Ok, so who else has been "gazundered"?

chartreuse_2

QTPie wrote: »

Does the basic Scottish system (i.e. where offers are much more binding at an early stage) have ways to gear the system?

Any communities of "fundamentally honest" people that I can move into around?

Can't help you there. But as a step towards the Scottish system, if and when we accept an offer it will be on the understanding that the house does not come off the market until exchange of contracts. And it will be actively marketed up to then.

I made that mistake last time I sold, buyers tried to gazunder, I told them to shove it where the sun don't shine and got away with it.

Not again. You can't trust anybody these days, if they're not crooks they're nonces

QTPie

Poppy9 wrote: »

You can't blame them getting cold feet since Xmas as the recession has started to bite now with rising unemployment and I don't think anyone feels 100% safe in their job. If it's their first house purchase they are better to be cautious if they were stretching themselves as £420k is a big price for a FTB (well it is here in S Wales).

I think that they are "older first time buyers" or FTB is the manner of "cash and mortgage buyers" - they may have owned before (either here, aboad, possibly in previous relationships etc). I am not sure.

Poppy9 wrote: »

I think any FTB is thinking twice of committing in this market. I don't think the market has bottomed out at all. Major job losses being announced virtually daily It's not so bad when you are already on the market as given the price rises in past years most people have decent equity in their homes.

Completely agreed... this is definitely one of the things that I am trying to get at with this thread (that and some personal therapy for myself - talking about it helps ). Yes, it is a "buyer's market", but people should think VERY SERIOUSLY before they commit. Buying is a HUGE decision: so thoroughly research ANY offer before it is made and accepted. If they did their research, then the buyers would not have been surprised by the continuing house price falls and the recession.... Don't commit to an offer until you are 100% certain: offers should not be completely speculative and then just changed/retracted at the time of valuation/exchange...

Poppy9 wrote: »

That would be so funny if there was a thread encouraging them to revise their offer!:D

I wouldn't be completely surprised! Now I have aid so much about the sale (except for the location) to make it completely obvious that it was us...

I would hope, though, if they had been a member of this site that they would have posted BEFORE making the original offer and that people would have talked SOME sense into them at the time. Although I know that not everybody agrees with my view of "sense" (but they are probably out there eating and being aten by dogs at the moment... ).

QT

SavingSteve

QTPie wrote: »

As I said, we accepted an offer 10% below the asking price (and £10k bellow what e wanted to accept): we were not being unreasonable - infact we came down to meet the buyers. They originally offered £410k (when the house had been on the market a week at an asking price of £459k). We declined, they immediately came back with an offer of £415k (last and final offer) - which we also declined. The house had only been on the market a week. Didn't get any more offers, but those same people ame back 3 weeks later and offered £420k. I had originally hoped to get £430k (from the, at the time, realistic £459k asking price). They came back and said that £420k was all they could afford, but they loved the house and really wanted it. Although £420k was less than we anted to accept, we decided to accept it and "move on".

Just something that has interested me in the above post. Nothing to do with the gazunder btw!!

Was there a negotiation? I.e. when they offered 410 did you say 'no', or did you say 'no, but we'll accept £xxx'?

I've always thought that if/when I put an offer in that the seller would negotiate the offer, and not just refuse with no back and forth??

QTPie

chartreuse wrote: »

Can't help you there. But as a step towards the Scottish system, if and when we accept an offer it will be on the understanding that the house does not come off the market until exchange of contracts. And it will be actively marketed up to then.

I made that mistake last time I sold, buyers tried to gazunder, I told them to shove it where the sun don't shine and got away with it.

Not again. You can't trust anybody these days, if they're not crooks they're nonces

I must admit that I will do the same (if we ever get another offer)... it will not come off the market until exchange: we just cannot afford to have it off of the market whilst someone else messes around.

I will exchange and complete as quickly as a buyer physically can (even if I have to put everything into storage and live in my Mum's spare room for a few weeks), but I will not accept that a sale is genuine until those contracts are exchange.

QT

slopemaster

I think next time maybe, instead of just going through the agent, i will ask to meet the other party and physically shake hands.
Doesn't stop anyone going back on their word, of course, but its probably not so easy as when its someone you've never met.

QTPie

SavingSteve wrote: »

Just something that has interested me in the above post. Nothing to do with the gazunder btw!!

Was there a negotiation? I.e. when they offered 410 did you say 'no', or did you say 'no, but we'll accept £xxx'?

I've always thought that if/when I put an offer in that the seller would negotiate the offer, and not just refuse with no back and forth??

No, just because we thought that the offer as way too low at that moment in time (since the house had only been on the market a week and had three people seriously interested in it). The house was, at the time, ralistically priced at £459k and we thought that they were taking the... (v. cheeky offer). Rightly or wrongly, we didn't counter offer at £410k - hoping that they would come back with something nearer out £430k desired mark. We thought it was pointless countering with £445k (which would have been our counter offer).

When they came back with £415k "last and final offer" - didn't see there was any point in making a counter offer: firstly it was their "last and final offer" and secondly they would probably only budge a couple to five k at the most. Since we were hoping for a minimum of £430k (and this was only a week into the sale), we didn't want to go that low.

By the time they came back and offered £420k - a month afterwards - we hadn't had any more offers. So we were beginning to feel more compromising. So then we thought - split the difference and counter offer £425k. Sounded fair. They declined saying that £420k was their maximum. So rather than split hairs, we decided to compromise down to £420k and "move on" (why hold things up for 5/10k?).

Hope that explains things. I would only negotiate if I thought that there was something to negotiate on - at the time of the first offer, I thought it was taking the mickey... Sometimes there is no reply toa cheeky offer. It s like when they gazundered us: it just seemed so awful/cheeky at the time, there was no way that we wanted to negotiate on the already agreed offer (rightly or wrongly).

QT

SavingSteve

Well even if you go through an agent it will be someone you've met as you will be home when you show them around, no? (unless property is empty of course)

Ivor_Bigun

brummybloke wrote: »

i put an offer in on a house 3 weeks ago, i have no intentions of trying stupid games to reduce the price further by 'threatening' them which is what gazundering is.

You've probably got more money than sense

QTPie

slopemaster wrote: »

I think next time maybe, instead of just going through the agent, i will ask to meet the other party and physically shake hands.
Doesn't stop anyone going back on their word, of course, but its probably not so easy as when its someone you've never met.

For my mental health (and their physical health) it is probably a good thing that I haven't met them... :mad:

(am - at least partially! - joking: I am 5'4" and not very scarey... . But I was very, very angry - being 5000 miles away when the sale fell through was probably a good thing... )

QT

QTPie

Ivor_Bigun wrote: »

You've probably got more money than sense

No, he sounds like the sort of person that I would like to do business with or have as a friend or neighbour... . I know that I would repay such itegrity 10-fold.

QT