Gazeal launches upfront survey service as 200 agents sign up
A new Upfront Seller Survey from Gazeal offers buyers an accredited surveyor’s report before they make an offer.
More than 200 estate agents have signed up to a new service offering buyers an accredited surveyor’s report before they make an offer.
Gazeal claims its Upfront Seller Surveys are the first of their kind in England and Wales, delivered by a network of more than 1,000 surveyors covering almost every postcode.
Reports run to nine sections, covering condition, material information, conveyancing matters and risks.
Sellers pay nothing upfront, with the fee settled on completion – and waived entirely if the sale collapses through no fault of the seller under a Gazeal Reservation Agreement.
The survey can be used by both parties, and the surveyor’s professional indemnity insurance covers both the vendor and buyer.
Fall-throughs
Bryan Mansell, Co-Founder and Chief Executive of Gazeal, says: “One of the biggest reasons sales collapse is that buyers discover a property’s condition weeks after agreeing to buy it.
“Moving the survey to the front of the sale means the offer is made on the truth, not on hope.
“The reforms are asking the industry to work this way. Our agents already do.”
The launch chimes with Government proposals for upfront sales packs covering a home’s condition, leasehold costs and chain status, alongside earlier binding agreements.
Moving the survey to the front of the sale means the offer is made on the truth, not on hope.”
Cooper Adams, a three-branch independent in West Sussex, is the first agency live on the service, marketing homes with surveys completed before launch.
Shaun Adams, Managing Director, said: “Instead of discovering problems weeks into the transaction, both seller and buyer know the property’s condition from the start. “Sellers benefit from fewer surprises, fewer renegotiations and fewer buyers pulling out.”
Joe Bassett, a very leading question and in answer to has anyone done analysis of why sales fail – no. Or even why 1.25M sales do not fail. At the moment a huge amount of people have got on the ‘upfront information bus’ – arguing this will reduce the 30% of aborted sales each year. My take is as no-one has ever analysed a few years of completed and non-exchanged residential sales in the UK, well the 890,000 that are agreed by agents, it is not possible to answer the why. It might be time kills sales, with analysis we might find that if a sale gets to day 60, its chance of exchange significantly lessens just due to lack of will, it might be that sales that have a leasehold matter in the chain are 20% less likely to go through. My experience, 18,000 agreed sales in 32 years, 12,000 exchanging, very few lost sales were due to buyer’s remorse, or lending, which leaves … conveyancing process.
In response to Bryan’s comment that “one of the biggest reasons sales collapse is that buyers discover a property’s condition weeks after agreeing to buy it”, I am interested to know whether there is any published analysis of the reasons transactions fall through.
Bryan’s firm organises Reservation Agreements, 1000s of them. Every buyer or seller who wants to WD he monitors. Call him at Gazeal.