Worried about being gazumped

Pigmy

I've noticed a few properties for sale on Rightmove where it says that the seller has received an offer which is going through and that increased offers are invited. I think it stinks as someone has started paying costs towards buying the property and this agent is openly inviting gazumping.

The key is to press on at pace and get to exchange as quickly as possible. I realise this is easier said than done and when you are in that situation it is very difficult. Keep pestering your solicitor every couple of days.

I would also go and speak to the agent and ask why this has happened. If the seller is trying to generate more interest despite accepting your offer then I would explain that your offer was subject to them taking the property off the market. This might not wash but is worth a try.

Ultimatley, at this stage in the process the power currently sits with the seller so you are vulnerable. However, your time will come when the power rests with you as a buyer and other peoples' behaviours now can influence your behaviours later. So, if they refuse to take the property off the market now, if and when you come to exchange you can use the power to you advantage. Say in 4 weeks you come to exchange and they have been advertising the house at £185k and got no other interest - you could argue that its proof that £185k is too much so drop your price further. This works expecially well if they have a chain and you don't. Also, once you have your survey, go back for a chunk off the price with the same arguement.

Good luck

Gwhiz

purplebuzz wrote: »

It's also good to get lots of other people's opinions on situations, before going the traditional route of how to solve something, i.e. speaking to the EA.

Then you have forwarned yourself as to what they might say!

But isn't problem solving. It's a case of needing to know the facts and the only way to do so is ask the horse, so to speak!

purplebuzz

Gwhiz wrote: »

But isn't problem solving. It's a case of needing to know the facts and the only way to do so is ask the horse, so to speak!

Perhaps the OP, being a FTB, is unsware of how the whole "buying a house" procedure is supposed to work. Therefore, they want to run the scenario by other more experienced/seasoned folks who can give them some advice.

And your advice of contacting the estate agent is very valid, but perhaps could have been made as a suggestion, rather than as a sarcastic comment, implying that they were unable to pick up the phone etc!!!!

ahchoo

Andy why dont you get your friend to call the EA and ask that he seen it on rightmove a would like to view the property posing as a potential customer.
The EA will either say its under offer and they currently not accepting any viewings etc or arrange a viewing with your friend and tell them an offer has been accepted and is looking at offers in excess of so and so.

not_loaded

Gwhiz wrote: »

But isn't problem solving. It's a case of needing to know the facts and the only way to do so is ask the horse, so to speak!

Whenever I've done that, I seem to get the wrong end of the horse.

1+1=3

Hi, and thanks everyone for the good suggestions.

In the end I phoned the EA who had sold me the property and mentioned that it was still on with another EA. Couple of days later and the other EA had withdrawn it.

I also told them I was confused about the new line about the price change, which was added to the description on rightmove a couple of days after my offer had been accepted, but was dated just prior to my offer. Apparently sometimes description changes take a few days, or even weeks to register on rightmove.

Asking for advice on here meant I was more confident when speaking to the EA as I had several options up my sleeve. So thanks again.

Andy.

tommy75

It's still 2007 & you can borrow 8x your dodgy wage. Bid about twice as much as usual, your safe. Good luck.

tommy75

Pigmy wrote: »

I've noticed a few properties for sale on Rightmove where it says that the seller has received an offer which is going through and that increased offers are invited. I think it stinks as someone has started paying costs towards buying the property and this agent is openly inviting gazumping.

EA's will do anything, absolutely anything to stay in business, even sell dodgy gold on the beach or make relations with your grandma.

chickmug

[QUOTE=1+1=3;25259711Apparently sometimes description changes take a few days, or even weeks to register on rightmove.

[/QUOTE]

Absolute B/S from the EA. Overnight or during the course of a day but days and weeks is rubbish.

tek-monkey

I am experiencing a few problems with Firefox 3.5 where I sometimes need to clear the cache to get a page to properly refresh. This is VERY frustrating as I'm a web developer, so need to see my updates immediately! Now I'm back on IE til I can sort it out, which isn't ideal.

I only mention this as my property bee sometimes seems out of date, and a clearout helps.