Gazzumping - Should I?

[Seagull Stew]

Moral dilemna time and I'm after the opinions of the NSC massive.

On Monday I accepted an offer on my property. It was quite short of the asking price but was about what I would always have accepted.

Today, the Estate agents called to say that they have had just received another offer on the property that was £6000 more than the first offer.

I asked what he thought but of course he said that he was pretty limited in what he could advise me. He told me that the new offer had come in from a cash buyer as opposed to the people that I'd accepted the original offer from.

However, he did warn me that it is not uncommon for someone to come in with a higher offer just to get rid of the original potential buyer and then drop their price.

My feeling is that I'd sooner keep to the original buyers offer and then if it falls through, see if the second buyers are still interested as I think it would be more likely they would than if it were the other way around.

What does NSC think?

 

[Norman Baker suck my lozenge]

stick with the original offer,it is far to common for cash buyers to drop their offer ,often at the point of no return,
sell your house to someone who loves the place and wants to make it a home,rather than some shyster of a property developer.

 

[Frutos]

I'd say stick with the concrete offer that you've already been given, rather than risk taking a supposedly-higher one that could potentially end up leaving you out of pocket as you suggested.

 

[Brixtaan]

Go for the money,it's only been a week so it's hardly proper gazzumping when things have been signed and hopes raised over a month or twr have this beautiful family fallen in love with your dream home?

 

[Del Boy]

how long had your property been on the market? how desperate are you tom move?

 

[Seagull Stew]

how long had your property been on the market? how desperate are you tom move?

The property has been on the market just over a month.

Not looking to buy anywhere else as we plan to move to New Zealand at the end of next summer so we'd rent until then anyway.

 

[Biscuit]

A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush/Grass isn't always greener etc Take the offer you've accepted.

 

[Del Boy]

The property has been on the market just over a month.

Not looking to buy anywhere else as we plan to move to New Zealand at the end of next summer so we'd rent until then anyway.

It hasn't been on the market long and you already have two offers, one is 6k higher than the other and you are in no rush to sell. Even if they did drop there bid you still have ages to sell and there is a chance the first party could be interested, I have now voted on this poll

 

[Gully]

I sold my last house back in June, to cut a long story short, I had two buyers who fell through and finally sold it to the third. After I had accepted the offer from the third, which was lower than the second (but some way higher than the first), the second buyer came back and offered more. I turned them down, an Englishmans word is his bond don't you know, I suppose greed could have kicked in but I weighed up the chance that as they had fallen through once then they might do so again. I didn't want to risk the chance of losing the house that I now live in as it was a considerable improvement on what I had at the time.

 

[NMH]

Can't you take a non-refundable deposit?

 

[SussexHoop]

If you're not in a hurry, get the agent to tell your buyer you've had a higher offer and see if they'll match it. First to be ready to exchange contracts get the place.

Cash buyer should be ready to exchange very quickly. If they try to force a drop in price just before exchange, tell them to f off and leave it to the original buyer or put it back on the market, which you can do cos you're not in a hurry.

 

[desprateseagull]

take the original offer. imagine of you were the buyer, and got all sorted, only to be shafted.

 

[Beach Hut]

How important is a £6K loss which could turn much bigger when it comes to the crunch and they then offer less again ?

Stick to the original offer

 

[Bad Ash]

There's nothing to say that the original offer wont fall through or that they wont try to drop the price at a later point.

I say you should go back to the first buyer and inform them of the new offer to see if they'll come up.

 

[Redhead]

There's nothing to say that the original offer wont fall through or that they wont try to drop the price at a later point.

I say you should go back to the first buyer and inform them of the new offer to see if they'll come up.

Is the right answer, tell the original buyers about the other offer and use Mr Moneybags to get more from the original buyers, if they tell you to chip off you can switch over, even if the cash buyer tries to knock you down, negotiate and you'll probably walk away with more than your original offer.

 

[bailey]

There's nothing to say that the original offer wont fall through or that they wont try to drop the price at a later point.

I say you should go back to the first buyer and inform them of the new offer to see if they'll come up.

I'm with this idea as well. Taking the second offer carries a lot of risk. I think what your estate agent has said is very telling, he stands to make more commission out of the higher offer but it would seem his experience tells him that it may fall through.

The sooner they sort this damned property market out in this country the better. Other countries have much more effective systems - e.g. Scotland where purchasers enter sealed bids and then have to complete in 30, 60, or 90 days. I don't know that we need to go that far but some regulation that makes an offer binding prior to exchange is needed. I for one would be prepared to accept a slightly lower price on my house if I knew the offer wouldn't fall through.

 

[bhaexpress]

I would go with the original offer, as others have said its a firm one and what you could live with. The new one is dodgy.

 

[Dick Knights Mumm]

Well ................ it all depends whether you subscribe to "what comes around, goes around" or the christian "do unto others as you would have them do unto you", or if you just think that if we all act decently towards each other the world will be a better place.

I am no Holy Joe - it is just such a crap system that tempts people to act differently from how they would in almost any other transaction.

 

[Westdene Seagull]

As others have said return to the first people and see if they can come close to matching the new offer. If they can't then go with the highest offer but with the following conditions :

> Completion has to be within a fixed time period ( say 8 weeks )

> They have to lodge the extra £6k with your solicitor as a non-returnable deposit

You win whatever happens.

 

[Lethargic]

I am going through a painful moving process at the moment and to be honest I have been shafted all the way along. Don't believe anyone, go with you own opinion. He's says it's a cash offer have you seen proof ask for the mortgage guarantee.
If you want the money but prefer the initial buyers go back to them and be honest state you have had another offer and are concidering it can they match it or give you another reason to stick with them. I would willingly take a 6K drop on our house if it meant we were chain free it. There are many things to concider not just the cash.
Get a decent solicitor not a cowboy it makes a big difference.