Gazanging is a term used in the UK to describe when a vendor pulls out of a property transaction and opts to stay put, having previously accepted an offer. [1]
Frequently, this occurs due to a change in circumstances, such that the seller no longer wishes to move, or are unable to. It has also been linked to a slowdown in housing market activity, which leads to an under-supply of property, giving the vendor less choice of properties to move to. [2] The original buyer is left 'hanging'; hence the word gazanging, intended to echo the commonplace term gazumping. [3]
The term "gazanging" was originally coined by online conveyancing service In-Deed, [4] following research among home buyers published in September 2011.[ citation needed ]
Following the 2007–2008 financial crisis, the British residential property market became increasingly uncertain. [5] In contrast to Scotland and the United States, the England and Wales property market's volatility stems from the fact that a seller's acceptance of the buyer's offer is not legally binding until contracts are exchanged. This is a result of the Law of Property (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1989 s.2, requiring that a contract for the sale of land must be in writing. This precept of English law dates back to the Statute of Frauds of 1677, and is intended to prevent dishonesty.
It can take as long as 3 months from acceptance of the offer for the conveyancing to be completed, during which time the property market could increase in value sufficiently that the seller believes they could get a better price by pulling out and listing their property again, gazanging the buyer.
Gazumping and gazundering are related phenomena, describing specific cases where either the seller raises the price, or the buyer lowers their offer. In contrast, gazanging is not intended to improve either party's position to achieve a better deal. Instead, the seller pulls out of the sale entirely, leaving the buyer with no recourse whatsoever.
An auction is usually a process of buying and selling goods or services by offering them up for bids, taking bids, and then selling the item to the highest bidder or buying the item from the lowest bidder. Some exceptions to this definition exist and are described in the section about different types. The branch of economic theory dealing with auction types and participants' behavior in auctions is called auction theory.
The Uniform Commercial Code (UCC), first published in 1952, is one of a number of uniform acts that have been established as law with the goal of harmonizing the laws of sales and other commercial transactions across the United States through UCC adoption by all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and the Territories of the United States.
In law, conveyancing is the transfer of legal title of real property from one person to another, or the granting of an encumbrance such as a mortgage or a lien. A typical conveyancing transaction has two major phases: the exchange of contracts and completion.
This aims to be a complete list of the articles on real estate.
Caveat emptor is Latin for "Let the buyer beware". It has become a proverb in English. Generally, caveat emptor is the contract law principle that controls the sale of real property after the date of closing, but may also apply to sales of other goods. The phrase caveat emptor and its use as a disclaimer of warranties arises from the fact that buyers typically have less information than the seller about the good or service they are purchasing. This quality of the situation is known as 'information asymmetry'. Defects in the good or service may be hidden from the buyer, and only known to the seller.
A real estate contract is a contract between parties for the purchase and sale, exchange, or other conveyance of real estate. The sale of land is governed by the laws and practices of the jurisdiction in which the land is located. Real estate called leasehold estate is actually a rental of real property such as an apartment, and leases cover such rentals since they typically do not result in recordable deeds. Freehold conveyances of real estate are covered by real estate contracts, including conveying fee simple title, life estates, remainder estates, and freehold easements. Real estate contracts are typically bilateral contracts and should have the legal requirements specified by contract law in general and should also be in writing to be enforceable.
A Lease-Purchase Contract, also known as a lease purchase agreement or rent-to-own agreement, allows consumers to obtain durable goods or rent-to-own real estate without entering into a standard credit contract. It is a shortened name for a lease with option to purchase contract. For real estate, a lease purchase contract combines elements of a traditional rental agreement with an exclusive right of first refusal option for later purchase of the home.
Gazumping occurs when a seller accepts a verbal offer on the property from one potential buyer, but then accepts a higher offer from someone else. It can also refer to the seller raising the asking price or asking for more money at the last minute, after previously verbally agreeing to a lower one. In either case, the original buyer is left in a bad situation, and either has to offer a higher price or lose the purchase. The term gazumping is most commonly used in the United Kingdom and Ireland, although similar practices can be found in some other jurisdictions.
Equitable conversion is a doctrine of the law of real property under which a purchaser of real property becomes the equitable owner of title to the property at the time he/she signs a contract binding him/her to purchase the land at a later date. The seller retains legal title of the property prior to the date of conveyance, but this land interest is considered personal property. The risk of loss is then transferred to the buyer – if a house on the property burns down after the contract has been signed, but before the deed is conveyed, the buyer will nevertheless have to pay the agreed-upon purchase price for the land unless the seller in possession or deemed in possession has failed to protect it. Such issues can and should be avoided by parties by stipulating in the contract who will bear the loss in such occurrences. The above rule varies by jurisdiction, but is the general rule.
