We had a viewing last weekend on a house which, whilst not perfect, ticks a lot of boxes and is in our ideal location. It is on at £595K and has been on the market 6 months, 3 months with one agent and now 3 months with another agent who told us there were no offers on it. We put in a bit of a cheeky low offer which was rejected and then offered £565. (5% below asking price). The vendors have come back claiming they have an offer of £575K. However the agent says that this offer is not through them and as they have a sole agency contract the vendors will owe 2 lots of agency fees if they accept this offer through another agent. We are thinking of offering £575 ourselves which would be the absolute maximum we could afford but are worried these vendors could prove difficult. We don't believe they actually have an offer through another agent but if they do and are showing the property through multiple agents without telling them is there a risk they may carry on showing the property once they accept our offer? Not sure how prevelant gazumping is these days but I remember my parents getting stung by this in the 80s and, whilst I love this house, I would rather walk away if the vendors can't be trusted at all. Has anyone dealt with vendors they thought were untrustworthy or should I go with my gut? We have only bought one house before which was a probate sale, so never had any dealings with the vendors that time.