Partner & I disagree on gazundering: fear of overpaying for house in bad economic times

7sefton

I realise some people disapprove of gazundering in any circumstances, but aside from any blanket ‘no’ what do people think I should do? Any tips on how to handle it sensitively with the estate agent?

donutandbeer

My feeling is always that if you can risk losing the house, then nothing is really stopping you. It doesn’t sound like there’s a chain involved, so even though you said they are keen to sell, they are also more likely to decline and remarket than someone with their onward purchase. What are you going to do if they decline a deduction? Are you going to pull out? Your vendor might think you are unlikely to pull out and call your bluff.
 
I suppose if you are not thinking to actually pull out then there’s not that much to lose to try to gazunder. They are paying a mortgage for the house still so they probably won’t reject your offer just because they are annoyed you guys tries to gazunder. But you never know - a jumpy estate agent doesn’t always means a desperate vendor, sometimes that’s just the personality of the estate agent (we just dealt with one recently).

Skiddaw1

In all honesty, if I was the seller I'd stick my heels in and risk losing the sale. I get that all's fair in love and house buying but I wouldn't put up with being gazundered this far down the line. You can but try I suppose but I think you should be prepared to end up back at square one.

youth_leader

Have you had a survey? Do you intend negotiating further if anything crops up? 

 As a seller I wouldn't negotiate a discount on cosmetic reasons. 

Flugelhorn

Gazundering for no really good reason ( I mean not related to a survey) would really annoy me - they may well decide to remarket it at a higher price

PM22

I would call your bluff if I were the seller and if you pulled out, I’d remarket and get on with it

7sefton

Ps we had a survey and it came back saying there are a couple of things that should be fixed asap

donutandbeer

7sefton said:

My thinking is they might not withdraw because 

- they would have to go back to the start (which is another 4-6 months of mortgage payments)

- buyers now a bit more cautious so they might not even get what we’re offering 

I’d be looking for around £15k off… so would it be worth the risk to them pulling out?

They would be thinking something similar about you as well though. It will take another 4-6 months for you to buy a house so you are unlikely to really pull out (unless say you are living with family for free instead of renting). You also presumably have paid money into this purchase for surveys and conveyancing. 

Personally if our buyer had tried to gazunder us this late I would think there’s little chance for them to actually pull out even if we decline the deduction. I would also talk to my estate agent, who probably knows your situation (unless you convince them that you will definitely pull out). We knew our buyer was renting and they would really like to relocate to where we were before the next school year started. Not sure how much they (vendor & estate agent) know about your situation.

Flugelhorn

7sefton said:

Ps we had a survey and it came back saying there are a couple of things that should be fixed asap

20K worth? have you had quotes?

TBH you can never be sure re house prices etc - they do funny things at times 

powerful_Rogue

There is no sensitivity with gazundering.

Just tell the EA you've revised your offer and hopefully the seller will reject it.

youth_leader

So they rejected your offer of £780K on the £800K asking, and accepted your increased offer at £800K. 

Now you want to offer £785K - just £5K more than your original offer.

You might be lucky and get a counter offer, or they will withdraw from the sale and remarket.