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Original poster

fuck and bollox been gazundered

664 replies

plim · 15/08/2012 21:46

need some advice please, been gazundered two days before exchange by ftbuyers. They dropped their offer by 17k this morning stating the reason that it's going to cost them more than they thought to convert the office, outhouse and to do some remedial work like damp course, electrics and repointing.

The house is an absolute bargain already as we dropped the price by 40k to get a quick sale so we can get the house we want in time for my two children to start schools in september. We previously had tenants in there and they have now left, we have given notice on our tenancy for where we are living and are due to move in two weeks (completion date).

I immediately told the ea to stick it straight on the market and there has already been 3 viewings tonight, meanwhile, ea are trying to salvage the buyers offer by pointing out that there is electrical and damp certificates and a new damp course that was installed three months ago.

I am so, so devastated, don't know where we are going to live and god knows what to do about the kids school!!

fuckity fuck fuck

rant over! :(

OP posts:
Onthebottomwithawomansweekly · 17/08/2012 10:51

MrsJREwing it means put them inside the curtain poles/tape them to the underside of kitchen cupboards so they go off...

delphic · 17/08/2012 11:06

No, I have never gazundered anyone.

I am dismayed at the naivety of some posters on this thread, who think that the acceptance of an offer is the end of negotiations, not the start. It's only then that solicitors, surveyors, etc., look at the fine detail of a property, and I bet there was no up-to-date homebuyer's pack available for plim's house.

I bet that in a rising market a lot of posters here would gazump if they had the chance.

In a falling market an intelligent seller will allow for the fact that offers may be withdrawn or be reduced. it's not a matter of being nice or unpleasant, but grown up and entering a financial negotiation with your eyes open and realistic expectations.

The immaturity, spite, and sense of entitlement shown in some of these posts is quite remarkable.

I, too would be annoyed at plim's buyer's tactic, but we don't know the full story or their reasons.

I get vilified for simply pointing out the facts in an even-handed way.

Good luck with your sale, plim. You will find out how much your house is really worth when you actually sell it. You haven't yet. You may yet find that the lowered offer was a good one. Time will tell.

MrsJREwing · 17/08/2012 11:13

I remember when I moved into a houseshare years back. One of the girls mates gave her and lovely bunch of long lasting flowers. A few weeks later the flowers were found to be the source of the pong, boy they stank, now leaving a bunch of stinky flowers would be smarter than finding homes for prawns.

Levantine · 17/08/2012 11:15

Seriously delphic of course it is a process of negotiation, we negotiated on our house, but two days before exchange?! I can't believe that you think that is okay

RCheshire · 17/08/2012 11:15

I agree that we will see more of this and there are understandable reasons. If we enter a crash like twenty years ago then a long agreed sale > completion timeframe did mean that houses had dropped in value significantly and it became fairly common to renegotiate. We are by no means there in this market.

What you are missing though is that for most people eithics and business are not separate concepts. Every organisation I've worked for (& I'm not talking charities) has had a strong, enforced ethics policy governing behaviour in business. In my current organisation (global, >60,000 employees) breaching that is grounds for dismissal.

I think what you can see quite clearly from this thread is that for most people (in this snapshot at least, but I'd wager more widely) keeping your word is part of business ethics - not something apart.

Levantine · 17/08/2012 11:16

Seriously delphic of course it is a process of negotiation, we negotiated on our house, but two days before exchange?! I can't believe that you think that is okay

Levantine · 17/08/2012 11:16

Double posted again. Sigh

Blackduck · 17/08/2012 11:18

Actually I think the majority of poeple on the thread know that the acceptance of an offer is not the end of the negotiations. BUT one expects the price negotion at the point at which surveys come in, or searches are done, all of which will have happened a while back I assume.

In the op Plim states their reasons for the drop are because they can't afford to do work to the house they want to do, this is not saying the house isn't worth the offer they made, it is about THEIR cash flow. The other reasons, damp, electrics and repointing the op has already covered off, and even if she hadn't these would hardly add up to 17k worth of work.

So in this situation I think she has every right to be narked as they are clearly trying to pull a fast one.

As for a home pack from the seller? Frankly I'd still want my own surverys and searches done.

Blackduck · 17/08/2012 11:20

Homebuyers pack is no longer a requirement...

delphic · 17/08/2012 11:31

"Homebuyers pack is no longer a requirement... "

Exactly, which is why am sure there wasn't one, and therefore solicitors, surveyors, valuers, etc. then had to do their job. And I too, would insist on my own survey even if there was a homebuyer's pack.

