DEFINITION: (of seller) raise the price of a property after having accepted an offer by (an intending buyer). For some considerable time I have been looking for an affordable house in Dunmow for my family. This week I hoped to be able to tell my childr
DEFINITION: (of seller) raise the price of a property after having accepted an offer by (an intending buyer).
For some considerable time I have been looking for an 'affordable' house in Dunmow for my family.
This week I hoped to be able to tell my children that at last we had a home we could call our own.
The owners of the property in question had accepted our offer, so we arranged the necessary mortgage. The arrangement fee costing us £665.
One day later the owners informed us that they had received a subsequent offer of £10,000 above our agreed price - would we like to raise our offer?
NO - our offer had already been accepted.
We had been gazumped. We have now sadly lost the arrangement fee and the property.
Another, more direct definition of Gazump is SWINDLE which to me more accurately describes the lack of honesty, integrity and moral character of people prepared to backtrack on their word.
I hope that other prospective buyers in our town are not similarly deceived.
Lewis Calvert
High Fields
Great Dunmow
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