Selling a Home in UK
This section details the potential scams and unethical practices
to beware of when selling a property in the UK.
to beware of when selling a property in the UK.
Categories in section: Selling a Home in UK
| Viewings to Offer | Offer to Completion |
| Title: | Scam rating: |
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Buyer puts down several offers on different properties
Who is the Rogue?:
Buyer
How does it work?: To hedge their bets, some buyers like to put several properties under offer at the same time. How to avoid this scam?: Make sure the Estate Agent has a good understanding of the buyers position and how serious they are before committing to the offer. Keep the house on the market until valuation at least is instructed. |
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First time buyers asks upper chain for cash payment before signing contracts
Who is the Rogue?:
Buyer
How does it work?: The way this works is the buyer at the beginning of a chain repeatedly stalls the process by cancelling contract exchange and moving dates. He finishes by telling each of the homeowners in the upper chain to pay him say £1000 and he'll go ahead and sign the contract. The other homeowners are so frustrated after paying surveys and conveyancing that they agree to his demands. How to avoid this scam?: This really comes down to how much you want to hold the chain together. You can either refuse the scammers terms and pull out of the chain or bite the bullet. Most people at this stage of the process would agree to pay given how much they risk losing. Although a legal loophole, this practice is akin to blackmail and highly dishonest. |
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Buyer loses his buyer but doesn't let the chain know
Who is the Rogue?:
Buyer
How does it work?: If one of the buyers in a chain pulls out, the seller can find himself in a very frustrating position especially if he himself is buying a property. To keep the chain intact, he could be tempted to not tell anybody about it and keep looking for another buyer either privately or through another agent. Either way, it will hold up the chain and potentially not only destroy it but will waste everyone's time and money in the process. How to avoid this scam?: Ensure that the estate agent is in constant contact with the buyer and seller. He could then find out for himself if the buyer has pulled out and advise the other parties that the chain is broken. |
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Possible money laundering
Who is the Rogue?:
Estate Agent
How does it work?: Unclear how it actually works but this scam was mentioned by various estate agents when I withdraw from the initial estate agent. The first estate agent was a small (one office)operation. Almost immediately after the property was listed by them an offer for the full asking price was tendered and accepted by me. I was told that the estate agent had dealt with this prospective buyer before and that he represented a foreign company which bought up numerous properties as buy-to-lets. Initially, information passed between the legal firms involved but, whenever exchange dates were mentioned, we were told that the buyer intended to exchange in bulk on numerous properties, that 'the money had been drawn down from the bank' and the delay was down to paperwork on the other properties involved. Waiting further weeks was strongly urged by the estate agent who said that threats to the buyer to hurry up the process would only push him away. Weeks went by, then several months had elapsed, and our solicitor was finding it really strange that the buyer's estate agent would not respond. The property, in Wapping, London, was one of a number caught up in this and yet the buyer had not gone to any of the reputable chains which operate in the Wapping market. It was one of these who said quite clearly that money laundering could be a likely explanation. While I don't think the estate agent was in cohoots with a money laundering process, I do think his main sales agent was. Interestingly, after all the properties involved failed to be sold through this supposed buyer, the sales agent in question left this estate agency and now works in another in south east London. I don't know if he was sacked or jumped instead of being pushed. I assume that if money laundering was the explanation that the supposed buyer only needed to get his hands on relevant paperwork and that a substantial back-hander went to the sales person involved. Another scam I know of is where a buyer offers an under-the-counter bibe to a sales person in an estate agency in order to buy a property at the lowest price possible. The sales person gets more from the bribe plus commission for the lower offer than he/she would from the commission on a higher bid. How to avoid this scam?: God only knows! |
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Results 16 - 19 of 19