EA Dropped price without consulting me!

LittleWonder_2

I jointly own a property and we are trying to sell at the moment - not a happy situation. Ex instructed the EA to drop the price by £5k and they did it without consulting me.

They have been told that me and the ex aren't working on this together - where do I stand with making a complaint? We are exclusive with them for 8 weeks - have they breached their contract? They never phone me with details and have dropped the price after less than 3 weeks on the market, just because the ex has put an offer on another property and wants to shift it!

Do I have to accept what any Tom, !!!!!! or Harry offers just because she will? It is a 50/50 owned property.

Any words of wisdom will be gratefully received!

brit1234

LittleWonder wrote: »

I jointly own a property and we are trying to sell at the moment - not a happy situation. Ex instructed the EA to drop the price by £5k and they did it without consulting me.

They have been told that me and the ex aren't working on this together - where do I stand with making a complaint? We are exclusive with them for 8 weeks - have they breached their contract? They never phone me with details and have dropped the price after less than 3 weeks on the market, just because the ex has put an offer on another property and wants to shift it!

Do I have to accept what any Tom, !!!!!! or Harry offers just because she will? It is a 50/50 owned property.

Any words of wisdom will be gratefully received!

For one person to sell a house is very difficult at the moment, for two wanting control it is near impossible. Maybe its your partner seeing sense and you are making issues due to your seperation to get back at her. Take a reality pill, prices are falling very fast and the only way to sell is to drop the price. If you just want to be stubon and not sell you are on the right path.

PasturesNew

What Brit said.

LittleWonder_2

So I let her sell for whatever number pops into her head? She doesn't need any equity out of the property and will gladly plunge into negative equity just to screw me over.

And you are also saying that the estate agent doesn't need consent of both parties to change the marketing of the property?

I am aware of the current climate - believe me - but to say that I must relinquish any say in what happens to the property to get it sold is ridiculous!

owner

She can't 'sell' for whatever price she likes as you have to agree to the sale. But all she is doing at the moment is 'advertising' at any price she likes. Is your contract with the agent in both names ? If so instruct them to inform you of any changes to the details although I can understand them not wanting to become involved in what is basically your domestic.

I'm in the same situation (Trying to sell joint owned property) and both the price reductions I have made the estate agent has actioned on my say so alone (Although I have agreed the new price with my ex in advance as that is the correct thing to do imo)

ALIBOBSY

Its is possible that your ex told them she had approved the drop with you. You need to make it clear that you expect everything to be passed to you separately to her. However this make it very difficult for the EA to do their job and makes it more likely that the house won't sell.
From what you said this is what you want, soundslike she just wants to sell and sever all ties with you not "screw you over".
I know splitting up is difficult, espcially if the other person seems to be moving on before you are. Try to step back from your emotions a bit and see what you are doing. Subconciously holding on to the house keeps her tied to you, once its gone you know she is out of there.

The reality is houses/flats in some areas are losing thousands each month. 5k after 3 wks may be reasonable as prices may have dropped and it may be that the original price has proved to be too high (the EA makes a guesstimate but if there is little interest they may have had to revise very quickly) they may be trying to generate interest. Should they have contacted you? Probably. But what would you have said? If you had refused the drop you may well have been doing it just to stop your ex moving on?
ali x

Old_Git

you could say a £5000 drop is £2,500 each ,but if you didnt agree to the drop just tell your ex she will have to take the loss if you both dont agree on the price .

mayzie

I believe she or the agent should have contacted you to ask your opinion.
I do not agree that she should be able to reduce without your agreement and think she is daft to try it.When she has found a buyer at a price "she thinks is acceptable" if you do not agree , then you do not sign.This wastes everybodies time and gets nowhere.

Why others are looking into the reason for you not accepting, this is more a reflection of how they would feel.:D

I would let her know and the agent that you will accept this drop but any future drop will be totally out of her share unless she gets(and your agent) your agreement in writing.

silvercar

Dropping the asking price doesn't obligate you to accept any offers. You are now in a position to test the waters at a lower price.

EA must be pulling his hair out. So difficult to sell at the moment without the sellers argueing amongst themselves. Your attitude will probably mean your property gets put on the back burner. From the EAs point of view, even if he manages to get a buyer for you, the chances of the 2 of you agreeing and a sale resulted are less likely than if he had co-operative sellers.

Unless the 2 sellers can behave according to whats needed in this market ie flexability and co-operation, your chances of selling are small.

Not what you want to hear, but why would a buyer waste money on a survey when the sellers can't agree on anything. Lots of property for sale at the moment, far easier to chose one with agreeable sellers.

LittleWonder_2

I feel compelled to defend myself. Nothing would make me happier than to see us both move on ASAP into new homes with as little bad feeling as possible, but I am not going to relinquish my say in the property because she will sell it for the least possible amount just to move it because she is one of these rare people for whom money is not a problem. I have lost my life savings in this property already, I don't want to be financially crippled for the forseeable future.

I am very upset that people have made very personal assumptions about my situation and basically missed the point of my posting - can the EA get away with acting against their client's request and do I have to sell at the price that she solely agrees on. For all I know she could be selling the house to a friend and making cash on the sly!

I would suggest that people who want to make spiteful comments about people clearly desperate for help because of this horrible financial crisis post their 'advice' elsewhere.

silvercar

If you've taken my post the wrong way I'm sorry. The fact is that the quickest way for you both to move on with your lives is to make the sale as easy as possible. That means sorting out differences yourselves and presenting the estate agent and buyers with happy, smiley, accommodating faces.

Estate Agents get away with lots of things, including telling buyers the sort of price they need to offer to secure the sale and ignoring the official asking price.

No, you don't have to sell at any price. The only way this could be forced on you is by a court order or a mortgage repossession.