House Purchase

[crapmemory]

My son and his fiancee viewed a house, made an offer and it was accepted. They have since seen another one which is the same price but with a lot less work needing to be done. Can they make an offer on the 2nd house or not? TIA

[Canary42]

I don't think you can in Scotland (unless they buy both houses), but in England OK.

Considered unethical by some.

[Peaspeculiars]

Canary is correct - although considered unethical, it is totally legal (In England) but not very fair to the persons selling the property if they are unaware of the 'faux' bid.

They can make an offer on as many properties as they wish, 'subject to contract', but it would be advisable to let the owner of the one that they have lost interest in know asap to be fair on them so that they can take offers from other interested party's.

If your son is genuinely still interested in both, they could keep the accepted offer in on the first house, and make an offer on the 2nd and wait until it has been accepted.
Just be aware though that if there is no chain on the first property, contracts could be drafted and expected to be signed quicker than you think - so they might be best calling time on the first house deal.
Hope the house buying goes smoothly for them both and all the best.