Cash back when selling, is it worth it?

Yousef83

Hi,

My wife and I have decided to sell our home. The estate agent suggested doing the cashback deal where you offer 1000 as long as the buyer uses the estate agents solicitor. I've not signed up for it just yet but am now beginning to have doubts about if we should or not. Part of it seems like a con to me and the state agent trying to get more money from us but we really need to sell as we are moving to Canada next year.

Any thoughts, advice or experience from anyone is greatly appreciated

Thanks

Yousef

Hippychick

That seems like a roundabout way for the EA to breach it's code of practice. The EA will get a 'referral fee' from the solicitor concerned so are just in it to make more money.

You can offer whatever incentive you like to get a buyer (be it stamp duty paid, gifted deposit etc etc), you don't need to add conditions, tbh it may put buyers off because a lot of people don't like to feel pressured to use a particular service.

I know if I was offered that from a vendor I may be a little put off about being 'forced' to use a certain solicitor.

sammyjammy

Totally agree with Hippychick, the only person who will gain from this are the Estate agent and solicitor.

Richard_Webster

These days lenders may well downvalue the property to the extent of the cash back and thereby reduce the mortgage the buyer thought he was going to get. Therefore it would be better for the seller to accept £1,000 less on the basic price!

Also the estate agents pet solicitors/conveyancers will be some distant factory who are quite likely to hold things up while they go through ticking the boxes their case handlers have been told to tick.

DVardysShadow

Yousef83 wrote: »

Hi,

My wife and I have decided to sell our home. The estate agent suggested doing the cashback deal where you offer 1000 as long as the buyer uses the estate agents solicitor. I've not signed up for it just yet but am now beginning to have doubts about if we should or not. Part of it seems like a con to me and the state agent trying to get more money from us but we really need to sell as we are moving to Canada next year.

Any thoughts, advice or experience from anyone is greatly appreciated

So you should fork out £1000 to push business in the direction of the Agent's pet solicitor? And what do you get out of it? Do you get any more benefit for doing this than for dropping the price by £1000 and letting the buyer choose his own solicitor.

Actually, if I can across this as buyer, I would think that the seller was stupid and that the agent was in the habit of taking advantage of stupid people. I would also expect the £1000 off anyway and use my own solicitor.

Not the position you want to be in as seller. I would not put a house with an agent which was selling a single property with this incentive.

lincroft1710

Find another agent, don't use one who is trying to take you for a mug.