Reply to: oh dear™: the end of gazumping is nigh!!!

[LondonManc]

Because you've agreed to. OK, for a buyer who is taking too long you should have an escape option but if you take a contract and then find out they would've paid £50pd more than you agreed, tough.

Contracts have a short notice period. Bit more hassle changing houses.

[bobspud]

Have a standard full survey paid for by the lender. They can do something to earn the typical £999 or more mortgage fee.

The problem is that they are not interested in actually working for a living. When you look at all the clauses in the "full service" its almost useless as a fault finding survey.

In fact the full survey was so bad on my first house they surveyor missed that fact that the house still had a porcelain fuse box and bunch of wires from the 19th century....

Still head them when we moved out 6 years later... (the buyers surveyor also missed the issue...)

[d000hg]

2. If someone comes in £20k over the asking price or the buyer is messing me around and dragging their heels, then why should I be bound to them?

Because you've agreed to. OK, for a buyer who is taking too long you should have an escape option but if you take a contract and then find out they would've paid £50pd more than you agreed, tough.

[Hobosapien]

If not there's a business opportunity right there

Maybe something the public can pay to see a history of documents for a property and for lenders to use to decide if they will accept the documents or require a new one producing at their own expense.

As a buyer if you submit copies of the docs upon completion, you get free access to another set of your choice anytime in the future.

[Hobosapien]

1. Can be argued either way - depends on the stipulation of the lender as to how detailed a survey they want.

Have a standard full survey paid for by the lender. They can do something to earn the typical £999 or more mortgage fee.

2. If someone comes in £20k over the asking price or the buyer is messing me around and dragging their heels, then why should I be bound to them?

If the process was constrained better then there would be safeguards to allow a backout if buyer or seller cannot meet their obligations in time.

It's up to the seller to accept an offer or not if they think a much better one may be forthcoming at risk of losing their current interested buyer. If there was a cooling off period after making or accepting an offer before it's final then t gives all parties chance to manoeuvre while ensuring all parties know where they stand.

[bobspud]

The whole process is ripe for disruption however there are too many vested interests keeping things where they are. Its not taking a better offer or changing your bid at the last minute that is wrong its the fact that in the days of google we still need a solicitor to run searches and prepare a contract. It should be possible to pull all the necessary data in seconds index the deeds and note any nasty covenants or boundary issues that need discussing further. The only person that benefits from the process today are the people that bill you throughout the process.

If you buy a house and are stupid enough to use the selling agents mortgage advisor and legal teams they will be making a bloody fortune out of it...

[LondonManc]

More likely the old boys club was protecting the solicitors and surveyors, who get paid multiple times for the exact same piece of work (they probably have a central system to sell on the first set of documents to the others when multiple buyers ask for the same thing. ).

In the absence of logic there's greed and protectionism. [tin foil hat smilie]

If not there's a business opportunity right there

[Hobosapien]

This was the case when the HIP was in use, but the Daily Fail lot campaigned the government because it meant vendors had to part with money.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Home_Information_Pack

More likely the old boys club was protecting the solicitors and surveyors, who get paid multiple times for the exact same piece of work (they probably have a central system to sell on the first set of documents to the others when multiple buyers ask for the same thing. ).

In the absence of logic there's greed and protectionism. [tin foil hat smilie]

[LondonManc]

If they want to improve the buying process:

1. make seller have to provide survey and documents relating to the property. Why should each potential buyer have to get their own survey done? You don't get your own MOT done for every car you're looking to buy.

2. When an offer has been accepted the property will be taken off the market and no further offers will be entertained. Stops gazzing under or over, and stops EAs coming the phantom 'we have received another offer' to try to increase sale price for more commission.

3. Speed up the time it takes solicitors to get to completion. You'd think they had to trawl through hundreds of paper documents when they do their searches. Don't tell me they haven't got an equivalent of google for such things. It should be a few hours work not something that can take months.

1. Can be argued either way - depends on the stipulation of the lender as to how detailed a survey they want.

2. If someone comes in £20k over the asking price or the buyer is messing me around and dragging their heels, then why should I be bound to them?

3. Agreed.

[WTFH]

If they want to improve the buying process:

1. make seller have to provide survey and documents relating to the property. Why should each potential buyer have to get their own survey done? You don't get your own MOT done for every car you're looking to buy.

This was the case when the HIP was in use, but the Daily Fail lot campaigned the government because it meant vendors had to part with money.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Home_Information_Pack

[Hobosapien]

If they want to improve the buying process:

1. make seller have to provide survey and documents relating to the property. Why should each potential buyer have to get their own survey done? You don't get your own MOT done for every car you're looking to buy.

2. When an offer has been accepted the property will be taken off the market and no further offers will be entertained. Stops gazzing under or over, and stops EAs coming the phantom 'we have received another offer' to try to increase sale price for more commission.

3. Speed up the time it takes solicitors to get to completion. You'd think they had to trawl through hundreds of paper documents when they do their searches. Don't tell me they haven't got an equivalent of google for such things. It should be a few hours work not something that can take months.

[GB9]

I think it could be simplified down here. All legitimately incurred legal and administrative expenses incurred by the buyer should be fully reimbursed by the vendor should they subsequently accept a different offer without the original buyer retracting theirs. It would mean that gazumping could continue but only for massive amounts where it's financially worth it to the vendor. While there's the potential for money laundering, it could be easily tracked.

A sensible approach. You must have posted on here by mistake.

Anyway, as nothing is selling around here it would make no difference.

[LondonManc]

I would like to see Offer subject to survey & searches.

Let the experts wriggle out of it.

If the bank refuses the Mortgage or has restrictions then the deal is off.

I think it could be simplified down here. All legitimately incurred legal and administrative expenses incurred by the buyer should be fully reimbursed by the vendor should they subsequently accept a different offer without the original buyer retracting theirs. It would mean that gazumping could continue but only for massive amounts where it's financially worth it to the vendor. While there's the potential for money laundering, it could be easily tracked.

[vetran]

I would like to see Offer subject to survey & searches.

Let the experts wriggle out of it.

If the bank refuses the Mortgage or has restrictions then the deal is off.

[LondonManc]

I thought general consensus was that the Scottish system was better. Certainly the English system is ludicrously over-complicated, expensive, and fraught with stress at every turn.

The system works in Scotland because people are tight. They don't want to shell out twice on surveys, legals, etc. but accept they'll have to wait longer to get the price they're after.