It's not about getting narked at the gazumper's tactic, it's about considering the new situation in a cool-headed manner, not rejecting the offer out of spite or childishly hiding prawns around the house. And people in this thread preach to me about ethics?

The reality is, with banks unwilling to forbear mortgage arrears much longer, prospects of higher interest, banks in more trouble and exposure to US penalties over the LIBOR scandal, the stock market falling, the government in a weak position, and the Euro teetering on the edge, don't be surprised if house prices don't fall further. Make your decision carefully, plim.

Levantine · 17/08/2012 11:34

Why is not knocking £17k off a fairly priced house "rejecting an offer out of spite"? Its quite hard to absorb that sort of drop and presumably op made the offer on the house they are buying based on what they were offered on theirs

Original poster
plim · 17/08/2012 11:38

Right girls, need your help. Ea just called and they have spoken to arsewipe buyers, they have come back and said they now want it for 7k less not 17k as the damp guarantee expires next June - still valid though and they can use it.

Single bloke is putting in an offer later today but we don't know what yet.

Ea suggested meeting then halfway at 3.5k, I said I didn't want to sell the house to them anymore but we are in the brink of exchange and it's tough.

Husband says offer them 2k off as a 'gesture if goodwill' to get the damp done an stake it or leave it.

What do you think

OP posts:
MrsJREwing · 17/08/2012 11:39

Give them 2 k off, keep other buyers on board.

Levantine · 17/08/2012 11:39

I would go for it at £3.5k tbh. You will spend that again if the house you want falls through and it would without a doubt be worth it in stress avoidance

Blackduck · 17/08/2012 11:40

Delphic, I don't get you point about the homebuyers pack. On one hand you are saying I bet there wasn't one, on the other hand you are saying you'd still wnat you own searches - so your point is?
Anyway homebuyers packs didn't include searches and as most EAs will tell you weren't worth the paper they were written on. Most buyers never requested them, and solicitors still ask/ed all the same questions again.

Yes, I agree you have to be level headed, but that means looking at your finances too. I don't maybe in the end plim will have to negotiate some soft of deal where she sucks up some of the 17K reduction, but I can understand that would stick in her craw.

MrsJREwing · 17/08/2012 11:40

If it goes through, leave skids in the loo and don't cut the grass.

Levantine · 17/08/2012 11:40

But yes keep other buyers on board

Levantine · 17/08/2012 11:41

Or say £3.5k if exchange by close of play today/Monday.

Blackduck · 17/08/2012 11:41

I agree on the split the difference, but you want exchange done asap and you will not stop taking viewings until that point...

delphic · 17/08/2012 11:41

We only have plim's assessment that the property is 'fairly priced'. It is equally valid to suggest that the prospective buyer's offer is the fair price. No-one on this thread is in a position to judge.

The fair price will be whatever is agreed when contracts are exchanged. All else is speculation.

By all means reject the offer for sound reasons, but not just to spite the person making the offer, as some people have suggested.

BobbiFleckman · 17/08/2012 11:44

if you agree any further reduction, ffs don't take it off the market until the second you've exchanged.
personally i'd get the EA to speak to teh single man first and explain the situation to him to push him along if he is inclined.
How much over the gazundered price are the other two offers you already have? has your EA let them know yet that you already have other offers (& that the house is a bargain even at the non reduced price?)

MrsJREwing · 17/08/2012 11:47

And if it was me selling to them, I would not wipe the toothpaste off the sink on the last day too.

delphic · 17/08/2012 11:49

Blackduck, my point about the homebuyer's pack, or absence of one, is that a lot of work has to be done between acceptance of offer and exchange of contracts, and that can throw up a lot of issues that can affect the value of the property to the prospective buyer.

It is naive in the extreme to expect that an offer price is guaranteed in some way.

It also looks like plim wants to reject the latest offer because she doesn't like the buyers any more. Hardly a mature attitude; could be an expensive mistake.

Notmadeofrib · 17/08/2012 11:51

dephic exactly! fairly priced is what you can get and OP it seems you can't get what you want anymore, at least not from these buyers. The market is moving downwards, think carefully, very carefully before you chuck the proverbial baby.

HappySunflower · 17/08/2012 11:56

I would tell them that you will give them an answer on Monday.
They asked you to 'back off' so I would not ask that they extend you the same courtesy to give you time to do some sums and make a decision.

That will give you some time to consider the other offer when it comes in.