Mr. Patrick Davitt:

It means that the property is sold to somebody on the basis of the price that person is offering to pay for it. That is really all it means. It does not mean to say that the property is bought or anything. We cannot do that. Gazumping is well within the law, wherein somebody could see a sign on the property stating that it is sold, and somebody such as the Cathaoirleach bought it for €350,000 and the agent has taken a deposit, etc., on it. People could see the property and say that they missed that and meant to bid more on that, or, worse than that, they could say they wanted to let the bidding go to the end and that now they are going to make a bid on it. The Cathaoirleach could come along and offer me, the agent, €370,000 for it, and I would, by law, have to go back to my vendor and tell the vendor that there is another bid on the property for €370,000 and ask if the vendor wants to accept that or is happy to stay with the €350,000. Some vendors will stay with the original offer and some will not, depending on if it is a larger sum or not. Sale agreed means very little except that the property a sale has been agreed with somebody at that particular time.