold subject to
contract' sticker which was attached to the For Sale board which gave some
indication of what was happening.

Mary

In an earlier contribution to this discussion,
Mary Fisher wrote:

There used to be a
'Sold subject to contract' sticker which was attached to the For Sale
board which gave some indication of what was happening.

Mary


There still is - round our way, anyway!
--
Cheers,
Set Square
______
Please reply to newsgroup. Reply address is Black Hole!

"Mary Fisher" wrote in message
et...


I agree. Also, prospective buyers can be put off making an offer on a
house
they're keen on if they think it's gone. There used to be a 'Sold subject
to
contract' sticker which was attached to the For Sale board which gave some
indication of what was happening.

Mary






Funnily enough our house has just been sold subject to contract, they have
put a sold sticker across the top of the board, and in tiny letters it says
subject to contract, so small unless you are standing infront of it you
would not see it.


Paul

Set Square wrote:
In an earlier contribution to this discussion,
Mike Mitchell wrote:

Another house in the village has had its "Sold" board changed back to
"For Sale". This is the third house I know of where this has happened
recently. My house was valued, at least in part, based on the sale of
that house and that it had attracted much interest and numerous
viewings and received an offer at the asking price within ten days of
going on the market.

But now the sale must have fallen through, as it is now on the market
again. Maybe the reason is totally beyond anyone's control, like the
buyer dropping dead or something pretty terminal. But in the case of
another house where the same thing happened, I know relatives of the
vendors in question, and they said that the buyer had just offered
"some lame excuse".

Am I missing something here? I can't see any advantage to the agent in
pretending a house is sold when it isn't - because the "sold" notice will
put off any other potentially interested parties from investigating it.

But that doesn't matter, because the house will probably eventually sell.
What is most important is the 'sold' sticker next to the estate agents
phone number, so people can phone them to sell their houses.

"Mike Mitchell" wrote
| But now the sale must have fallen through, as it is now on the
| market again. Maybe the reason is totally beyond anyone's
| control, like the buyer dropping dead or something pretty
| terminal.

The buyer dropping dead /is/ terminal - for the buyer :-)

| If agents were not allowed to erect the "Sold" board until
| contracts had been exchanged, the meaning of "Sold" would
| carry a lot more weight.

If you had the Scottish system where offers are binding and missives are
concluded typically 10 days after closing date, Sold would mean sold. (Then
again, only a small percentage of property gets near an estate agent in the
first place :-)

Owain

"Paul" wrote in message
...

"Mary Fisher" wrote in message
et...


I agree. Also, prospective buyers can be put off making an offer on a
house
they're keen on if they think it's gone. There used to be a 'Sold
subject
to
contract' sticker which was attached to the For Sale board which gave
some
indication of what was happening.

Mary






Funnily enough our house has just been sold subject to contract, they have
put a sold sticker across the top of the board, and in tiny letters it
says
subject to contract, so small unless you are standing infront of it you
would not see it.

So it's all but meaningless ...

Mary


Paul

In an earlier contribution to this discussion,
Ian Stirling wrote:


But that doesn't matter, because the house will probably eventually
sell. What is most important is the 'sold' sticker next to the estate
agents phone number, so people can phone them to sell their houses.


Do you reckon I could make a few bob then - by renting my front garden to a
handful of estate agents to erect "Sold" notices - even though it isn't on
the market?
--
Cheers,
Set Square
______
Please reply to newsgroup. Reply address is Black Hole!

If you had the Scottish system where offers are binding and missives are
concluded typically 10 days after closing date, Sold would mean sold.
(Then
again, only a small percentage of property gets near an estate agent in
the
first place :-)

I saw a castle ruin with a large, painted "for sale" sign on its walls in
Galloway but there was no indication of a contact :-(

So saying, Scots law has a lot to commend it in many ways.

Mary

Owain

On Sat, 17 Apr 2004 21:25:56 +0100, "Set Square"
wrote:

In an earlier contribution to this discussion,
Ian Stirling wrote:


But that doesn't matter, because the house will probably eventually
sell. What is most important is the 'sold' sticker next to the estate
agents phone number, so people can phone them to sell their houses.


Do you reckon I could make a few bob then - by renting my front garden to a
handful of estate agents to erect "Sold" notices - even though it isn't on
the market?

