[taxmyrs]

What exactly does "Under Offer" mean?

[Londoner]

A buyer has made an offer and the seller has accepted it, but they have not yet exchanged contracts.

In some cases you can still view the property, in most cases, you won't be able to because accepting an offer usually means the seller will promise not to allow any more viewings as a courtesy to the buyer.

[FedupTeddiBear]

taxmyrs, on Feb 23 2006, 09:42 PM, said:

What exactly does "Under Offer" mean?

Straight off the Rightmove website...

Quote

Under Offer
A property is under offer when a homebuyer has made a formal offer to purchase the property but the homeowner has not confirmed whether to accept.

If the offer is rejected then the property remains on the market until the next formal offer is made at which point the homeowner must again decide whether to accept the offer or reject it.

If the offer is accepted then it becomes 'Sold Subject to Contract' (Sold STC).

Sold STC and Sold STCM
Sold 'Subject to Contract' (STC) means that the homeowner has accepted an offer from a buyer but the paperwork is not yet complete.

You can still enquire about a Sold STC property as the sale is not complete until the signed contracts are exchanged. Technically the property is still available.

It may still be worth contacting the estate agent to discuss the strength of the accepted offer, particularly as there is no legal obligation on homeowner or homebuyer to complete the sale. On average about 15% of Sold STC properties come back on the market after the sale has failed to proceed.

The house buying and selling system in Scotland is slightly different in that once offers are made they are legally binding if accepted; there is no 'subject to contract' stage. However the concluding paperwork (known as missives) may in rare cases fall through hence we use Sold Subject to Conclusion of Missives (Sold STCM).

Note this part:
"You can still enquire about a Sold STC property as the sale is not complete until the signed contracts are exchanged. Technically the property is still available.

It may still be worth contacting the estate agent to discuss the strength of the accepted offer, particularly as there is no legal obligation on homeowner or homebuyer to complete the sale. On average about 15% of Sold STC properties come back on the market after the sale has failed to proceed."

Not encouraging gazumping by any chance, are they????

[Once in a lifetime]

taxmyrs, on Feb 23 2006, 09:42 PM, said:

What exactly does "Under Offer" mean?

In the bull market it meant, 'please guzump'.

In todays market it means, 'please o God, let this sale work!'.

[taxmyrs]

Quote

Under Offer
A property is under offer when a homebuyer has made a formal offer to purchase the property but the homeowner has not confirmed whether to accept.

So the run of 'under offer' I'm seeing in my area doesn't mean shit.

[Golden Shower]

taxmyrs, on Feb 24 2006, 07:05 AM, said:

So the run of 'under offer' I'm seeing in my area doesn't mean shit.

Like anything else, I doesn't mean anything until you sign the contract.

[CrashedOutAndBurned]

Round my way 'under offer' means the property has a Sold sign on it for a few months, then it is back on the market, then sold again, then back on the market, then for let, then for sale again...

[Anne_Uumellmahaye]

Just resurrecting a thread!

There are a few properties on my watch list on RM now flagged as "under offer"

I'm still confused as to the meaning of this despite reading this thread. Surely when an offer is accepted, the EA is in a mad rush to chuck a "Sold" board up? The last time I sold a property the "sold" board went up when the offer was accepted, not when the paperwork was finalised.

If the offer has not been accepted then whats the point?

If an offer has been accepted in principal but the buyer is unsold would this constitute "under offer" and therefore would be utterly pointless?
(I know this is crazy but have a friend who is bidding on a house, yet hasn't sold his (and need to to fund the sale- barmy!!)

Is it just another sales tool to give the illusion of a buoyant market? (Or has HPC made me jaded!!)

Any thoughts?

[rw42]

Under offer:

- Someone has bid (possibly lower than we want) So it's popular pleeeeeassse make a counter-offer (no we can't tell you what the first was, no it wasn't my mate down the pub offering 10 squid), before it gets snapped up.

SSTC:
- Someone made an offer that we accepted. Feel free to outbid them in the months to come while they try and get mortgage funding and actually complete the sale.

[Anne_Uumellmahaye]

rw42, on 15 February 2010 - 12:56 PM, said:

Under offer:

- Someone has bid (possibly lower than we want) So it's popular pleeeeeassse make a counter-offer (no we can't tell you what the first was, no it wasn't my mate down the pub offering 10 squid), before it gets snapped up.

SSTC:
- Someone made an offer that we accepted. Feel free to outbid them in the months to come while they try and get mortgage funding and actually complete the sale.

so it's somewhere between "we're not accepting the offer but we're not not accepting the offer either"?/

can buying house be any more complicated and vague?

[rw42]

Anne_Uumellmahaye, on 15 February 2010 - 01:11 PM, said:

so it's somewhere between "we're not accepting the offer but we're not not accepting the offer either"?/

can buying house be any more complicated and vague?

Yup - my understanding of it is that it's all marketing gumph - houses have 2 states, up for sale, and sold. Up for sale is everything up and including 'sold subject to contract'.

This post has been edited by rw42: 15 February 2010 - 01:32 PM

[leicestersq]

Anne_Uumellmahaye, on 15 February 2010 - 01:11 PM, said:

so it's somewhere between "we're not accepting the offer but we're not not accepting the offer either"?/

can buying house be any more complicated and vague?

What does, "An extra yard of pace" mean?

I have never figured that one out.

[TGP]

leicestersq, on 15 February 2010 - 01:32 PM, said:

What does, "An extra yard of pace" mean?

I have never figured that one out.

An "extra yard of pace" comes from cricket.

The bowler is bowling so much faster than the ball you are comparing too...... that at the same period of time after release it's a "yard" closer to the batsmen. Batsmen experience this as "going to hit the ball" (after getting used to the timing of doing so from previous balls/bowlers) and finding the ball is already on them/past them as they go to play the stroke predicated on the previous pace. Hence "gained an extra yard of pace". As they experience it....... it's a yard further forward than they expected from the previous balls/bowlers at the point of making the stroke.

And on UO and SSTC....... I am a FTBer so this doesn;t come from a wealth of experience but I'm reading them as....

Under Offer - PLEASE come and beat this offer ! We don't want to take it (if we did it'd be SSTC), but we may have to if no-one else steps forward. Any of you buyers out there considering this house..... here's your chance to come in and beat that offer.

SSTC - We've had an offer. We've accepted thgat offer as reasonable. It may or may not go through. Sold Board is up. So this is your last chance to come wow us with a better offer (or the same offer but without the dealys as you may be a FTB'er/CashBuyer).

Yours,

TGP

[Mildura]

'Under Offer' and 'Sold Subject to Contract' in practice effectively mean the same thing - that an offer has been accepted by the seller of the property, but the legal work is ongoing and contracts have not been exchanged. In most cases (in my experience at least) the seller will not take any further viewings. However, there is nothing like a house sale to bring out the greed in people and if that seller was offered an extra £25k from a different buyer, there will be very few who have the morals to honour the original deal at the original price.

[aptid]

I have noticed a property go from SSTC to under offer today, would this be an indication that the buyers sale may have fallen through?