Jargon buster

With so much jargon used in the property industry,in this blog we’re sharing some more of the most commonly misused and misunderstood expressions and terminology. 

Deeds:

These are the documents that list the owner(s) of a property or piece of land and any restrictions or charges that come with it. It can include rights of way and what can and can’t be altered.

The Land Registry website provides some of this information publicly and allows you to purchase digital copies of the property summary, title plan and title register for any registered property.

Gazumping:

This is when an interested party makes an offer on a property that another buyer is already purchasing. It is a practice that is highly frowned upon and not something we would ever actively encourage. However, it is worth noting that all estate agents are legally required to report any offers to a seller, right up until an exchange of contracts has taken place. This can be a difficult situation and the ultimate decision is that of the seller.

Dutch Auction:

This term is often misused by buyers when they know there is a high-level of interest in the property they’d like to offer on but ‘don’t want to get into a Dutch auction’. A Dutch auction is in fact, a method of sale where the price of a property is reduced until a buyer is found - completely the opposite to what you would expect from a property with a lot of interest.