is gazumping illegal these days?

The_White_Horse

whenever i enquire about a house, I am told "it just went under offer yesterday".

assuming this is not a lie, and the house actually exists, why won't the EA let me see it - as I may want to pay more than the current offer.

seems madness to me. One house was well below my upper limit so could have offered substantially more than the asking price, but I am not even given the chance.

What is going on????

Dan-Dan

Look at it another way , you offer on a property ,make a deal and start the legals , family gets all excited etc , then some [EMAIL="a@sehole"]a@sehole[/EMAIL] comes along and gazumps YOU

Feel good?

Gwhiz

Could be a multitude of things.

Some EAs may say "it's gone under offer but if you are quick...."

But then people would accuse them of making the offer up.

Or the EA might have found the perfect buyer (not necessarily the one willing to pay the most) and will not want to risk the deal.

Basically all you an do is ask whether there is any chance that a new offer may be acceptable or go to the vendor direct and ask.

Gazumping is most certainly not dead, illegal or in danger of becoming extinct.

movilogo

Both gazumping and gazundering are legal. There is nothing illegal about it.

Whether these are ethical acts that is entirely different matter.

Principia_2

When we accepted an offer we told the estate agent that we did not want to receive any further viewings (and in fact turned down a slightly higher offer from someone who had viewed previously).

Buying and selling is a fraught process, the more honourably you act, the easier it should be imo.

browneyedbazzi

If an offer has been accepted then it isn't in the agent's interest to continue doing viewings to get a better offer - a gazumping offer would have to be much higher for it to make much difference to the fees the EA gets, and it costs them time and effort to do viewings.

Also, vendors are often not keen on viewings so once they've accepted an offer they might not want to do any more.

Or the offer may have been accepted on the basis of the house being taken off the market and continuing with viewings might put the existing offer at risk (with no guarantee that the new viewers will put in an offer).

Or the property may have been sold several months ago and the agent has left it on their listings to get people to call up and then try to convince them to see other (less desirable) properties on their books.

spacey2012

Perhaps the agent is pulling a fast one.
I would knock the door and speak with the owner.

The_White_Horse

exactly the point - if i offer £10k more, and the EA is on 1% he gets an extra £100. so not worth it at all. But the vendor gets an extra £9,900 so probably very much worth it. Seems to me the EA just can't be bothered as as far as they are concerned the house is "sold" and onto the next one.

This has happened about 12 times so far. I think the house either sold months ago - they just left it up as bait or they can't be bothered with the extra work for £100 so sell their vendor's potential £9,900 gain down the river.

As for "would I like it?" of course I wouldn't - but i accept that up until the exchange of contracts I am susceptible to it happening - in the same way that I know I can walk away if my circumstances change.

ConfusedofYorkshire

Some vendors may instruct their estate agents to continue to show people round after accepting an offer. But I like to think the vast majority have morals and I stuck the agent to allow no more viewings.

Principia_2

The_White_Horse wrote: »

As for "would I like it?" of course I wouldn't - but i accept that up until the exchange of contracts I am susceptible to it happening - in the same way that I know I can walk away if my circumstances change.

And this is precisely why, once I agreed a price, I instructed my EA to stop marketing the property.

If you, as a potential buyer, are willing to screw over someone else to get this house, how can I trust you to not screw over me at some point in the future?

It's not illegal to gazump someone but equally it's not illegal for the seller to say...not interested in buyers like that thanks.

It may well be the EA pulling a fast one but I think it is more likely they've been instructed to take the house off the market by the vendor.

The_White_Horse

i don't know why a buyer would be upset with a seller for accepting a better deal? if they have their house on for £250k and I offer £250k and they accept - if another person came along and offered £260k or £265k they would be mad to turn it down. Why turn £15k down??