The Eavesdrop blog
Overheard on the market.
Big decisions. Small print. A little reading before your next move.
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There’s more to the addressFresh off the press
MomentGazundering: what it is and how to see it coming
Gazundering is when a buyer lowers their offer shortly before exchange of contracts, when the seller has the least room to say no, and it is legal in England and Wales because nothing is binding until exchange.
A little local knowledge
The word on the street.
5 articles to get you thinking.
MomentGazundering: what it is and how to see it coming
Gazundering is when a buyer lowers their offer shortly before exchange of contracts, when the seller has the least room to say no, and it is legal in England and Wales because nothing is binding until exchange.
DownstreamHow to check flood risk before you buy a house
You can check flood risk by postcode for free on the Environment Agency's long term flood risk service, which shows river, sea and surface water risk separately, and the answer decides your insurance, your lender and sometimes your price.
Next doorHow to check planning applications near a house before you buy
Search the council's planning portal by address and by a radius around it, then check the Local Plan for site allocations, because your solicitor's local search only covers the house you are buying, not the ones next to it.
MomentWhat does a level 2 survey cover, and what doesn't it?
A level 2 survey (the old homebuyer survey) covers what a surveyor can see and reach without moving furniture or lifting floors: damp, cracks, roof, windows and visible services, but nothing held in a register rather than the building.
On the recordWhy has this house been reduced? How to read a price history
A house is usually reduced because the first price found no buyer, a sale fell through, or a survey or search turned something up, and the listing's date trail, read alongside Land Registry sold prices, usually tells you which.
Got a property in mind?
Now read between its lines.
Find out what the listing didn’t say. Before you offer or sign.