House we want has changed agent?

milliebear00001

Henry_P_Chester wrote: »

How long after making your offer did the agent change? How long has it been on the Market?

If has been on a while it could be that the initial agent considered your offer sensible and knows that the property won't sell for the amount that is asked. If a vendor keeps refusing offers the agent considers to be ok they may have refuse to continue marketing it as they will have to continue working on the property knowing there is little chance of a sale.

Go through the new agent with the same or lower offer in a few month or two.

Agent changed approx two weeks later. Been on the market since Jan with only what the vendor said were 'silly offers' of about £30000 below asking price. We offered £15000 below.

DVardysShadow

googler wrote: »

I don't see how EA 1 can accept an offer on a property where they no longer have a mandate/instruction to sell it.

EA 1 has been dis-instructed. A new agency EA 2 has been instructed. The new agency will have either Sole Agency to sell the property, or Sole Selling Rights. Both of these imply that EA 1 no longer has any right to market or 'sell' the property.

Or am I missing something?

You are missing the role of the first agent in 'introducing' milliebear to the property. It crops up here quite frequently [usually from sellers] that the first agent will want commission for a sale to a buyer they introduced but who later buys through another agent - with a certain amount of justification too.

laurel7172

I wouldn't worry too much about it. Put in an offer via the second EA, don't mention your previous dealings, and if anything goes wrong, it isn't your problem.

A few years ago, we put in an offer via a second EA, having originally viewed via another. The house was on the market with both, and we'd seen so many houses we'd genuinely forgotten who the original EA was. The vendor notified both EAs and the EAs sorted it out between them. It's the same for you...it's up to the vendor and EAs to reach an arrangement.

googler

DVardysShadow wrote: »

You are missing the role of the first agent in 'introducing' milliebear to the property. It crops up here quite frequently [usually from sellers] that the first agent will want commission for a sale to a buyer they introduced but who later buys through another agent - with a certain amount of justification too.

...but as I said, this isn't the OP's problem. It's up to the vendor and the two agents to sort out.

The combination of the two agents' contracts may leave the vendor open to paying two fees, but they should have thought that through before changing agents. It's not of any concern to the buyer, who, I feel, should make their offer to the agent who is currently marketing the property, not the one who has obviously been dismissed.

Only one of the agents now has sole agency or sole selling rights, and that's EA2.

DVardysShadow

googler wrote: »

...but as I said, this isn't the OP's problem. It's up to the vendor and the two agents to sort out.

The combination of the two agents' contracts may leave the vendor open to paying two fees, but they should have thought that through before changing agents. It's not of any concern to the buyer, who, I feel, should make their offer to the agent who is currently marketing the property, not the one who has obviously been dismissed.

Only one of the agents now has sole agency or sole selling rights, and that's EA2.

Of course it is not directly of concern to the buyer - except that this complication DOES make their offer a bit hot to handle.

But you said originally

googler wrote: »

I don't see how EA 1 can accept an offer on a property where they no longer have a mandate/instruction to sell it.

EA 1 has been dis-instructed. A new agency EA 2 has been instructed. The new agency will have either Sole Agency to sell the property, or Sole Selling Rights. Both of these imply that EA 1 no longer has any right to market or 'sell' the property.

Or am I missing something?

Even though the first agent has been sacked, if they introduced the eventual buyer, they may have a claim to their commission. It is a headache for the vendor, but the buyer cannot know what the arrangements are between vendor and agents. It may cause a perfectly good offer to be rejected because the buyer went to the wrong agent and the vendor does not want the potential grief.