This is true, for property that is not real estate. Real property is almost always highly regulated by states codes. And in California in particular there is a very specific process if you have an agent with a state Real Estate License. No hand shake deals if seller has an agent.
There are potentially other laws that can lead to misrepresentation or even fraud. I’m skeptical that he has a case there, but I don’t know enough details to say with any certainty. (also I’m a layperson)
It’s like a microcosm of everything wrong with real estate speculation.
Housing Bubble In Two Acts
A protracted lawsuit over breach of a verbal contract for the Brady Bunch house would be very on brand for 2018.
It’s CA, so…
Are contracts for the sale of property required by law to be in writing, if not…
https://www.stimmel-law.com/en/articles/verbal-contracts-enforceable
If the person making the representation of a contract (accepting bid, drawing up notification of winning bid etc…) is the agent as it seems to be in this case, then I’m betting that he has a case.
I really don’t care, do you?
I discovered gazumping when buying a flat in England in the 80s. It really surprised me that estate agents could and would continue to show a place and solicit a better offer after a price was agreed. I chalked it up to Thatcherism, though I expect it preceded her. Obviously, it only works in a rising market.
My Scots friends thought it was despicable, and very English.
It is possible to get out of a sale as a seller in the US, but it is much much harder. (It is easier as a buyer.) I’m a little surprised the Brady house seller is getting away with it without some kind of penalty.
I hadn’t heard of the term gazumping before, but I did know that most of the time when an offer is accepted, the contract that governs what happens between then and actual closing usually has plenty of clauses that offer both sides excuses to tank the deal if they choose to. Even if they aren’t actively showing it, an agent will often get attractive unsolicited offers even after it’s pending, which they will then use as leverage to make sure that you uphold your end. Because they also like to have a plan B in case it’s the buyer who is unscrupulous and tanks the deal because they find a better house. Eventually I started to understand why our agent cared so much about the reputation of the opposing agent we were dealing with.
That’s the question I ask myself every morning.
Like every real estate transaction in Vancouver, SF, or London.
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