Would this constitute Gazundering?

livesdial

Advice sought from more experienced members of the forum.

I’m in the process of buying a house, having had an offer accepted at 10% under asking price (it needs a bit of work). A house on the same street has recently been advertised for sale at 15% less than the original price of the one I’m buying. I won't go into details as to the exact details of the respective houses at this point, as I’d just like to know - broadly speaking, if I suggested a renegotiation at this stage, would it constitute Gazundering? I realize that Gazundering is looked upon very unfavourably, and for good reason – I’m just not sure whether the other house going on the market would generally be considered a legitimate reason to renegotiate, or an excuse?

amnblog

You can do what you want, including pulling out at any stage before exchange.


That is the joy of the 'law' in England.

sofiar

I guess it depends on how you feel and what and where your morals lie

livesdial

Hmmm, before the moral debate starts please understand that I’m asking a question here! I’m new to all this, and I’m asking whether this would constitute Gazundering, or if adjusting an offer in light of new developments is a standard practice.

Landofwood

If you feel it's appropriate to renegotiate then go for it. They will either say yes or no.

No need to worry about labels such as gazundering.

LeoTLion

Would you want to buy the other house that is 15% less?

amnblog

sofiar wrote: »

I guess it depends on how you feel and what and where your morals lie

Morals? - like the ones that allow you to sell for 15% over value?

LeoTLion

amnblog wrote: »

Morals? - like the ones that allow you to sell for 15% over value?

Just because the house is on the same street and of a similar style, doesn't mean that it is over-valued.

audigex

Re-negotiating after the original offer was made, without a significant change in circumstances in the CURRENT property (discovery of significant extra work required, for example, or damp) is gazundering. So yes, you are contemplating gazundering.

Legally you can do what you want: until the sale completes, it's just a conversation.

Morally most would probably consider it very bad form: you agreed a price. Generally once you've agreed a price then you're expected to stick to it, and you risk greatly upsetting the seller. Be prepared for them to tell you to shove both your new offer and the original one.

To an extent, though, it depends on the stage of the sale and how much that 5% is worth to you. If the offer was very recent and the seller hasn't had any outlays as a result of your offer then it may be less unreasonable to change your mind.

Alternately you may prefer to pull out of this sale altogether and buy the house down the street, which at least doesn't come across as quite such an underhand tactic as letting them take it off the market and then make a new offer when they have an interest in carrying on with your offer

Overall, I'd recommend against it unless you stand to gain significantly financially, and are willing to take the hit of an upset seller and potential blackening of your name. Naturally that depends a little on where you live: someone in a village has more to lose than in the centre of London from their name being associated with underhand practice.

amnblog wrote: »

Morals? - like the ones that allow you to sell for 15% over value?

The houses may have both been perfectly valued: the 15% cheaper one may well be worth 15% less... Also note that in some areas of the country it is also standard practice to price a house 5-10% above what you actually expect to get for it. We don't have details of the houses specifically, so can only comment on the fact that renegotiating after the offer is accepted is generally frowned upon and labelled as Gazundering.

amnblog

I don't see many buyers or sellers seeing 'being frown upon' as a major deterrent to saving a few thousand pounds..

Dave_Ham

There is no specific answer.

I would suspect that if pushed the difference between the 2 properties is material, or otherwise you would just offer a lower amount on the other property??

Therefore, is the difference £15k or are you looking for a reason (legitimate or not) to reduce your offer.

There is no "law" so you do what you feel is correct and you make save money.

This aside, if they agree to the price reduction, allow you to spend on solicitors and valuation fees and then further down the line pull out as they receive a higher offer; how will you feel?