Would you gazump another party to get the property you really want?

Dellgirl

I was watching Location Location Location a couple of nights ago and the buyers were bidding on a bungalow beside a motorway. The stress got a bit too much for the lady half and she was in tears witht eh weight of it all.


Now, heres the question.
Are the irish so hardended at this stage to all the dirty tactics, price hikes and jumps, visious bidding wars, crowded viewings, smug estate agents, mind games, lack of affordable property and bad builds - that they have become much tougher negotiators and game players than other countries?
Here, to get the property you want , you have to be pretty ruthless and just bully your way in. There is very little to be gained from trying to have a civilised sale. Gazumping is looked upon as a very aggressive tactic but one which i hear more and more people admitting to using without any guilt.

So, would you do it? Or would you walk away and refuse to get involved in the scrum? Have you been on the giving or recieving end?

Pimp Ninja

I'm having quite the opposite experience at the moment, buying a new house in Lusk.

Its still under construction at the moment, but from start to this midpoint it has all been plain sailing. I have to say that the estate agents (property developers or whatever you want to call them) have been nothing but polite, and prompt in all of my dealings with them.

Then again, maybe this is because it is a new development and if the one you want isnt available, there is an alternative one .. usually next door :P

Dellgirl

Im happy to hear that - but its not answering my question!

MorningStar

It is stressful enough without getting into bad situations. Most of the stress caused to people is their own fault. Lack of knowledge on the sales process is the biggest problem not things like gazumping.
A bidding war is just part of the game. Gazumping is really only after an offer has been aceptable and somebody then comes in with another offer. It is actually quite rare. Many people refer to things as gazumping but they aren't really.
I wouldn't do and more importatnly I haven't done when I could have

Dellgirl

[PHP]It is stressful enough without getting into bad situations. Most of the stress caused to people is their own fault. Lack of knowledge on the sales process is the biggest problem not things like gazumping.
A bidding war is just part of the game. Gazumping is really only after an offer has been aceptable and somebody then comes in with another offer. It is actually quite rare. Many people refer to things as gazumping but they aren't really.[/PHP]


Lecture then answer:rolleyes:

segadreamcast

MorningStar wrote:

It is stressful enough without getting into bad situations. Most of the stress caused to people is their own fault. Lack of knowledge on the sales process is the biggest problem not things like gazumping.
A bidding war is just part of the game. Gazumping is really only after an offer has been aceptable and somebody then comes in with another offer. It is actually quite rare. Many people refer to things as gazumping but they aren't really.
I wouldn't do and more importatnly I haven't done when I could have

So basically you're asking for someone to agree with you rather than to reply to you, as MorningStar has done. :rolleyes:

MorningStar

Dellgirl wrote:

Lecture then answer:rolleyes:

No pointing out that people don't know what they are doing is actually more of a problem to them than what they think is happening.

Dellgirl

So basically you're asking for someone to agree with you rather than to reply to you

Cool your heels there! No Im not.

No pointing out that people don't know what they are doing is actually more of a problem to them than what they think is happening.

Thanks MS.

Dellgirl

Dellgirl wrote:

So, would you do it? Or would you walk away and refuse to get involved in the scrum? Have you been on the giving or recieving end?

It's perfectly legal to gazump. I would have a clear conscience, though I wouldn't bother doing it for a grand or two. It would have to be worth the hassle.

In the bad old days of the 80s, when the Purchasers gazumped Vendors and agreed a sale, then pulled out when they found a cheaper house, not many people stood up for them. Now the market has swung the other way, it's just business.

Also think gazumping is blown out of proportion. I know plenty of developers who will not do it, who believe that a deal is a deal, who will turn down higher bids, they just want to get the work done and the money in. They get no coverage.

iguana

Dellgirl wrote:

I was watching Location Location Location a couple of nights ago and the buyers were bidding on a bungalow beside a motorway. The stress got a bit too much for the lady half and she was in tears witht eh weight of it all.

The situation on Relocation, Relocation which was on last Wednesday with the hot-tub couple (which I assume is what you're talking about), was not gazumping. They were in a bidding war with another buyer.

The woman on RR was so upset as bidding wars are quite unusual in England, and most properties sell for 2-20% below the asking price. In Ireland, especially in Dublin, or parts of Cork, Limerick and Galway, (anywhere that supply outstrips demand) bidding wars are commonplace. Estate agents arrange several viewings at the same time, and often don't tell buyers straight away about offers as they like to get a few interested parties bidding to push the price up. And it is common for houses to sell anywhere from 10-50% above the guide price. This is not a very nice practice and it is painful if you are buying as this can go on for weeks. I was once in a bidding war for 7 weeks. But if you want to buy a house that is what you have to do. Or you have to choose a property significantly below your budget and come straight in with a very high offer to scare off the competition and risk a massive over-spend.

As MS has pointed out gazumping occurs after an offer has been accepted by the vendor. Usually at this stage the buyer starts paying for solicitors fees, mortgage arrangement and survey. Then another buyer comes along and offers a higher price which the vendor accepts. This means a financial loss to the original buyer, great inconvenience if they were on a timetable to leave their existing home. And what may be worse than either of these the emotional heartbreak of losing a house that was agreed to be yours.

To me gazumping is unethical. As someone who has lost a house the day before contracts were to be signed (not through gazumping, I pulled out over a boundary issue) I would never want to put someone else through that. If I hear a house is under accepted offer I won't view it. And if an agent shows me a house which is under accepted offer I would not be in a hurry to do business with them in the future. But to be fair I have rarely met an agent who would be willing to this as the badwill is not worth the small extra profit they would make.

Dellgirl

The situation on Relocation, Relocation which was on last Wednesday with the hot-tub couple (which I assume is what you're talking about), was not gazumping. They were in a bidding war with another buyer

Now, heres the question.

I am aware that it wasnt a gazumping situation. I was using the lady as an example of someone who was finding the going tough.
I think that Irish buyers must be somewhat hardened at this stage. Ive seen friends go through really tough buys and the attitude here seems to be alot more stoic that what I see on english programmes. Then again, should I believe what I see on tv any more than what I read on internet forums. Thus my question.

I do not condone gazumping personally and Ive never had to resort to it as a toctic. But I do wonder, if my dream property came along...would I? 99.99999999% prolly not. But then again.......I dont know.

lomb

A deal is a deal like it or not, its bad form for a vendor to engage in that crap, for another buyer to make an offer to gazump is just business as no deal has been entered into from his point and he is trying to also deal,in my opinion and theres nothing particulary wrong with that(although i personally wouldnt do it) but for a vendor to accept the gazump is unethical unless the first buyer is messing him around.

Dellgirl

The number of replies do not correspond with the number of voters. HHMMMmmmmm....I think those who would gazump are not stepping out into the line. Ruthless enough to gazump but not to go "public"!

KdjaCL

I did far worse than Gazump someone for my house, best not to say how but lets just say i knew their max mortage loan offer and offfered 500 more than it.


All fair in somfin somfin


kdjac