We've been Gazundered!

tawse57

westlondonbuyer wrote: »

I've now heard of this happening twice, both times exactly the same tactic. Vendor is very reluctant to accept anything except the asking price. Prospective buyer offers the asking price, as this gets the house off the market and prevents other people seeing the house (removing any chance of gazumping). Buyer then has a buildings survey which (as these things always do) exaggerates the defects with the house. The mortgage company downvalues the house accordingly. The buyer reduces their offer with a "take it or leave it". Both times I've seen the revised offer (sometimes 10% or 15% under asking price) accepted.

This is where having a mortgage and having to get a survey to please the bank wins over being a cash buyer for someone buying a house.

Often the seller is totally unrealistic with the price they are demanding so the bank survey is the one that brings them to reality - so I do understand buyers offering the full asking price but having no intention of paying it.

Sadly, it seems the only way to get many sellers to see sense nowadays.

tyllwyd

tawse57 wrote: »

... Often the seller is totally unrealistic with the price they are demanding so the bank survey is the one that brings them to reality - so I do understand buyers offering the full asking price but having no intention of paying it.

Sadly, it seems the only way to get many sellers to see sense nowadays.

What a load of old nonsense. We keep hearing over and over again 'a house is only worth what someone is willing to pay for it'. So someone offers a certain amount of money, it is totally reasonable for the seller to proceed on the basis that they are selling the house for what it is worth. Then to wait until everybody in the chain has committed themselves, possibly spent a thousand pounds or more with surveys, mortgage arrangement fees and all the rest, and then to say 'well, actually it isn't convenient for me to pay what we've agreed' - that's perfectly honourable behaviour?

If a survey throws up unexpected problems, fair enough, but to go into the transaction fully expecting to bully the seller into accepting less at the last moment, that's pretty underhand.

westlondonbuyer

tawse57 wrote: »

This is where having a mortgage and having to get a survey to please the bank wins over being a cash buyer for someone buying a house.

Rapidly learning this:o

In at least one case that we know of, a vendor eventually sold for £25k less than we'd offered her six months previously.

tawse57

tyllwyd wrote: »

What a load of old nonsense. We keep hearing over and over again 'a house is only worth what someone is willing to pay for it'. So someone offers a certain amount of money, it is totally reasonable for the seller to proceed on the basis that they are selling the house for what it is worth. Then to wait until everybody in the chain has committed themselves, possibly spent a thousand pounds or more with surveys, mortgage arrangement fees and all the rest, and then to say 'well, actually it isn't convenient for me to pay what we've agreed' - that's perfectly honourable behaviour?

If a survey throws up unexpected problems, fair enough, but to go into the transaction fully expecting to bully the seller into accepting less at the last moment, that's pretty underhand.

You are just in denial IMPO - a house is only worth what someone will pay for it.

You can put your house on for whatever asking price you wish and it will just stay there until someone comes along and is prepared to pay that price. If no one pays it, if no one even views it, then the asking price is simply too much.

You can be in denial as much as you like and try to put the blame on buyers. Odd really, that some sellers loathe gazundering but love gazumping. You can't have it both ways.

There is no honour in buying or selling a house - it is a business transaction. If you believe otherwise then IMPO you are very naive.

tawse57

westlondonbuyer wrote: »

Rapidly learning this:o

In at least one case that we know of, a vendor eventually sold for £25k less than we'd offered her six months previously.

So the seller arrogantly turned down your offer but 6 months later had to accept 25K LESS than your offer?

Bet they were gutted.

Alan2020

Gazumping and Gazundering exist only because of the ancient process of house buying and this can be solved, yet maintaining a free market by addressing the system as a whole. So firstly why does this occur.

Yes it occurs due to the inefficient process called the chain!

1. Eliminate the chain - so sell and rent - the government needs to address AST and have a flexible tenancy say in chunks of 1 month with immediate eviction if you choose that route instead of AST
2. Same day process - the seller needs to have the full survey done via an insured to value approved surveyor, the buyer will be issued a policy to value and a quick same day survey at purchase.
3. Buyer needs to have mortgage to a value and bank should guarantee this value if it matches insured survey
4. Basically you go to view house, if you are happy the next day you start at 9am, put in offer(s) till accepted 1 hour window, if agreed, at 10am blitz survey/inventory takes place and by 12pm monies are exchanged. The next day house is to emptied via seller through their short rental agreement and storage (which should all be in place to place property on market if needed)
5. The solicitors hold pay to evict seller and make good damages if any on the next day before being transferred.

This is the ideal scenario, it enables fast house sales at market rates ;-)

JoeyG

lee636 wrote: »

So what happens if the survey throws up a massive problem? The buyer looses their deposit if they try and get a reduced price.

hmmm i suppose there would have to be a get-out clause for things like that when the deposit is paid OR the deposit would be paid after the results of the survey are known

tyllwyd

tawse57 wrote: »

...There is no honour in buying or selling a house - it is a business transaction. If you believe otherwise then IMPO you are very naive.

So you are saying that there is no honour in business transations? If you have freely agreed a price between yourselves there is no shame in coming back when you feel you have the other party at a disadvantage and trying to beat them down further? All I can say is I'm glad I don't do business with you.

westlondonbuyer

lee636 wrote: »

Surely the vendor will ask to see a copy of the survey and be able to see if the buyer is trying it on, thus there is no way to exaggerate the ‘defects’.

I think all building surveys exaggerate defects - the buyer doesn't have to. When I last had a survey carried out, it was for a tiny 2 bed flat and the surveyor wrote 18 pages (to justify his fee and indemnify himself against being sued, I bet). Never occurred to me to use it for negotiating, I just wanted to make sure I wasn't buying a lemon...

westlondonbuyer

tawse57 wrote: »

So the seller arrogantly turned down your offer but 6 months later had to accept 25K LESS than your offer?

Bet they were gutted.

Not as gutted as I was (and still am). If I'd known I'd have gone back to her