Gazundering: what is it, why does it happen & how can I prevent it?

The property market is pretty circular and, well, what goes around comes around. As an estate agent, White & Brooks has seen property values surge ahead, plateau and, less frequently, dip a little but the same patterns tend to repeat themselves.

This nature means certain buying behaviours also recur. Two of these are gazumping and gazundering. Gazumping tends to occur when there are more purchasers in the market, especially those who are desperate to move, than homes available. A buyer will fend off competition by lodging a higher offer that a rival, often at the last minute, which the seller finds hard to resist.

Gazundering explained

Gazundering is the complete opposite to gazumping and it’s more pronounced in a cooling property market. When a seller is gazundered, they are subject to a buyer lowering their offer. This frequently happens so late in the transaction that it forces the seller to accept. Although it is considered unethical by estate agents, gazundering - and gazumping- are not illegal.

Why do buyers gazunder?

Although market conditions are often the catalyst for gazundering, some buyers will feel compelled to make a ‘cheeky offer’ just in case they can get a ‘deal’, while a detrimental survey report may push others to reduce their offer late in the day.

There may also be the ‘domino effect’ – when the buyer has themselves been gazundered and needs the price of their purchase to reduce in order to make finances work. Gazundering may also occur when the price a purchaser has agreed to pay is below the lender’s valuation - a situation known as down valuing.

At the end of 2025, there was a worrying report from Osbornes Law, claiming 90% of buyers are ‘gazundering’ to reduce the agreed sale price of properties. Thankfully, gazundering isn’t something our Chichester and Bognor Regis offices deal with on a regular basis. Still, it is good to know how to bulletproof your sale from gazundering.

5 ways to reduce the risk of being gazundered

While gazundering can be difficult to prevent, especially as it often comes out of the blue, there are steps sellers can take to minimise the chances:

1. Start with a realistic asking price: the price agreed should reflect the genuine value of your home – avoid the temptation to demand an artificially inflated figure that’s out of kilter with similar properties in your area.

2. Be upfront about any known issues: problems will eventually be uncovered in a survey, prompting the buyer to ask for a price reduction. An initial asking price that reflects a property’s true condition should reduce the risk of gazundering. Alternatively, come to the market having addressed any structural or maintenance issues.

3. Be selective about your buyer: where possible, choose a chain-free buyer who isn’t vulnerable to being gazundered themselves, thus reducing the domino effect.

4. Push for a swift exchange: the fewer days between offer accepted and exchange, the less time there is for a buyer to gazunder.

5. Choose a buyer with a firm mortgage offer: a mortgage agreement in principle tells you how much the buyer can secure from a lender. Without this, they may make an offer to later discover they can’t borrow enough, potentially forcing them to drop their offer.

The value of a good estate agent

While an experienced estate agent can’t stop a buyer gazundering, they can reduce the risk of it happening by being proactive. At White & Brooks, we help sellers in Chichester, Bognor Regis and across West Sussex navigate the prevailing market conditions by:

• Setting a realistic asking price: we’ll take into account what similar properties to yours have sold for recently and consider local buyer demand.

• Being honest about your home’s condition: explaining what may hinder its sales value and what might get picked up in a surveyor’s report, giving you the opportunity to rectify any issues or set a moderated asking price.

• Carefully vetting buyers: establishing who is chain free, a cash buyer, a borrower with a mortgage agreement in principle or a bad bet.

• Driving the best deal on your behalf: liaising with the buyer to ensure you achieve as close to your asking price as possible, and recommending when you should walk away and remarket your property for better prospects.

• Keeping doors open: ensuring other potential buyers are kept warm so there are waiting prospects should an offer be reduced to an unacceptable level.

• Negotiating on your onward purchase: on rare occasions when gazundering happens, you may find yourself in the position of having to accept a lower offer. In these circumstances, we may be able to negotiate the purchase price of the home you are hoping to buy.

Our Chichester and Bognor Regis teams will guide you through every step of a sale, ensuring you understand why decisions are made and pushing for the best outcome. Now is a good time to find out what your home could sell for – book a valuation with White & Brooks today.