What to do after being gazumped?

da_rule

You should insist though that the property is taken off of the market. You could also ask for an exclusivity agreement or pre-contract deposit agreement that will discourage them from doing this again.

Mossfarr

If the buyers who are gazumping you made a previous offer, which fell through, it doesn't sound like they are first time buyers. If this is the case it puts you in a much stronger position. If I were selling I would definitely be more inclined to stick with first time buyers rather than someone who has a house to sell.
In your position I would slightly increase my offer and emphasize that you are in the strongest position to buy without delays.

dinkylink

I agree with Mossfarr, seems the best course of action. Also, end terraced trumps mid terraced every time, but I think you've realised that anyway

SephirothX

da_rule wrote: »

You should insist though that the property is taken off of the market. You could also ask for an exclusivity agreement or pre-contract deposit agreement that will discourage them from doing this again.

It is off the market, that was one of the conditions of my original offer but that counts for nothing if someone wants to gazump. I have thought about asking for an agreement like that but I was reading a thread on here about them and it sounds like it's more complex than you'd think.

SephirothX

Mossfarr wrote: »

If the buyers who are gazumping you made a previous offer, which fell through, it doesn't sound like they are first time buyers. If this is the case it puts you in a much stronger position. If I were selling I would definitely be more inclined to stick with first time buyers rather than someone who has a house to sell.
In your position I would slightly increase my offer and emphasize that you are in the strongest position to buy without delays.

That was my original thought but people here responded saying it's a waste of time offering below the other buyer's offer. It sounds like the other buyer has managed to sell their house and that is why they have come back with a new offer.

SephirothX

Update on this - the vendor has not accepted the new offer yet. It looks like they are giving me the chance to improve me offer but they want the asking price which is what the new vendor is offering.

Perhaps I should match their offer and state this as my final offer.

Chapuys

In the end the client just wants another £5k so it trying to leverage it out of you if the gazumper is there not not. You need to decide - is this the property for you - forget about the gazumping for a minute - do you want this property that badly that you don't mind putting another £5k onto it? Or do you not mind a similar property in the area (maybe not even on the same street). If it is, then match as a final offer. There is nothing you can do about it.

If it is not and you don't mind looking (forget about rent, you'd pay that as a mortgage payment anyway) then I'd pull out personally - or even just say - "My final offer is £145k, the application is being processed, I am a first time buyer with no chain and the sale will be quick now. I think your client should take my offer based on that process. If they accept another offer then that is their choice". Exposing the possible bluff if your happy to lose the property but gain it if you win might be your bet.

Tygermoth

i personally would thank them for the offer but walk away.

Last year we went through several abortive house purchases and the seller who tried the very same was by far the most stressful - they wanted their cake and eat it.

As a higher offer had been made by another potential buyer after they had accepted mine. They REALLY wanted the offer amount but wanted me a FTB with no chain - as they didn't want a chain. They were both greedy and wanted the easier option.

We refused, they had accepted our offer and as far as i was concerned that was the end of it.

They accepted our original offer with fairly audible whines of 'its not fair'

Then getting close to exchange they stated they were not going ahead unless we matched the previous offer.

We walked away - the sellers thought as FTB we wouldn't want to lose the conveyancing costs and as such they had us in an arm lock with the sale being so far along.

We used a no sale no fee sols and after doing research that on ave three sales fall through we had 3x fees put away for this contingency.

So we walked

The house came back on the market and went off a week later- it came back on about six weeks after and is now lower than our offer price. (its been relisted several times)

SephirothX

They say they won't enter a bidding war and that it's mine if I match it, but words mean little if the right counter offer comes along. Certainly I don't intend to bid again if that happens. I think I will reluctantly match the offer because while I might be able to get one of the similar properties for a bit less than £150k I would be settling for a mid terrace and not be as happy with the house as this one.

Pulling out will cost me money as well in lost fees and renting here for longer - yeah I count the rent because mortgage money isn't lost whereas rent is. As I was originally prepared to offer more than £145k it's not as if I feel I'm paying 5k more than it's worth. I was surprised when they accepted my original offer and expected them to hold out for a bit more.

dinkylink

Sounds like you're going for the property you want rather than making do with one of the others which is absolutely the right choice.

I'd still be tempted to chance my arm and go back to them with a counter offer of 147k, 148k though as I genuinely think the sellers might be trying it on. They might just be happy to have squeezed a few more grand out of you. If they do say no then just say okay you'll match the asking price.