We have had an offer accepted on a property in Qld. Contracts were drawn up and signed. The seller was not happy with our request for 60 day settlement (despite verbally agreeing to it in the first instance) and crossed it out and wrote 30 days on the contract. We then negotiated a 45 day settlement and this was verbally agreed soon, new contracts drawn up and sent to seller for signing. They then decided to ask the real estate about other offers and have placed us into a multiple offer situation, despite accepting our first offer almost a week ago. Do we have any rights here? It appears they are attempting to gazump us, which is illegal in Qld. Any thoughts or advice greatly appreciated.
No .. effectively you were still in negotiations and negotiations failed. Unless both parties have signed the same copy of contract and exchanged, each party is free to go their own way.
I agree with this. Until both parties have signed the contract it’s not a done deal either party can pull out.
I think technically you could sign the 30day settlement contract now and it would be off the market. I know you don't want this but if you have a contract with their signature on it and you sign it then it's binding I believe. That would get the property off the market if you really want it
No it wouldn’t be the case .. both solicitors need to exchange copies of the completed contract and exchange wouldn’t occur if vendors’ solicitors don’t have instructions.
Generally the change from 60 days to 45 days would be done on the original contract, initialled by the purchaser, and once signed by the vendor, it is a binding contract. Vendor hasn't initialled the final change, so it is not a completed contract. So any further change needs to be initialled again by both parties. As all this would be amending the one, single contract, this is not a done deal until both parties sign any amendments, which hasn't been done in this case.
Isn’t this technically gazumping though? They have accepted our offer and are now playing multiple offers off against each other.
They only verbally accepted the offer. It’s not legally accepted until singed. It sucks for you, we don’t doubt that at all…. But nothing you can do about it
What is gazumping and is it legal? How can I protect myself? This explains why it’s almost impossible to gazump in Qld due to the way offers are made.
But the legal definition of gazumping states that an offer only needs to be verbally accepted. Which they did. Twice. And then signed a contract. This from the article: In the Sunshine State, when a buyer makes a formal written offer to the vendor, the vendor then accepts or rejects it. If they accept it, the agreement is effectively binding, once it is delivered to the buyer’s solicitor. This system assures the buyer that the property is theirs, pending their own steps in finalising the transaction. It essentially closes the window where agents and vendors can continue playing the market – and remember this applies in a rising market where prices can shift upwards fairly quickly – to their advantage.
And this legal definition: Gazumping Gazumping refers to when you have a verbal agreement with an agent or seller to purchase a property at an agreed price but the property is not sold to you in the end.
But they didn’t sign the contract with the 45 day settlement terms so it was not binding. That’s the way it works in Qld.
Thank you. I guess it’s the legal definition of what constitutes gazumping that I need to be very clear on. Appreciate your advice.
Have a chat to your conveyancer about it - they will be able to explain better. It’s an issue other states where people pay a deposit and spend money on searches, B&P etc based on a verbal offer that gets guzumped. And then they have wasted time and money. Because people don’t do those things in Qld without a signed contract guzumping is not really a ‘thing’. I hope it goes smoother for the next offer
More importantly you need to focus your efforts on the next property. Even if this was gazumping and you could prove it, you would still need a cooperative vendor to complete the transaction.
That isn't considered gazumping. By changing anything on the contract, they are opening up new negotiations (using the already signed contract). Once anything changes, that contract is not binding, until both parties sign or initial the changes.Vendor signs it or doesn't sign it. Only once the changes are initialled or signed by both parties does the already signed (but now altered) contract become binding again.
Why didn’t your seller cancel out and write 45 days on the same contract copy (which you would’ve signed originally) and get them to sign it so that you can put your initials against the revised 45 days. Would have been straightforward & avoids butting any other party