Isn't it a pity that a notice like this doesn't have the effect of
keeping the Jehovah's Witnesses and the Morons away.

I must get in touch with an old friend from university days. He had
a party piece to deal with them. It was necessary to arrange for
the visitors to come at a specific time and to engage them in doorstep
conversation. He would be upstairs and would drink some form of
emetic and would then run down the stairs screaming that he was the
antichrist and vomit on the doorstep at their feet.

It was really very effective, they would never, ever come back again.




..andy

To email, substitute .nospam with .gl

"Andy Hall" wrote in message
news

Isn't it a pity that a notice like this doesn't have the effect of
keeping the Jehovah's Witnesses and the Morons away.

I must get in touch with an old friend from university days. He had
a party piece to deal with them. It was necessary to arrange for
the visitors to come at a specific time and to engage them in doorstep
conversation. He would be upstairs and would drink some form of
emetic and would then run down the stairs screaming that he was the
antichrist and vomit on the doorstep at their feet.

It was really very effective, they would never, ever come back again.

I reckon that while I'm talking to them, keeping them occupied, I'm
protecting others. I once sold a parish magazine to two of them.

To date they've always gone away gibbering ...

Why are you not surprised?

Mary




.andy

To email, substitute .nospam with .gl

"Set Square" wrote in message


Am I missing something here? I can't see any advantage to the agent in
pretending a house is sold when it isn't - because the "sold" notice will
put off any other potentially interested parties from investigating it.

You get 6 weeks to finalise your mortgage. If you don't get the
paperwork done and th emoney threough in time the vendor is free to
gazzump you.

The swine I work for just did that to a few people. I can't say I blame
him. Some snarl up in the banks caused a delay i the processes. So he
pulled out and put the prices up a thousand quid. (I must change this
keyboard setting one day.)


--
Posted via Mailgate.ORG Server - http://www.Mailgate.ORG

I agree. Also, prospective buyers can be put off making an offer on a
house
they're keen on if they think it's gone. There used to be a 'Sold subject
to
contract' sticker which was attached to the For Sale board which gave some
indication of what was happening.

Mary



I guess the SSTC sticker gives people an indication that if they are
really serious about the property someone else has had an offer
accepted on then they should put in a decent offer to the estate agent
before all the legal stuff goes through....kind of a going, going,
gone situation.
It's also good publicity for the estate agent to show that they can
shift houses.

As for properties going back on the market, I've seen some people put
offers in for a couple of properties so it gives them a little extra
time to decide which one they really want...the SSTC sticker does put
some competitiors off, and once an offer is accepted then the agents
usually stop advertising it. A survey is fairly cheap, so they then
can have a leisurely survey done and make a final decision then. The
real problem here is that under English Law, the SSTC isn't a binding
contract on either side until contracts are exchanged.

"Owain" wrote in message
...
If you had the Scottish system where offers are binding and missives are
concluded typically 10 days after closing date, Sold would mean sold.
(Then
again, only a small percentage of property gets near an estate agent in
the
first place :-)


We used to live in Scotland and on putting our property on the market to
move south again the first two offers we received were subject to agreeing
to use the English system so that they didn't have to pay for surveys
up-front.

On Sat, 17 Apr 2004 21:54:16 +0100, "Mary Fisher"
wrote:


"Andy Hall" wrote in message
news

Isn't it a pity that a notice like this doesn't have the effect of
keeping the Jehovah's Witnesses and the Morons away.





To date they've always gone away gibbering ...

Why are you not surprised?

Mary

You're right. I'm not :-)


..andy

To email, substitute .nospam with .gl

"Andy Hall" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 17 Apr 2004 21:54:16 +0100, "Mary Fisher"
wrote:


"Andy Hall" wrote in message
news

Isn't it a pity that a notice like this doesn't have the effect of
keeping the Jehovah's Witnesses and the Morons away.





To date they've always gone away gibbering ...

Why are you not surprised?

