Property platform Gazeal has achieved its first reservation agreement to feature an entire chain of buyers and sellers, following a deal set up via one its customer estate agents in Essex.
While the company’s reservation agreements are used by many agents’ vendors and buyers including Hunters, until now agreements have been between pairs of vendors and buyers only.
But for the first time ever a whole chain has signed up to one of its Chain Reservation Agreements, namely a first-time buyer and two upsizers, all buying or selling houses sourced via one of Gazeal’s key partners, Essex and Kent firm Balgores.
The firm’s sales director, Matthew Butler, says: “We are incredibly proud to be the first estate agency to implement Gazeal’s Chain Reservation Agreement.
“At Balgores, we always seek ways to provide our clients with the best possible service, and this agreement is a game-changer. It ensures our buyers and sellers have peace of mind, knowing their transactions are protected from unnecessary fall-throughs.”
Launched six years ago, Gazeal offers vendors and buyers the opportunity to voluntarily lock into a reservation agreement that sees one or more participants compensated if one of the players withdraws without a ‘good reason’, which excludes both gazundering and gazumping.
Gazeal has impressive credentials, winning Gold at The Negotiator Awards 2024, in the Supplier of the Year – Professional Support category, topping a shortlist of 21 companies.
Chain agreements
“Being able to secure a chain under a single Gazeal Agreement represents the final piece of our jigsaw”, Bryan Mansell, CEO of Gazeal (main image) tells The Neg. “I am particularly pleased that this has been done with Balgores”
“Working with the Balgores teams across all of their offices is amazing. They have been fully supportive of our mission and have been reserving the majority of their sales with Gazeal.
“As a result, they have successfully lowered their fall-through rates. This is the first time, through collaboration, that we have been able to introduce a Chain Reservation Agreement – proving that we are not just talking about solutions, we are delivering them. Together, Gazeal and Balgores are making history.”
Mansell points out that there are also major benefits for home movers who sign up to its ‘chain’ agreements, namely that the costs are lower because the firm doesn’t charge extra for multiple parties and therefore the cost is paid between them. Also, if anyone backs out of the deal, the compensation is paid to the remaining members equally.
“But we don’t automatically payout if someone withdraws and if a replacement buyer or vendor is found then they too can be added to the agreement – or a fresh agreement struck – but obviously if the withdrawal leads to the chain collapsing – or it can’t be reformed – and the withdrawal is not for a ‘good reason’ specified within the reservation agreement, then we pay out,” he adds.
Historic
Mansell says the ‘historic’ deal he has just struck in Essex was organised within 24 hours of all three parties in the chain agreeing that they were keen to ‘lock it down’.
Gazeal has come close to a ‘chain’ agreement five or six times before but often one person would decide not to go ahead at the last minute.
“But we’re gaining traction on this front and our second chain agreement is, hopefully, about to go through in a few days,” he adds.
Mansell adds that he’s got another big agency trialling his reservation agreement too with a view to introducing them across their branch network.
“Our experience is that once an agent uses Gazeal however tentatively, once the first few deals go through via a reservation agreement, they don’t look back,” he adds.
“Our agreements help agents get instructions because their staff can promise to protect a vendor’s sale from falling through and therefore protects their pipelines and revenue,” he adds.
“But we are primarily a protection that vendors and buyers see as a good idea particularly in a volatile market because, if there’s one thing they all fear, it’s the chain falling apart – and estate agents are the way we distribute that solution to them.”
If whole-chain agreements do become commonplace then it could become the ‘silver bullet’ that Ministers in Government, and most recently Labour, have been seeking to stop the estimated 300,000 fall-throughs that imperil the housing market every year.
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