Gazundering...told my buyer to piss off

[ilovewinterpansies]

My buyer has at the last minute asked for £5k off my house which is already being sold at a bargain.

We have told him to piss off (obviously the estate agent has put this in more polite terms).

Mortgage offer is in, survey done (and apparently says our house is in good order so I'm not sure why he wants £5k off) and enquiries are almost all done. We are on the cusp of exchange.

How much is this just the buyer chancing his luck? Shared experiences will be very welcome!

I've a horrible feeling our buyers are about to pull this stunt.

We had to accept an offer lower than we hoped for and so if they try this the deals off because we are pushing the mortgage limits a bit on our purchase.

So we'd be telling them to piss off too because we don't really have the option to absorb the financial loss.

Good luck OP

Please op, don't give in! I won't bore you with the details of my ordeal but he's just trying to wing it because he knows you want it to go through.

Please let us know and remember the pp who caved and she regrets it to this day!

I would stick to my guns and make it clear buyer needs to confirm if he wishes to proceed within 24 hours and if you don't hear then house will immediately go back on the market.

I hate this kind of game playing and the more people who crumble and accept it the more people who will try it on!

I'd tell him to piss off too, it's already cost him money and I doubt he'll want to lose that and have to start again on another property.

I thought gazundering was when someone new came in and offered more than had been agreed?

@gillybeanz that's gazumping. This is kind of the opposite - everyone is ready to exchange and then someone drops the price they previously agreed and expects others to absorb it to hold the chain together.

Both legal but morally just as bad as each other!

Agree with everyone else. Put the house back on the market. How much longer are you tied into the contract with your current agents?

We had buyers try this
mistake !
we lived in a small friendly and very community minded area - and that's exactly the reason people sought after the houses there, so after we'd said no - and expected our own purchase to fall through we were upset and unthinkingly told all our neighbours. So when the gazunderers decided to continue the sale ( having thoroughly upset me and it turns out alienated the whole neighbourhood ) - we had a trail of people coming around with old curtains - light fittings etc to swap out with ours so we could take everything right down to the bare bones with us to our do-er upper we even had a box of dud lightbulbs someone had kept!
We heard from neighbours that the buyers didn't understand why the area was so unfriendly
why they could never find their bins
why no-one would take parcels in for them, feed their cat when they went away etc....
Totally not worth it, but I had absolutely zero sympathy - especially as I had been very heavily pregnant at the time.

665. We had that! Our buyers buyer tried to gazunder by £17k on a £300k property. It turns out he was in the same line of business as the rest of our street (think medics or police). After a week he coughed up.

Four years later and we’re on the move again. I think our own buyers are also about to try this stunt but they can jog on.

Oh, thank you

I haven't heard of this, just thought OP had got the word wrong.

Someone tried it with me many many years ago, they wanted 3k off a 62k property at the point of exchange. I said that they either paid the agreed price or it was going straight back on the market, I didn't even have to think about it, it was my immediate response. They paid without a quibble.

OP, have you asked your EA if they have anyone else lined up? Also are you out of contract time period with your EA and could you get another one without penalty. If you start the process of viewings again, to tell EA your moving the property to another EA, EA will put the pressure on vendor just to cough up.

Don't most estate agents have an endless contract that only terminates if you give them 6/10/12/16 weeks notice?
If you do give your EA's notice OP, ask them, in writing, to give you a written list of every person they have introduced to the property. Otherwise you could be liable for their fees if you sell to a buyer you've never heard of until now that you think was introduced by the new agent.
If you ask in writing , and they subsequently claim your eventual buyer as theirs, then you've got a good defence.

I mistakenly thought that giving agents notice would make them try harder when they have a deadline looming, but it just made them give up.

Mine pulled a similar stunt over a smaller sum and I said forget it. She was fairly young and I think being (badly) advised by her dad. My property was perfect for her as it had a good alarm system, new upvc doors and windows, newly decorated and I was leaving all the white goods plus blinds and carpets. It was at the top of her budget so she could have just moved straight in.
Luckily, I was moving in with my new partner so not in a chain and I put it back on the market 4 months later at 40k higher and it sold immediately.

Get the EA to tell the grasping twat that the price just went up and he can shove it up his arse and fuck off if he doesn’t like it.
Eurgh, fucking people!

I'm another one who says to put it back on the market and at a price that is more in keeping with the value of neighbouring houses. You could well end up eith someone who is willing to pay more.
I also think you have a right to expect some money off the house you are purchasing if the damp issue came up in the survey and hasn't been factored into the asking price. Fair enough if you are paying a good price for the new house, to suck up the cost of fixing the damp, but if you are paying full value then issues flagged by the survey should be taken into consideration.

But as far as your piss taking buyer is concerned, I'd def tell him to jog on. Gazundering is despicable behaviour.

Right I've emailed our estate agent and said that unless he agrees to proceed with the original agreed price by midday tomorrow (Monday) that the house is going back on the market. I'm going to speak to them first thing tomorrow. Good tips re notice period and list of previous viewings - thanks.

Any advice on what to do if he does back down? I worry that he'll try this again on the day of exchange. Or do you think that's unlikely?

Only to not make exchange and completion the same day. Make them at least a month apart, so if he does do it again, it's not while the removal men have half your stuff in their lorry.

If he backs down, I might be tempted to set a realistic deadline for exchanging

Ugh hate gazundering & gazumping. Will be interested to see the outcome OP. It’s happened to 2 of my neighbours (London) over the last yr although they probably should of accepted as prices are now lower.

One of the most stressful times in your life and he pulls this shit?

Make sure your neighbours know

unless he agrees to proceed with the original agreed price by midday tomorrow (Monday) and sets an exchange date in the next X days/weeks that the house is going back on the market

I’d add the above. Gloves off now, be in control.

Good idea @NoSquirrels.

Cheeky git! Hold firm op.

Put it back on the market today OP, if houses are going for £730/740k

Get as much as you can. This prick has already shown you he can't be trusted.

I think that you have the potential problem referred to by puppower

It’s happened to 2 of my neighbours (London) over the last yr although they probably should of accepted as prices are now lower.

It's quite possible your buyer is panicking as there has been a series of articles talking about falling prices in London. Doesn't make what he's doing right - but I think it's understandable.