Mary

You're right. I'm not :-)

I'm always right :-))))))))

Mary


.andy

To email, substitute .nospam with .gl

"Mary Fisher" wrote
| I saw a castle ruin with a large, painted "for sale" sign on its
| walls in Galloway but there was no indication of a contact :-(

It'll be the postmistress's husband's brother-in-law's nephew who went up to
Edinburgh and came back with an LLB and airs and graces. It always is :-)

Owain

"Set Square" wrote in message ...
In an earlier contribution to this discussion,
Mike Mitchell wrote:

Another house in the village has had its "Sold" board changed back to
"For Sale". This is the third house I know of where this has happened
recently. My house was valued, at least in part, based on the sale of
that house and that it had attracted much interest and numerous
viewings and received an offer at the asking price within ten days of
going on the market.

But now the sale must have fallen through, as it is now on the market
again. Maybe the reason is totally beyond anyone's control, like the
buyer dropping dead or something pretty terminal. But in the case of
another house where the same thing happened, I know relatives of the
vendors in question, and they said that the buyer had just offered
"some lame excuse".

If agents were not allowed to erect the "Sold" board until contracts
had been exchanged, the meaning of "Sold" would carry a lot more
weight. As it is, I feel it is being used as a kind of scam to force
up the market and make would-be vendors believe that the agent in
question must be doing a good job by apparently selling a house so
quickly.

MM

Am I missing something here? I can't see any advantage to the agent in
pretending a house is sold when it isn't - because the "sold" notice will
put off any other potentially interested parties from investigating it.

I didn't say they were pretending, i.e. committing fraud, did I? These
are situations where the buyer has stopped buying, simple as that.

MM

"Mary Fisher" wrote in message . net...

If you had the Scottish system where offers are binding and missives are
concluded typically 10 days after closing date, Sold would mean sold.
(Then
again, only a small percentage of property gets near an estate agent in
the
first place :-)

I saw a castle ruin with a large, painted "for sale" sign on its walls in
Galloway but there was no indication of a contact :-(

Perhaps that was just graffiti. It's everywhere nowadays.



So saying, Scots law has a lot to commend it in many ways.


I don't like the sealed bids idea, though. I like to know the price
before I decide to buy! Imagine a supermarket where the shelves were
all stacked with tins of beans, sides of ham and so on, as per usual,
and everyone queued up at the checkouts with envelopes in their hands!

However, the legally binding bit I DO like.

MM

"G&M" wrote in message ...
"Owain" wrote in message
...
If you had the Scottish system where offers are binding and missives are
concluded typically 10 days after closing date, Sold would mean sold.
(Then
again, only a small percentage of property gets near an estate agent in
the
first place :-)


We used to live in Scotland and on putting our property on the market to
move south again the first two offers we received were subject to agreeing
to use the English system so that they didn't have to pay for surveys
up-front.

Oh, that's given me a brilliant idea! What's to stop me from selling
my house the Scottish way, using sealed bids? That's not much
different, by the way, from an auction really, as in an auction no one
has any real idea what the property will eventually go for.

MM

"Owain" wrote in message
...
"Mary Fisher" wrote
| I saw a castle ruin with a large, painted "for sale" sign on its
| walls in Galloway but there was no indication of a contact :-(

It'll be the postmistress's husband's brother-in-law's nephew who went up
to
Edinburgh and came back with an LLB and airs and graces. It always is :-)

LOL!

Doesn't he have a phone number though?

Mary

Owain

"Mike Mitchell" wrote in message
om...



I don't like the sealed bids idea, though. I like to know the price
before I decide to buy! Imagine a supermarket where the shelves were
all stacked with tins of beans, sides of ham and so on, as per usual,

Er - have you honestly seen sides of ham on a supermarket shelf?

Mary

In an earlier contribution to this discussion,
Mike Mitchell wrote:

"Set Square" wrote in message
...
In an earlier contribution to this discussion,
Mike Mitchell wrote:


If agents were not allowed to erect the "Sold" board until contracts
had been exchanged, the meaning of "Sold" would carry a lot more
weight. As it is, I feel it is being used as a kind of scam to force
up the market and make would-be vendors believe that the agent in
question must be doing a good job by apparently selling a house so
quickly.

MM

Am I missing something here? I can't see any advantage to the agent
in pretending a house is sold when it isn't - because the "sold"
notice will put off any other potentially interested parties from
investigating it.

I didn't say they were pretending, i.e. committing fraud, did I? These
are situations where the buyer has stopped buying, simple as that.

