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Original poster

Gazundered and worried!

130 replies

Louise866 · 08/04/2017 22:09

We sold our house in early February to the first person who viewed it - she offered 10k under the asking price and we rejected because it had only been on the market 4 days and we had more viewings booked. She upped her offer to asking price the next day and we accepted. She then came round for another viewing and we were very accommodating - let her spend about 40 minutes looking round, didn't follow her around, made her a cup of tea even! All seemed to be fine until about 6 weeks later we were getting close to exchange and we get a call from the EA saying she's dropped her offer by 10k and if we don't accept she's pulling out! Of course by now we're invested in buying a house we love, which she knows. We were absolutely furious as there was no basis for the price drop, no survey issues etc, just because she felt like it. Anyway purely out of not wanting to lose the house we're buying we agreed to drop by 5k, but not 10. She agreed to this. Then she asked (via her solicitor) us to pay for a boiler service. We said no, because it's a 3 year old boiler and we've just dropped the price by 5k! She persisted with this for about 3 weeks before giving in and saying she'll pay for it and is sending a plumber round. Her solicitor has also pestered a lot about us taking out various indemnity policies for silly reasons (not anything like unauthorised extensions etc!) and the buyer has kept threatening to pull out if we didn't bow down to her demands. We've stood firm and she's given in on them. However we're due to exchange next week and she's insisting on coming back for another visit. I initially said no because she had a lengthy second viewing only in Feb and she's messed us about and blackmailed us into giving her 5k off! However of course she's said she'll pull out if we don't let her so I've agreed to a quick visit this week as long as exchange takes place soon after. I'm pissed off that I have to clean and tidy the whole house now and worried that she's not really sure she's going to go through with it or try get more money off.... apparently her solicitor has advised she must be allowed to come round again before exchange to check we haven't done anything to the house?! I've never heard of this and we're not going to view the one we're buying again. I don't really know how she's got the cheek to insist after her gazundering stunt or why she would want to see me after that?! She knows we are not at all happy about the whole situation.

OP posts:
Original poster
Louise866 · 12/04/2017 23:56

Thanks Polly, I'm sorry it happened to you too, it's horrible. I'm definitely trying to see the bigger picture and I know all the stress will be worth it if we get the new house.... we just couldn't let this game of hers go on any longer hence the deadline of tomorrow... just need to know now one way or the other

OP posts:
SparkleSoiree · 13/04/2017 10:07

Good luck for an exchange this morning OP!

Maggy74653 · 13/04/2017 11:54

We had a buyer do this to us. She had to offer more than she wanted to get the house because of three other people bidding at the same time. Just as we were about to sign contracts and exchange she wanted £10,000+ off the sale price or she wouldn't continue with the sale. She said because of work highlighted on the home buyer report but it was all classified as non essential and not urgent. Her quote for the work came in at 4x the value of ours. She had one quote at this ridiculous amount and we got several other quotes from builders who said they had no idea how it would reach her value. We offered to pay for half the value of our quote but she said it wasn't enough so we put the house back on the market. We had a new buyer within 6 days and have just completed and moved into our new house. (And the new buyer paid more Smile)

Kokusai · 13/04/2017 12:00

EEEEK have you exchanged?

toastyarmadillo · 13/04/2017 12:11

Any news? Fingers crossed you have exchanged and all is going well now. She sounds like a bitch,be sure to take everything not included in fixtures and fittings, curtain rails are good to take, it's a pain having to redo things like that x

Gazelda · 13/04/2017 12:23

I'm really hoping you exchange today. Once you've got that sorted, you can forget all about her and her tricks. You'll be too busy enjoying your lovely new home with a clear conscience.

