Estate Agent sole selling period

notrich

Is there a common tie-in period for an agent? I've just had a valuation done and they state it is 26 weeks. Is this normal?

Thank you

chickmug

It is one of the longers ones and too long for a tie in. Half that tie is better but it depends on the area you live in as it varies around the country. Could get for even less ie 6/8 weeks perhaps.

Rossa_3

When I sold my house in 2006, the tie in was only for 3 months. Mind you houses were still moving relatively quickly. Then the average time in this area to process the sale was 4 months and we took 5 months.

In the current market I think they are just trying to give themselves as long as possible to find a buyer. You could consider a joint agency agreement where the first one to sell it gets the commission which may buck up their ideas. Though some agents share commission depending on how they agree who got the purchaser and how.

Have you thought about doing it yourself via the internet. A lot of people use the 'net to look for houses before going to an agent or do a drive by to check out a house before approaching an agent. So your property will be advertised in the same places online that it would through an agent. May be worth trying and if no takers, try an agent. Think it costs up to £150 DIY, though a basic package may be cheaper.

googler

"So your property will be advertised in the same places online that it would through an agent"

No it won't - it won't be on the agents' websites, and I'd suggest people look on these more often than they look at the DIY sites.

Most of the DIY sites I've seen have been launched with a fanfare and a smattering of publicity, but seem to disappear not long after when nobody lists their houses on them..... if anyone has a successful DIY site to prove me wrong, by all means join the discussion.

notrich

Thanks, I thought it seemed quite long. When i did a search, I saw someone had requested a week -which is probably pushing the boundary a bit!

Home_Swap_Advice

It is quite a long tie in period but as Chickmug says, it is not unusual to find tie in periods in this market.

A lot of it depends on which area you are in and what other agents are using in their contracts. If you want to go on with the agent. Tell them that you would like the tie in period reduced. They may not have a problem doing that for you.