GAZUNDERING !! Is it really back again?

pickle

I agree - the property laws in the UK are open to exploitation and it works both ways, both buyers and sellers are equally guilty. I've been on both ends - there are no saints. Worse still is the chains of buyers and sellers so that you're all dependent upon one another to proceed. It's a wonder that any transaction gets completed really. :eek:

jockettuk

can we just clarify that the property laws your talking abt doesnt apply to scotland there is no gazumping there.. if the buyer pulls out or if the seller pulls out or trys it on then they have to pay all the other persons fees and costs .. its works there so why hasnt it happened in england

Adamskii_2

We recently moved to Scotland, and went about the moving process in totally the wrong way. We found the house of our dreams, had a (legally binding) offer accepted, and then had 6 months to sell our house in England.

We accepted an offer 4k under the asking price of 249k within 2 weeks of our house being on the market, but unfortunately 2 months down the line the buyers still couldn't sell their house. We put the house back on the market at 245k, and again within 2 weeks had accepted an offer of 239k, which I thought was a reasonable prie for the house (as usual the estate agents initial valuation of 249k was somewhat optimistic!)

The buyers had their survey done, and this is when we were gazundered, in the nicest possible way. The survey said that our house was only worth 225k, despite we had received an offer of 20k more than this. It didn't highlight anything wrong with the house - just said it was only worth 225k. What happened to a property being wiorth what someone is prepaerd to pay for it? At first I thought the buyer was trying it on, but my estate agent showed me the survey, and it was all legit. The estate agent said he had never seen this happen before. Fortunately the buyer was a decent bloke, and agreed to meet halfway at 232k, which we had to accept due to the impending completion date on the Scottish property.

So just be aware of another (albeit rare by the sounds of it) type of gazundering.

frugal_dougal_3

Adamskii wrote:

The buyers had their survey done, and this is when we were gazundered, in the nicest possible way. The survey said that our house was only worth 225k, despite we had received an offer of 20k more than this. It didn't highlight anything wrong with the house - just said it was only worth 225k.

I have known a surveyor to do this before. The reason he gave for giving a lower valuation was that the house was not near to any amenities like libraries, shops, sports centres, schools etc.
Ironically they were the same items that the buyer was trying to get away from and wanted a bit of peace and quiet in the suburbs !

Milky_Mocha

Until I read this thread I thought gazundering was gazumping. Now I have a good idea what gazundering is - trying to get the property for less than agreed price at the last minute, right? Now I'm not sure what gazumping was - refusing to go through with the purchase at the last minute? Please enlighten me :-) what would the motive be??

bridiej

Gazumping was where a Buyer A already agreed to buy the seller's house, then Buyer B comes up with a better offer which the seller accepts therefore "gazumping" the original buyer...

greytroot

I think this might count:(scotland)

Estate agent phones with offer of £64000 which i accept. House taken off market.
Solicitor contacted and date of entry agreed as 14 Jan.
10 Jan moved house and job to a new location in scotland.
12 Jan solicitor contacted me to say that the buyers' solicitor is way behind the curve ball.
26 Jan I contact lawyer and ask when i will get my money - no concrete answer given.
4 Feb contacted solicitor requesting payment as soon as possible as i had moved job and house, i also sold all my furniture as this was going to be a new start.
10 Feb buyer contacts me and asks if i will accept £47000 in a take it or leave it deal. Told him to G#t to F##k and not call me again.
10 Feb to 17 Feb tried unsuccessfully to contact my solicitor and despite repeatedly asking him to contact me he still hasn't as of todays date.

Is this gazundering?

bridiej

Yes, afraid so...

dag_2

If it were happen to me as a seller, I would simply ask the seller above me to drop by a similar percentage.

Very good point. The only advice I can give is - prepare to be gazundered! Oh - and gazunder yourself, too. We're Money Saving Experts, right? So you'd be crazy if you didn't gazunder - given the opportunity.

Sell your house before buying another one. To be more specific - don't agree a completion date to buy a house until you've got a completion date to sell the one you're already in.

So - you might end up with nowhere to go. Who cares? Congratulations on selling your house. So pack all your furniture into a nearby Shurgard or Big Yellow, and stay in a bed and breakfast. If you're there for more than a week or two, then consider renting a flat, and selling your unwanted furniture on Ebay, so you can downgrade to a smaller cheaper storage unit. As long as you've done your research into local storage and transport facilities, you should be able to do this at very short notice.

And when you buy your next house - haggle the price like hell! And don't be scared of gazundering.

Point is - staying in a B&B and renting the odd van or storage unit for a while is a lot cheaper than buying a house in a hurry. If you don't take your time over your next house purchase, you will pay several thousands of pounds over the odds.

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.

Interesting point. Correct me if I'm wrong anyone - it's not that an offer in UK property law isn't legally binding - it's just that what many people think is an offer, isn't actually an offer at all.

When written contracts have been exchanged, and a completion date has been agreed, that's when you can't go back on it. There's no gazumping or gazundering after this. But before this, either party can make whatever representations they like, and withdraw them at any time. No contract exists until both parties have agreed a price, and formalised it. To be honest, I don't see what's so bad about that.

dag_2

*afterthought*

And when you buy your next house - haggle the price like hell! And don't be scared of gazundering.

Course - what do I know? I'm still only in a rented studio flat.

But my mum is trying to sell a house in Gloucestershire, so she can buy a house in Surrey. As far as I'm concerned, she has to gazunder when she buys that next house - because my inheritance is at stake if she doesn't. And without that inheritance, I'm never going to be able to buy a house of my own. So I take this very seriously.