MM

You said - and I have left your final paragraph unsnipped so you can see for
yourself: "I feel it is being used as a kind of scam to force up the market
and make would-be vendors believe that the agent in question must be doing a
good job . . "

Seems pretty clear from this that you are blaming the agents for
mis-representing the position rather than the buyers for pulling out. It is
presumably the agents who are committing this alleged scam. I would have
thought that your description of "scam" came closer to an accusation of
fraud than my reference to "pretending".

FWIW - I hold no brief for estate agents - they're largely a bunch of
skarks. I just happen to think that this whole thread is a storm in a
teacup.
--
Cheers,
Set Square
______
Please reply to newsgroup. Reply address is Black Hole!

FWIW - I hold no brief for estate agents - they're largely a bunch of
skarks. I just happen to think that this whole thread is a storm in a
teacup.

You don't have to bother reading it, much less replying with c&p.

Mary
--
Cheers,
Set Square
______
Please reply to newsgroup. Reply address is Black Hole!

On Sun, 18 Apr 2004 15:37:36 +0100, "Mary Fisher"
wrote:


"Mike Mitchell" wrote in message
. com...



I don't like the sealed bids idea, though. I like to know the price
before I decide to buy! Imagine a supermarket where the shelves were
all stacked with tins of beans, sides of ham and so on, as per usual,

Er - have you honestly seen sides of ham on a supermarket shelf?

Tins of ham, then!

MM

"Mike Mitchell" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 18 Apr 2004 15:37:36 +0100, "Mary Fisher"
wrote:


"Mike Mitchell" wrote in message
. com...



I don't like the sealed bids idea, though. I like to know the price
before I decide to buy! Imagine a supermarket where the shelves were
all stacked with tins of beans, sides of ham and so on, as per usual,

Er - have you honestly seen sides of ham on a supermarket shelf?

Tins of ham, then!

LOL! Not QUITE the same thing ... :-)

Mary

MM

In an earlier contribution to this discussion,
Mary Fisher wrote:

FWIW - I hold no brief for estate agents - they're largely a bunch of
sharks. I just happen to think that this whole thread is a storm in a
teacup.

You don't have to bother reading it, much less replying with c&p.

Mary

That's a perfectly fair comment.

Like many others - I imagine - I only read posts whose title looks
interesting, and only usually reply if I feel that I can contribute
something useful.

Just occasionally, though, I reply to a post which I feel to be contentious.
The opening post in this thread was one such!
--
Cheers,
Set Square
______
Please reply to newsgroup. Reply address is Black Hole!

"Set Square" wrote in message
...

Like many others - I imagine - I only read posts whose title looks
interesting, and only usually reply if I feel that I can contribute
something useful.

Yes, I do the same.

Just occasionally, though, I reply to a post which I feel to be
contentious.

It's hard not to sometimes!

The opening post in this thread was one such!

I don't think it was intended to be contentious, I didn't find it so.

Thank you for a courteous reply.

Mary
--
Cheers,
Set Square
______
Please reply to newsgroup. Reply address is Black Hole!

"Mike Mitchell" wrote
| Oh, that's given me a brilliant idea! What's to stop me from
| selling my house the Scottish way, using sealed bids?

Because under the English system they're not legally binding, so you cans
till be gazundered.

It depends on the type of property, but with the larger property it's not
uncommon for a deposit of say 5% to be requested with the offer, and the
vendor places a similar deposit on escrow when accepting the offer, to be
forfeited if either party subsequently pulls out.

Owain

"Mary Fisher" wrote
| | I saw a castle ruin with a large, painted "for sale" sign on its
| | walls in Galloway but there was no indication of a contact :-(
| It'll be the postmistress's husband's brother-in-law's nephew who
| went up to Edinburgh and came back with an LLB and airs and
| graces. It always is :-)
| LOL!
| Doesn't he have a phone number though?

You only get told that if you buy enough home-made fudge from the
post-office!

Owain

On Sun, 18 Apr 2004 17:41:04 +0100, "Mary Fisher"
wrote:


"Mike Mitchell" wrote in message
.. .
On Sun, 18 Apr 2004 15:37:36 +0100, "Mary Fisher"
wrote:


"Mike Mitchell" wrote in message
. com...



I don't like the sealed bids idea, though. I like to know the price
before I decide to buy! Imagine a supermarket where the shelves were
all stacked with tins of beans, sides of ham and so on, as per usual,

Er - have you honestly seen sides of ham on a supermarket shelf?

