Just got gazumped :(

dimbo61

Far too many house purchases are falling through and costing thousands in fees, surveys etc

Maybe something the government, legal system needs to look at.

14sprocket

dimbo61 said:

Far too many house purchases are falling through and costing thousands in fees, surveys etc

Maybe something the government, legal system needs to look at.

Don't need to look far - in Scotland home sales are binding at the offer stage, so no room to gazump

Dingle81

I sold my house and agree a figure, well below what I had hoped for but had found somewhere I wanted so felt time was running low, then someone else wanted to view the house and was 'very' interested, I stuck with the firm offer and moved.... painful in a way because maybe I could of had another £10-£20k! but then again I could have had it all fall down. The Estate Agents to be fair pushed me in the direction of not doing the viewing but then again they were on a set fee to sell so most likely in their interest.

cymruchris

You could always table a higher offer - get all the processes underway - then wait until the last minute and think of a reason to drop it back to your original offer... That's probably not sensible - but if I felt like I'd been cheated by the other party not following a fair process - I'd probably not want to play fair either

Davesnave

cymruchris said:

You could always table a higher offer - get all the processes underway - then wait until the last minute and think of a reason to drop it back to your original offer... That's probably not sensible - but if I felt like I'd been cheated by the other party not following a fair process - I'd probably not want to play fair either

Depends. It's a bit playground mentality if you decide tit for tat is justifiable, when normally you'd stand by certain principles, regardless of what others do.

However, some may decide this is a business transaction and in business there is little room for sentiment, though there may be some advantages in moral behaviour which drive it. For example, anyone in my small rural locality who does a bad job or cheats others doesn't fare well long term.

Scotbot

14sprocket said:

dimbo61 said:

Far too many house purchases are falling through and costing thousands in fees, surveys etc

Maybe something the government, legal system needs to look at.

Don't need to look far - in Scotland home sales are binding at the offer stage, so no room to gazump

Completely agre. I wish England had the same system

Greymug

14sprocket said:

Not sure if people have any suggestions or recommendations how to deal with this

Tell the agent that you're ready to up your bid. Make an offer they can't refuse.

When accepted, tell the agent you'll start things up soon (solicitor, mortgage app,...the usual). Let 2-3 weeks pass, drag it for as long as you can, then pull out.

That will teach the sellers what happens when you're a greedy c*nt. 

babyblade41

I was on the other end of your problem. I was selling a property and had accepted an offer . A week later a couple of  offers came in a reasonable amount more than the one that had been accepted .
I decided to stick with my original buyer as they had done a lot already to the buying process and were very quick getting things sorted their end and having an excellent solicitor.

I knew that between mine and their legal team the process would be very swift and no holdups as much as you can .
Not all vendors are !!!!!! and to be fair the estate agent had to pass on the higher offer 
You will find a better home and better vendors 

14sprocket

Greymug said:

14sprocket said:

Not sure if people have any suggestions or recommendations how to deal with this

Tell the agent that you're ready to up your bid. Make an offer they can't refuse.

When accepted, tell the agent you'll start things up soon (solicitor, mortgage app,...the usual). Let 2-3 weeks pass, drag it for as long as you can, then pull out.

That will teach the sellers what happens when you're a greedy c*nt. 

I think karma will catch up with them anyway - people who gazump often get gazundered eventually, either on this house sale or later in life. I really don't want to drop to the same level, plus I want to keep the relationship with the EA good - he's genuinely feeling guilty, so might produce the goods for me later on as I keep house hunting

Murphybear

This happened to us a few years ago.  We found a house we liked and made an offer that was top of our budget.  About a week later the EA told us the seller had a higher offer and was going with that.  

2 or 3 weeks later the EA phoned and said the purchase had fallen through and would we like to buy at our original offer.  He seemed a bit taken aback when our answer was a resounding no.  We didn’t tell him what else we were thinking but it was along the lines of “what’s to stop the seller gazumping us again, we wouldn’t buy his house now for anything”

not long afterwards we found a bungalow in a village owned by a lovely elderly couple who couldn’t manage the big garden any more.  We made an offer on the spot and stayed for tea and home made cake.  We’d still be there if we hadn’t moved 200 miles