Perhaps it is normal that the vendor and buyer can change his/her mind before exchange of contract, but it usually cause problems when you really intend to buy and also begin to do some valuation, etc.

Here is my question, how we can ask the vendors to hold the house for us, rather than change their minds and go to others?
Actually I lost one recently and felt very upset when the verdor first accepted the offer and then changed the mind. That is a shame for these vendors and agency men, but how we can protect ourselves? Any suggestions? Or anyone has similar experiences like this?

Thanks in advance!

U CAN'T

nothing you can do.... unfortunately.

however you can buy the protection insurance which will cover a bit on the valuation lost!

I had one free of charger from the insurance company

楼上的仔细说说，我也是怕卖家反悔，这世道卖家不讲信誉，我们还真是没有啥好办法

buy a property in Scotland

first of all it's depends to vendor personality.
secondly, show your sincerity to them, act everything quickly.

有机会和vendor聊两句，rp看得出的。

这是一个很好的提议，可是到底可不可以越位的啊。怕中介和Vendor会不开心。
我看房子的时候Vendor 一家正好在家，我聊了一下，看样子他们多少对我们有点影响，对咱们也好。
那天纯粹是了一些生活上的东西，然后Vendor房东也正好买了Nokon D80，我那天带的是Canon 400D，咱两就研究起相机来了，把Agent也丢在一边了，当然谈吐上也不要太中国似，只顾着问问题，学鬼佬那样，一件小事能聊得天花乱坠的你就成功了，必须有礼貌谦虚，就像英国老家伙那样的虚伪有礼貌，不让对方讨厌就行，我们讨的是印象。

看Agent了，我的Agent不带你看房的，和Vendor联系好让你直接上门。
我Second View时带了英国朋友同去，结果俩人聊上了滔滔不绝一个多小时。

就得学他们那样的吹水。我也学了很久，主要你必须懂他们心里都想些啥，有时足球是走不了，可是别谈错队伍。

俺文盲，从来不和同事谈足球。没想到学车最后倒成谈资了，嘿，再加一个PB/Lost.

呵呵，利益当前，恐怕几十个小时的small talk也抵不上人家哪怕多上几百镑的OFFER吧

嘿嘿，买房的学问真多呀。

True. 不过有机会还是谈谈好，至少可以看出Vendor卖房的理由是否真能让人信服。(Well kinda)

毕竟金钱是王，当然如果在同样的Offer前提下，如果你对他的印象好，他当然会想起你。要不他们为何不给英国人而给咱中国人。

There is not much you can do about gazumping, but a few points can help you minimize the risk. Check out this help article at www.home.co.uk.

1.Help speed up the sale – the faster it is, the less opportunity there is for the seller to pull out.
2.Choose a seller whose agent has a policy on gazumping, if at all possible. Some agents insist that the seller signs an agreement to turn down any offers after one has been accepted.
3.Keep in regular contact with the seller's agent - tell them when you have completed the survey and received a formal mortgage offer. This way they can be sure that the sale is progressing and are less likely to be tempted to consider any other offers.
4.Make a pre-contract deposit agreement. This involves both parties paying a deposit of 1.5% of the agreed purchase price to a stakeholder, and signing an agreement saying that contracts will be exchanged within four weeks. If one side withdraws from the sale, the other party receives both deposits. If you are a gazumped buyer you therefore get some compensation. This is not a water-tight agreement as either party can pull out if they are willing to lose the deposit, but it definitely reduces the risk.
5.Draw up an exclusivity agreement with the seller after your offer has been accepted. In return for a fee, this gives you exclusive rights to the house as long as contracts are exchanged within a certain period. Few people make such an agreement as it involves hiring a solicitor, but it is worth considering.
6.Take out insurance cover to protect you if your deal falls through. This is yet another expense, but you might be glad of it if things do go wrong.
7.Insist that the house be taken off the market once your offer has been accepted. Check that the board outside the house has a 'sold' sign on it, and contact the agent if it does not.