Commercial property, also called commercial real estate, investment property or income property, is real estate intended to generate a profit, either from capital gains or rental income. Commercial property includes office buildings, medical centers, hotels, malls, retail stores, multifamily housing buildings, farm land, warehouses, and garages. In many U.S. states, residential property containing more than a certain number of units qualifies as commercial property for borrowing and tax purposes.
A land contract,, is a contract between the buyer and seller of real property in which the seller provides the buyer financing in the purchase, and the buyer repays the resulting loan in installments. Under a land contract, the seller retains the legal title to the property but permits the buyer to take possession of it for most purposes other than that of legal ownership. The sale price is typically paid in periodic installments, often with a balloon payment at the end to make the timelength of payments shorter than in the corresponding fully amortized loan. When the full purchase price has been paid including any interest, the seller is obligated to convey legal title to the property. An initial down payment from the buyer to the seller is usually also required.
Canadian contract law is composed of two parallel systems: a common law framework outside Québec and a civil law framework within Québec. Outside Québec, Canadian contract law is derived from English contract law, though it has developed distinctly since Canadian Confederation in 1867. While Québecois contract law was originally derived from that which existed in France at the time of Québec's annexation into the British Empire, it was overhauled and codified first in the Civil Code of Lower Canada and later in the current Civil Code of Quebec, which codifies most elements of contract law as part of its provisions on the broader law of obligations. Individual common law provinces have codified certain contractual rules in a Sale of Goods Act, resembling equivalent statutes elsewhere in the Commonwealth. As most aspects of contract law in Canada are the subject of provincial jurisdiction under the Canadian Constitution, contract law may differ even between the country's common law provinces and territories. Conversely; as the law regarding bills of exchange and promissory notes, trade and commerce, maritime law, and banking among other related areas is governed by federal law under Section 91 of the Constitution Act, 1867; aspects of contract law pertaining to these topics are harmonised between Québec and the common law provinces.
The Sale of Goods Act 1979 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which regulated English contract law and UK commercial law in respect of goods that are sold and bought. The Act consolidated the original Sale of Goods Act 1893 and subsequent legislation, which in turn had codified and consolidated the law. Since 1979, there have been numerous minor statutory amendments and additions to the 1979 act. It was replaced for some aspects of consumer contracts from 1 October 2015 by the Consumer Rights Act 2015 but remains the primary legislation underpinning business-to-business transactions involving selling or buying goods.
Marketable title is a title that a court of equity considers to be so free from defect that it will legally force its acceptance by a buyer. Marketable title does not assume that absolute absence of defect, but rather a title that a prudent, educated buyer in the reasonable course of business would accept. For real estate practitioners, the most complete reference to title issues is found in the preprinted wording contained within an agreement/contract. If you cannot produce a clear title of deed to the property then the prospective buyer should expect to lose in a specific performance action.
Off-plan property is a property before a structure has been constructed upon it. Pre-constructions are usually marketed to real estate developers and to early adopters as developments so that the purchaser can secure more favorable finance terms from their lenders.
A real estate transaction is the process whereby rights in a unit of property are transferred between two or more parties, e.g. in the case of conveyance one party being the seller(s) and the other being the buyer(s). It can often be quite complicated due to the complexity of the property rights being transferred, the amount of money being exchanged, and government regulations. Conventions and requirements also vary considerably among different countries of the world and smaller legal entities (jurisdictions).
A re-trade is the practice of renegotiating the purchase price of a property or company by the buyer after initially agreeing to purchase at a higher price. Typically this occurs after the buyer gets the property under contract and during the period that it is performing due diligence. The buyer may raise a due diligence issue and demand a purchase price adjustment to a lower re-trade price. The seller can be left in a bad situation where it must either accept the lower price or lose the sale and re-market the property. Moreover, loss of the sale can affect an entire chain of related transactions, thereby increasing even further the pressure upon the seller to accept the lower price in order to salvage the related transactions and avoid a ripple effect.
The South African law of sale is an area of the legal system in that country that describes rules applicable to a contract of sale, generally described as a contract whereby one person agrees to deliver to another the free possession of a thing in return for a price in money.
The missives of sale, in Scots property law, are a series of formal letters between the two parties, the Buyer and the Seller, containing the contract of sale for the transfer of corporeal heritable property (land) in Scotland. The term 'land' in this article includes buildings and other structures upon land.
A disposition in Scots law is a formal deed transferring ownership of corporeal heritable property. It acts as the conveyancing stage as the second of three stages required in order to voluntarily transfer ownership of land in Scotland. The three stages are: