Gazundering

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I'm in Scotland and gazundering isn't a thing - I'd never heard of it it. Found out dsil gazundered (if that's the right word?) their buyer the week they were due to complete. They forced the price down a 'considerable' way seemingly out of nowhere and on no ground. I'm so shocked - both that it's possible and that they felt comfortable doing this to their seller! How common is this?

Gazumping is the word your looking for and it isn't very common. I've only come across it on here.

It's only possible if the buyer felt like they had no other choice but to carry on with the sale. When I've come across this is real life what usually happens is the sale of the house just falls through and the chain falls apart. So it's a rsiky thing to try and do as you could end up with no house to buy.

Gazumping and gazundering are 2 different things.

I couldn't do either. Is your SIL normally a nice person?

@MigGirl No, gazundering is a thing. Gazumping is different.

To gazunder: lower the amount of an offer that one has made to (the seller of a property), typically just before the exchange of contracts.

To gazump: make a higher offer for a house than (someone whose offer has already been accepted by the seller) and thus succeed in acquiring the property.

I've no idea whether gazumped or gazundered is the correct term here, because the OP is mixing up buyer and seller between sentences.

Is not that common thankfully, because its a really nasty tactic to use on someone.

Your DSiL has to live with her conscience, I guess some people have low standards of acceptable behaviour. I just call it greed.

Oops - I should have said their seller, not buyer! They were purchasing a flat and dropped their offer last minute.

You're quite right @DogInATent I don't think it bothers her in the least @AgreeableDragon . I'm just shocked it's possible. I'd also be concerned about unforeseen consequences - in the same way that I'm polite to waiting staff in restaurants!

I’m worried my buyers are planning this. Not sure if it’s just because I’ve heard it happen on here a lot or because they seem to be taking ages to book in the level 3 survey they want done. I’ve already decided how far we will negotiate. We’ve both paid out money now so I’d hope they wouldn’t want to lose that either.

There are reasons for dropping your offer after Exchange, for example if the original timetable isn't being kept to and one party is creating unreasonable delays. But doing so out of the blue is to be a CF.

If it's one of those purchases when Exchange and Completion are happening together, then last minute changes are a very high risk part of that game.

You wouldn't be able to drop your offer after exchange.

There are mechanisms that allow either side to withdraw if the other side is delaying Completion, and the ability to withdraw creates a mechanism for either dropping or raising the price.

Well played to your DSIL. It's a feature of a buyers market; sellers were gleefully entertaining gazumping galore 3 years ago.

The completion date is set at exchange. If either party defaults on that, they will be in breach of contract and have to pay compensation to the other party or at worst forfeit their deposit. I've never heard of the agreed property price being raised or lowered?

Is the gazundering sis-in-law in Scotland? For some reason, missives are being signed very late which means this kind of thing is possible. They used to be signed about two weeks into the process, unless some hold-up. I think it is immoral to lower an accepted offer like this, to be honest, and it's not something I would every consider doing. Purchases in Scotland usually go through within about 6-8 weeks so it's not like the market has moved much in that timescale and an agreement is an agreement is an agreement - missives signed or not.

I would definitely think much less of her.

My mum had this. She was told they'd found a cheaper home and could they have 20% discount to continue. The sales negotiator was flabbergasted. My mum was fuming but my response was hope you're happy in your new home.

We walked away, took some time out. Changed agents as didn't want to do viewings again but have just accepted an offer 9% above previous original offer.