GAZUNDERING !! Is it really back again?

frugal_dougal_3

Or has the media finally got tired of trying to talk up a price crash, and are trying this latest version of "doom and gloom" ?


Please post your experiences of this phenomenon.


Are you a victim or a perpetrator ?


Or do you think it's press hype ?

Dwayne_Dibley_3

We're hoping to emigrate so I'm a member of several chat forums and lots of people on there trying to sell have been "gazundered".

Tends to happen just before contracts are exchanged...

loanranger_4

Apparently so according to http://www.findaproperty.co.uk/story.aspx?storyid=6882. FTB's to blame.

Scary times for vendors with so many flaky buyers out there.

YorkshireBoy

I've seen this article on the news over the weekend, and got to thinking about how much was to be lost on both sides, but particularly by the person doing the "gazundering".

If the vendor refuses to accept a lower offer, the vendor may lose a sale, and the chain will collapse (with associated costs for all), but surely the "gazunderer" will incur significant costs also, namely...

1/ Survey costs
2/ Mortgage arrangement costs
3/ Legal costs

I would imagine that these could add up to well over £1,000 ??

Am I right, or am I just missing something?

YB

Altarf

YorkshireBoy wrote:

but surely the "gazunderer" will incur significant costs also, namely...

1/ Survey costs
2/ Mortgage arrangement costs
3/ Legal costs

I would imagine that these could add up to well over £1,000 ??

Am I right, or am I just missing something?

No survey only a valuation, mortgage costs transferable to another property so nothing, and solicitors fees for an abortive purchase, probably an quite a lot less than £1000 but a lot to gain if the seller blinks.

frugal_dougal_3

Yes YorkshireBoy.

The gazunderer would need to come down quite a lot from the original offer in order to make it worth while. It is very much a gamble which might be paying off for some people.

I was just wondering how many ?

Pegleg2001

I think this is a natural next step in the current pricing adjustment process.

At this point no-one feels they want to overpay, so gazundering is natural. If it were happen to me as a seller, I would simply ask the seller above me to drop by a similar percentage. The result is that I and those upstepping above me would have to borrow less.

Mostly everyone wins, the only loser is the person at the top of the chain.

Of course, people being people, this ideal scenario is likely not to happen. The thought that your property is suddenly worth less is hard for some people to grasp.

divadee

When we were selling our old flat, a lady tried this with us (and this was in the property boom), problem was she didnt realise there was no way we would lose the property we were buying as mr divadee had inherited half of it and we were buying his sister out the other half.

4 days before exchange she called and said she had seen a flat in the next block chepaer than ours and if we didnt match then she would buy that one. I said to the agent tell her the reason its cheaper is its top (3rd floor) and it doesnt have a garden, she stuck to her guns wanting us to price match i told her to get lost and put the flat back on the market she came back 3 days later begging to buy our one, but i turned her away out of principle she had lost £650 to her solicitor and mortgage company (te he) and would have to pay out again on the new flat.

We sold our flat 4 days later to a couple who actually offered £1500 more than the other womans offer we had accepted. so i was happy all round.

The lady did buy the flat next door, and moved out within 6 months to a ground floor flat as the starirs were to much and her dog needed a garden i did chuckle when i heard that

bridiej

Divadee, just goes to show that what goes around really does come around!!

EMcG

When we were buying we agreed upon the price of £79,000. Just before exchange the solicitor phoned and said "I just need to check things through, the price is £79,500, correct?" I couldn't belive they had the nerve to stick an extra £500 on at the last moment. I told him we'd agreed to £79,000 and couldn't believe that they were trying it on. But I also knew that they had already lost one property and couldn't afford for this deal to fall apart. We were first time buyers and still had months to go on our rental contract so could stick around with no problems. Basically, I held all the cards.

In the end after an afternoon of waiting they backed down and we exchanged for £79,000.

That night the wife and I went out and I told her "They really tried it on at the last minute. But don't worry - I hung on and got it for £79,000 as agreed."

Then the wife said "But we agreed £79,500."

I had accidentally gazundered them.

I did, fleetingly, think of giving them the £500. But they had already mucked us around by agreeing to £79,000 then upping the price to £81,000 when a 'new buyer' appeared a week after they accepted our offer. Our survey got the price down to £79,000 or £79,500 if some works were done - which they were. I just had the figure £79,000 in my head whatever.

The moral of this story: what goes around comes around.

Joannaclaire

As a first time buyer used to property law in Australia; ie when you put in an offer it is legally binding; I find current UK property laws astounding. After having been gazumped recently on a property perfect for us (after searching for a home for 6 months) I certainly now feel that if we buy somewhere and the completion/exchange takes too long and the market stagnates more I certainly wouldn't hestiate to gazunder. Unless laws are brought up to the 21st century standard then as far as I'm concerned I'll play by these old laws and it's all fair game.