Gazundering Question?

4Chickens

Hiya all

I have heard about this gazundering business but am unclear at what point it can occur.
If you are going to be gazudered does it happen at the exchange of contracts or at completion. Our house is on the market now and we have reduced the price twice. It has been a long time since I bought/sold a house so is completion the day when the money is moved? What experiences, if any, have you had of this practice?

m1ntie

It can happen at any time upto exchange of contracts, after exchange of contacts the price cannot be changed up or down.

besonders1

I think there was a recent poster from a couple on here that has just been Gazundered so no doubt you will be hearing from them.

naijapower

Gazundering and Gazumping can occur at any time before exchange of contracts as nothing is binding before this stage.
In simple terms,
Gazundering - Buyer pulls out
Gazumping - Seller pull outs

Wickedkitten

naijapower wrote: »

Gazundering and Gazumping can occur at any time before exchange of contracts as nothing is binding before this stage.
In simple terms,
Gazundering - Buyer pulls out
Gazumping - Seller pull outs

Not quite

Gazundering is the buyer cutting their offer price

Gazumping is the seller wanting more money whether it's from you or by accepting a higher offer from someone else

QTPie

besonders1 wrote: »

I think there was a recent poster from a couple on here that has just been Gazundered so no doubt you will be hearing from them.

Possibly me?

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=1453497 - don't read it all, will bore you to tears...

Gazundering is something that I think that you need to be "aware about" if you get an offer: if it happens to you - like it did to us - then it can initiate a very "knee jerk" reaction. Rightly or wrongly, we stuck to our guns and would not negotiate. The buyers wouldn't back down on their demand, so the sale fell through. Many people would say "negotiate" with the buyers and try to find a middle ground... Whatever you do needs to be right for you: when you get an offer, think through the possibility of gazundering and whether you would be prepared to negotiate and, if so, how much.

We probably did the right thing for us (I know that a lot of people would argue that we are wrong), but at the moment there is a HUGE risk of us not being able to afford to buy (since the houses we are looking at are not budging in there "late 2007 and then some" optimistic pricings :rolleyes: ). We may be forced to ride things out until the market settles and we can "buy in the same market that we sell"....

The main point for gazundering is just before exchange of contracts, but another point is the "property valuation". This is when our buyers pulled out: they stalled the property valuation, then put in their demand. Since a property valuation is generally a non-significant cost (and may be a point of tie-in with some mortgage lenders), if people are unsure that they want to commit then they will probably pull out then... I think that you can have a bit more faith, if a buyer has had a survey done, that they wont gazunder. BUT property valuations are generally one of the last things done before exchange anyway...

Hope that helps.
QT

4Chickens

Thank you all for your replies. So nothing is set in stone until both parties have signed on the dotted line. Selling this house is going to kill me. We had two viewings on Sunday, one of them a second viewing. I tell you, I am the fittest fat bird that I know, I've lost me bingo wings but gained scrubber's knees:eek:

QTPie

cindiedunkley wrote: »

Thank you all for your replies. So nothing is set in stone until both parties have signed on the dotted line. Selling this house is going to kill me. We had two viewings on Sunday, one of them a second viewing. I tell you, I am the fittest fat bird that I know, I've lost me bingo wings but gained scrubber's knees:eek:

Not sure what to make of that...

It REALLY isn't a seller's market at the moment, but it really depends on the people who come through your door and their way of thinking....

To some people (and I am one of them), the most thing is finding their next "home": yes they don't want to over-pay, but they know what they can afford and they know what they want.

To others the most important thing is the "bottom line": they want a 2/3/4 bedroom whatever, in a certain area and price is more important than the actual property. They see houses primarily as an investment. They will not buy unless they think that they will get it at it's lowest possible price (even if the market hasn't gone that low yet - they want the price they pay to take it into account).

So you may get a reasonable, genuine buyer who will give you no grief. OR you may get a chancer who is going to play the game for all he is worth (and possibly have the intention of gazundering before he has even made his initial offer). Or you could get someone anywhere in between...

Selling houses is like a box of chocolates... you don't know what you will get...

Try not to let it stress you out and - if someone makes an offer - try to progress it as FAST as humanly possible: get those signatures on the dotted line before the buyers have too much of a chance to get cold feet... Just think through gazundering so if it does happen (hopefully it wont), it doesn't take you completely buy surprise...

QT

bob79

To some people (and I am one of them), the most thing is finding their next "home": yes they don't want to over-pay, but they know what they can afford and they know what they want.

To others the most important thing is the "bottom line": they want a 2/3/4 bedroom whatever, in a certain area and price is more important than the actual property. They see houses primarily as an investment. They will not buy unless they think that they will get it at it's lowest possible price (even if the market hasn't gone that low yet - they want the price they pay to take it into account).

So you may get a reasonable, genuine buyer who will give you no grief. OR you may get a chancer who is going to play the game for all he is worth (and possibly have the intention of gazundering before he has even made his initial offer). Or you could get someone anywhere in between...

Sorry, can't agree with you there. Where I live, there are whole neighbourhoods of virtually identical houses, it's just the decoration that's different. With a few thousand pounds on decoration any of them would suit me as a "home". So obviously price is then the determining factor for me. That doesn't make me a gazunderer: a man a man a word a word.

Wickedkitten

QTPie wrote: »

Possibly me?

The main point for gazundering is just before exchange of contracts, but another point is the "property valuation". This is when our buyers pulled out: they stalled the property valuation, then put in their demand. Since a property valuation is generally a non-significant cost (and may be a point of tie-in with some mortgage lenders), if people are unsure that they want to commit then they will probably pull out then... I think that you can have a bit more faith, if a buyer has had a survey done, that they wont gazunder. BUT property valuations are generally one of the last things done before exchange anyway...

Hope that helps.
QT

I can't agree with that at all.

All lenders will request a valuation of a property being bought simply so they will know if they can get their money back in case something goes wrong. They could have very easily came back with a lower valuation than what you think your house is worth, and what your buyers offered you.

When we bought in 2006, the survey was done the week after we put our offer in and not only did the bank downvalue it, but they also had a retention because there was work that would have needed done before anyone would have been able to get a mortgage on it, so we took the survey into the estate agent, they made a copy of it and passed it to the vendor, and they accepted our lower offer.

On the house we are buying now, the survey was done the week before last, we got our mortgage offer last week and it was fine but then again we are getting the house at 2001 prices.

QTPie

bob79 wrote: »

Sorry, can't agree with you there. Where I live, there are whole neighbourhoods of virtually identical houses, it's just the decoration that's different. With a few thousand pounds on decoration any of them would suit me as a "home". So obviously price is then the determining factor for me. That doesn't make me a gazunderer: a man a man a word a word.

I think that you have misunderstood me... arrgh!

I haven't said that "because price is important to someone, it makes them a gazunderer". A gazunderer is someone who is prepared to go to any lengths to get a property at rock bottom price. There are obviously lots of shades of grey around... If there are lots of houses for sale, in a street, and you negotiate hard to get a good deal on whatever one you want, then that makes perfect sense.