FunSpunge · 13/04/2017 12:38

Hope everything goes as planned OP

Although, secretly, I am hoping you get to tell her where to stick her shitty offer, you put the house back on the market and get a much better offer from a more a reliable buyer!Grin

Polly2345 · 13/04/2017 12:39

Hope the exchange happens with no more problems

Original poster
Louise866 · 13/04/2017 13:17

Nothing, her solicitor is still ignoring ours and won't take her calls. I've just told my EA to put it back on the market. 😭😭😭

OP posts:
CMamaof4 · 13/04/2017 13:20

What an absolute bitch!!
Do you think she was ever going to buy it?
Sounds like she's got a screw loose!

toastyarmadillo · 13/04/2017 13:21

Fingers crossed for a quick sale x

SparkleSoiree · 13/04/2017 13:45

That's SO bad. I think she's not fully committed to the purchase as she has spent next to nothing so far during the process. The surveyor was a friend of hers and you may find the solicitor could be connected to her via someone she knows too. By just walking away and going silent she has forced you to chase around trying to make out what she's doing. Well done for being proactive and managing this situation to conclusion. It's Friday so fingers crossed your EA gets on the phone today and lines you up some weekend viewings.

If she was my buyer and came back after this debacle I'd up the price to full asking price with zero concessions prior to exchange!

Fingers crossed your next buyer has more integrity. Smile

Astro55 · 13/04/2017 13:54

I'm glad you contacted the EA because they will contact her directly and she may contract her solicitor! Hold your position I doubt the EA will deal with her for any property

Original poster
Louise866 · 13/04/2017 14:31

Her solicitor has finally made contact with mine and said that the person below in the chain (so my buyers buyer) is causing a hold up, waiting for something from their lender apparently. I've no idea if this is true or just a stalling technique but the fact it's taken her 3 days to respond to my solicitors numerous calls and emails looks pretty suspicious to me. I don't know. I'm fed up of it all. I guess the rest of today is a waiting game. I'm not holding my breath 😕

OP posts:
FunSpunge · 13/04/2017 14:37

Have you anything to lose by putting it back on and then taking it back off if it all comes to fruition?

Like you said, it's taken them 3 days to respond to your calls when they knew damn well they had a deadline. Why not just be honest and upfront? After everything they've done it comes across as another underhand tactic

Buyer and her solicitor are both wankers who deserve to have the rug pulled from under them. Arseholes

BreakfastAtSquiffanys · 13/04/2017 14:38

I think the first thing they teach solicitors is how NOT to return phone calls.
Trying to get a call back from your own solictor is frequently impossible

SparkleSoiree · 13/04/2017 14:50

Yes, you need to cover bases now and if her buyer can't produce whatever they need to then it will delay things further.

Mooey89 · 13/04/2017 15:40

So feel for you Op.
We are buying at the moment and I can't imagine putting our sellers through what you're going through!

3luckystars · 13/04/2017 16:12

Can you back out of the sale?

I would do that now. I am not an expert on house buying but if this person was causing me trouble, I would get rid of them.

There might be something even nicer waiting for you. I just wanted to wish you all the best x

Flanderspigeonmurderer · 13/04/2017 16:23

God it's such an awful situation to be in, how can people behave this way?!
We had a buyer who's solicitor became unavailable for days at a time and then gave us excuses. We gave them the benefit of the doubt because we really wanted to proceed but they pulled out in the end. I wish we had given them a deadline much sooner.

mustbetimeforacreamtea · 13/04/2017 17:08

You said she is a cash buyer - is she a BTL landlord? We had several of those mess us about like that because they were trying to maximise their profits. We eventually sold to one after the EA told us that their much reduced offer was the best we could get. Sometime later we discovered that the buyer used the EA for sourcing and managing their BTL portfolio so their business was worth rather more to the EA than ours. This was some years ago but it still niggles.

DartmoorDoughnut · 13/04/2017 17:13

That is so rude!

Beingsued · 13/04/2017 17:14

We were gazundered by a BTL buyer too.

Honeyandfizz · 13/04/2017 17:15

Oh blimey op I feel so sorry for you. I'm currently selling and buying and the process is just a bloody nightmare!!!

mustbetimeforacreamtea · 13/04/2017 17:28

Beingsued learnt my lesson now. 1st question to EA would always be is this viewer a BTL landlord and 2nd do you handle their lettings. Obviously gazundering isn't exclusive to LLs but I think it helps to know that profit margins are key to that type of buyer. I'd also do the bare minimum in leaving the property rather than the normal good clean/welcome to your new home card/bottle of fizz that I would do for someone who actually wanted to live in the house.