A beginner’s guide to gazumping

Buying a property is an exciting time, but it can also be stressful. One of the most worrying things is being gazumped when you thought the property was within your grasp. It is important you understand what this process is and how to avoid it.

What is gazumping?

Gazumping takes place when a vendor has accepted your offer on the property you wish to purchase and then accepts a higher offer from someone else. It often occurs if you are trying to buy in a competitive market, or when the area you are buying in has a limited stock of property on the market and you get into a bidding war with other would-be purchasers.

It can occur even if you think your offer has been accepted, but contracts have not been exchanged. If you are gazumped, you will lose some of the costs you have already incurred such as mortgage fees, conveyancing fees and surveys.

How can you avoid being gazumped?

It is important to ensure that both the estate agent and the vendor are kept up to date with your own position as you move towards the exchange of contracts. If you are looking for estate agents Gloucester, you will find many of them by searching online, such as mwea.co.uk. Once you have committed to purchasing the property, you might like to ask that the property be taken off the market, ensuring that no further viewings take place.

Opening and maintaining lines of communication with the vendor and their estate agent is also important. Keep everyone up to date with your current mortgage situation, particularly if you have an agreement in principle for the offer.

However, you should remember that the agent acting for the vendor has a responsibility to pass on all offers for the property to the vendor, even if one has already been accepted but contracts not exchanged. Until this takes place, they must continue to market the property unless they have been instructed otherwise.

Buyers will often be involved in a volatile property market, and so understanding the risk of gazumping is important.

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