Gazzumping - Should I?

[sully]

Having been on the receiving end of being gazumped (whilst away on holiday), I consider the practice to show the lowest possible morals of a human being.

You have accepted an offer. Put yourself in the other people's position and think what you would want the seller to do. It's a no-brainer.

My personal experience cost me a lot of money, even though we were only a couple of weeks into the process. The survey had been undertaken, as had all the searches, etc. I was planning to sign the contract for exchange when I returned from a great holiday in the Alps, only to find two letters from the Estate Agent. One asked me to contact them urgently, the other said the seller had accepted a higher offer. They were well aware that I was on holiday. I came very close to fire-bombing the Estate Agents until I managed to convince myself that it wasn't them who had made the final decision.

Gazumpers are scum. Pure and simple.





Thank you for giving me the opportunity to get that off my chest. It happened in 1985!

 

[Lammy]

when will we have the Scottish system? No estate agents, all done through solicitors and offers are legally binding.

I'd stick with the original offer unless the cash buyer is willing to put some money down up front. It may also be worth going back to the original buyer to ask if they wish to up their offer?

 

[Seagull Stew]

Thanks for the advice everyone.

I have gone for the option of keeping to the original offer, but the estate agent will inform them (politely) that we have turned down a higher offer.

We will also be keeping close tabs on what progress is being made by them and if they seem to start messing us around then at least we know we might have a fall back option.

Sorry to hear about your situation Sully but I sometimes wonder why a seller who "gazzumps" is referred to as scum when there is just as much chance of the buyer pulling out. Is this any more acceptable and why does a name exist for sellers who pull out of a deal and not buyers?

 

[Man of Harveys]

I know it's frowned upon but I really can't see much wrong with gazumping. Sorry.

 

[Chicken Run]

As an Agent with 23 years experience stick with the original offer, it still amazes me that buyers can view a property um and ar for a week as to their interest and then when somone else comes along and agree's to buy, next minute the others are back with 6 grand more. "Buyers are liars"

 

[Lammy]

I know it's frowned upon but I really can't see much wrong with gazumping. Sorry.

What makes it different from selling anything else is it actually costs the buyer being gazumped money, and not a small amount either. once you have accepted an offer, it SHOULD be legally binding pending a survey. This counts for the buyer too. This would eliminate time wasters firm up chains taking a LOT of the stress out of moving house.

Alturnatively I think the new buyer or the seller should be liable for survey costs if they decide to gazump.

 

[Dick Knights Mumm]

It is money and the emotional investment that people put into looking at a place, deciding whether they can afford it, thinking about how family fit in, deciding the offer amount, the toing and froing on that - that is before any actual expense is incurred. I still think about houses where we had offers accepted - but subsequently lost.

It is the system though. Once a price is agreed - it should be binding. To both sides.

 

[Lammy]

It is the system though. Once a price is agreed - it should be binding. To both sides.

Exactely. This is what happens in Scotland.

 

[Westdene Seagull]

"Buyers are liars"

I'm sure you're wonderful but most Estate Agents I've ever dealt with have been far from totally honest !

 

[Rambo]

I tried to move for over a year. I was bombed out 3 times. I lost 2 lots of surveys and fees costing me around 3k.

I had the 'so called' cash offer at one stage and totally ignored it.

Think about the people who are excited about buying your house now you have accepted their offer - you are doing the decent thing by sticking with them, hopefully they dont f*** you over.

I am now in my new property which incidently is actually better than the 2 I lost, but it was a painful and horrible process that i do not wish to repeat again, at least until I retire or win the lottery.

 

[sully]

I know it's frowned upon but I really can't see much wrong with gazumping. Sorry.

Then I hope it happens to you one day.

 

[Marshy]

6k is worth guzumping for

 

[Chicken Run]

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.

Just on the xtra agent commision front, assuming an average house price of £250,000 and that most agents will charge 1% that's £60 xtra commision, hardley worth pissing the original buyer off for!

 

[Rangdo]

I know it's frowned upon but I really can't see much wrong with gazumping. Sorry.

Well put it this way. When we bought our house we very nearly lost it a couple of weeks from exchange through the seller being a prick.

I calculated that if we had lost the house it would have cost us somewhere in the region of £800 on fees we'd already paid plus the house prices had gone up by about £3000.

So that would have cost us in real terms nearly £4000 through no fault of our own.

You'd be happy if that happened to you would you?

 

[Man of Harveys]

Fair enough. But why should Seagull Stew feel a moral obligation to the first set of people so he deprives himself of £6000? He didn't think he'd get his asking price but he did, just a bit later. What thanks or benefit will he derive from selling his place cheaper than it's obviously worth? A market's a market.

For a lefty, I guess I make a MEAN capitalist. If you can't beat 'em...

 

[Norman Baker suck my lozenge]

What makes it different from selling anything else is it actually costs the buyer being gazumped money, and not a small amount either. once you have accepted an offer, it SHOULD be legally binding pending a survey. This counts for the buyer too. This would eliminate time wasters firm up chains taking a LOT of the stress out of moving house.

Alturnatively I think the new buyer or the seller should be liable for survey costs if they decide to gazump.

speaking as someone just about to move I could not agree more.

 

[Gully]

The worst day for me was that when I lost the second of three buyers I had to put my house back on the market, as did the owner of the one I had had an offer accepted on, not a very happy day as you may imagine. Fortunately I had another buyer within a couple of days, the one who actually ended up buying the house, so it all ended well but for those few days I was thinking that I might lose exactly the house I had hoped to buy.

 

[Rangdo]

Fair enough. But why should Seagull Stew feel a moral obligation to the first set of people so he deprives himself of £6000? He didn't think he'd get his asking price but he did, just a bit later. What thanks or benefit will he derive from selling his place cheaper than it's obviously worth? A market's a market.

For a lefty, I guess I make a MEAN capitalist. If you can't beat 'em...

I think he should be able to sell his house to anyone he likes. However, I do think that sellers should be responsible for any costs the buyer has incurred because of their actions.

 

[Seagull Stew]

The worst day for me was that when I lost the second of three buyers I had to put my house back on the market, as did the owner of the one I had had an offer accepted on, not a very happy day as you may imagine. Fortunately I had another buyer within a couple of days, the one who actually ended up buying the house, so it all ended well but for those few days I was thinking that I might lose exactly the house I had hoped to buy.

This is my point.

The onus is always on the seller to keep to the agreement and not the buyer.

If gazzumping is when a seller breaks the deal by selling to a higher bidder after acceptance then what is the equivalent word when a buyer finds a better property after they're accepted on another?

Anyway, I've stuck to the original offer so I'll see what happens!

 

[Rangdo]

This is my point.

The onus is always on the seller to keep to the agreement and not the buyer.

If gazzumping is when a seller breaks the deal by selling to a higher bidder after acceptance then what is the equivalent word when a buyer finds a better property after they're accepted on another?

Anyway, I've stuck to the original offer so I'll see what happens!

Wikipedia says gazundering.

The higher offer sounds a bit too good to be true. A mate of mine was buying and had his offer accepted only to be told after he had paid for the survey and other bits that someone had come in with an offer 10K higher.

The seller took the higher offer and 6 weeks later the property was back on the market because the buyer with the high offer had pissed him about.

The only way I would take it would be if he agreed to lay down his own cash in the form of a £1000 non refundable deposit or similar. Then you would know he was serious.