gazump

Intermediate 🏠 Real Estate

Definition

The ethically questionable act of accepting a higher offer on a property after already agreeing to sell to someone else but before contracts are signed. It's the real estate equivalent of leaving someone at the altar for a richer suitor.

Example Usage

We were two weeks from closing when the seller gazumped us for a buyer offering 20k more—I've never felt so betrayed by a three-bedroom ranch.

Origin

British slang from the 1920s Yiddish word 'gezumph' meaning to swindle or overcharge

Fun Fact

Gazumping is practically a national sport in the UK's overheated property markets, but it's relatively rare in the US where earnest money deposits create more binding agreements.

Source: British real estate terminology, increasingly used internationally

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