Tins of ham, then!

LOL! Not QUITE the same thing ... :-)

Indeed. Horrid, watery stuff.

MM

"Owain" wrote in message
...
"Mary Fisher" wrote
| | I saw a castle ruin with a large, painted "for sale" sign on its
| | walls in Galloway but there was no indication of a contact :-(
| It'll be the postmistress's husband's brother-in-law's nephew who
| went up to Edinburgh and came back with an LLB and airs and
| graces. It always is :-)
| LOL!
| Doesn't he have a phone number though?

You only get told that if you buy enough home-made fudge from the
post-office!

That explains it. I don't eat fudge ... now tablet's another mtter ...

Mary

Owain

"Owain" wrote in message
...
"Mike Mitchell" wrote
| Oh, that's given me a brilliant idea! What's to stop me from
| selling my house the Scottish way, using sealed bids?

Because under the English system they're not legally binding, so you cans
till be gazundered.

er - do you mean gazumped?

'gazunder' is an entirely different thing ...

Or, perhaps, you DID mean the same thing ...

Mary

In message , Mary
Fisher writes

"Owain" wrote in message
...
"Mike Mitchell" wrote
| Oh, that's given me a brilliant idea! What's to stop me from
| selling my house the Scottish way, using sealed bids?

Because under the English system they're not legally binding, so you cans
till be gazundered.

er - do you mean gazumped?

'gazunder' is an entirely different thing ...

Yes, I emptied mine out this morning


--
geoff

Huge wrote:
(Mike Mitchell) writes:
Oh, that's given me a brilliant idea! What's to stop me from selling
my house the Scottish way, using sealed bids?

Nothing.

But in my experience they don't seem very sealed. When buying last time, the
agent 'accidentally' showed me the list of offers on screen when confirming
my details and offer, good thing too otherwise I'd have lost it for ~£1k.
Always helps to be nice to agents, lovely people the lot of them.

--
Toby.

'One day son, all this will be finished'

"Mike Mitchell" wrote
| Er - have you honestly seen sides of ham on a supermarket shelf?
| Tins of ham, then!
| LOL! Not QUITE the same thing ... :-)
| Indeed. Horrid, watery stuff.

As a child I took an instant dislike to what I named "plastic ham"

Owain

"Owain" wrote in message
...
"Mike Mitchell" wrote
| Er - have you honestly seen sides of ham on a supermarket shelf?
| Tins of ham, then!
| LOL! Not QUITE the same thing ... :-)
| Indeed. Horrid, watery stuff.

As a child I took an instant dislike to what I named "plastic ham"

I was once given some in a restaurant which offered 'home cooked ham' and
when I complained said that it WAS home cooked.

Quite apart from the look, smell and flavour, it came in oblong slices with
nicely rounded corners. Why do they think they can fool you?

Mary

Owain

If agents were not allowed to erect the "Sold" board until contracts
had been exchanged, the meaning of "Sold" would carry a lot more
weight.

It isn't the estate agents doing this. It is the buyers. When having an
offer accepted and ready to roll, I have always insisted as part of the
offer that the board is changed to "Sold STC" and that no further marketing
is done. I don't want to spend £££s on the survey and booking mortgages to
find someone putting in a higher offer 2 months down the line because they
saw the sign.

Christian.

On Mon, 19 Apr 2004 12:41:32 +0100, "Mary Fisher"
wrote:


"Owain" wrote in message
...
"Mike Mitchell" wrote
| Er - have you honestly seen sides of ham on a supermarket shelf?
| Tins of ham, then!
| LOL! Not QUITE the same thing ... :-)
| Indeed. Horrid, watery stuff.

As a child I took an instant dislike to what I named "plastic ham"

I was once given some in a restaurant which offered 'home cooked ham' and
when I complained said that it WAS home cooked.

Quite apart from the look, smell and flavour, it came in oblong slices with
nicely rounded corners. Why do they think they can fool you?

They told me it was from well-rounded pigs. I thought they'd been
looked after nicely. Like battery hens. I thought they were made in
Taiwan, and really humane. That's when I still thought it was in
Thailand. Well, you would, wouldn't you. It was ages before I realised
that Santa was actually the milkman!

MM