IN BRITAIN we are the worst gazumpers in Europe, with about one in three buyers falling victim. from home finders BDI Property Search has the following advice which may beat the problem.

Gazumping is when a vendor has already agreed to sell you a property and then goes on to accept a better offer from someone else before the contracts have been signed. Although it’s illegal in Scotland, there is no law against this in the rest of the UK.

People buy people, so friendly and frequent communication with the vendor and their estate agent goes a very long way to make sure that you don’t end up licking your wounds.

A vendor will find it much harder to do the dirty on a buyer with whom they have built a good relationship. Keep in contact – find any excuse you can.

Don’t be embarrassed to call the vendor or estate agent every other day to keep up the contact. Find things in common – if you both love gardening, the vendor will be delighted to know their garden will be well tended.

Speed is everything when it comes to protecting yourself against gazumping. If a vendor has the merest hint that your purchase might be delayed or cancelled they are more easily enticed by higher offers.

Ideally, before making an offer on a property, you will already have sold your own home, have a mortgage agreed in principle and have a solicitor ready to go.

It is yet to be seen whether Home Information Packs (HIPs), which become law on June 1 will speed up the process of buying and selling homes and reduce gazumping but the key is to always be prepared.

Make it a condition of your offer that, once accepted, the property is taken off the market. And be suspicious of any vendors who are not prepared to do this.

If you are really worried that the vendor may be open to gazumping, consider asking for a lock-in which commits both parties to sticking to their verbal agreement and to exchanging within an agreed period of time.

Each pays a small deposit (between one and a half and two per cent of the agreed offer) and if either side backs out of the agreement, the other receives both deposits.

In particular, if you are buying in a property hotspot, don’t quibble too much over the asking price or fixtures and fittings. By all means negotiate but do it quickly and in a business-like way.