Selling Independant AND through Agent?

sinclasc

Guys,
I'm currently for sale with an agent at £129,950.

I'm considering selling independant (on the net) at £124,950, the idea is to be just under stamp duty, while offsetting the loss in sale price a little with the saving of agents fees...

My question is this; can the agent object if I sell independant, and claim that they introduced the buyer? Since they already have the property on the net, etc...?

Tassotti

It depends on your agreement with the agent.

If the EA has sole selling rights, then you will have to pay them whatever.

If they have sole agency rights, then you can sell independently with no EA fees.

Tass

courtjester

You need to be careful who you choose to advertise with when going with a private sales website alongside an agent - only if the company offers NO agency services can you avoid conflict with a sole agency agreement - the OFT warned earlier this year that many smaller web-services, who claim not be agents, are in fact offering agency services, even though they say they don't.

Make sure you select an established professional service.

Don't list your price differently on the net to the price you have via the agent. This is potentially confusing for buyers who may see both sets of ads and also could be a problem legally as you may be regarded as misleading buyers by showing the property as different prices.

Although you have more negotiating room with a no commission sale, bear in mind that this saving should be yours, not the buyers - the market value of the property is the same however you sell it. If you do the work of the agent, why should the buyer benefit?

Your agent can't object (legally) to your advertising privately, but they may not like it much. If your agent claims to have introduced a buyer, they must be able to prove that - there should be evidence of registration and correspondence as well as arrangement of a viewing - the onus of proof is on them to show that they have sold your home. It is not up to you to prove that the agent has not introduced a buyer (how would you prove a negative anyway...?).

Conversely, all you need to do is keep a record of communications with private buyers - which is you rown audit trail of where buyers came from - your agent would not be giving out your telephone number /email address, hence anyone who contacts you direct must therefore be via a private source.

Get your own for sale sign outside the property in place of the agent's - agents love to claim that anyone they don't know about "must have seen our sign" to try and justify a claim on commission even though they have no other evidence of bringing about the sale of the property to a buyer.

jamminjamaica

you need to check what you agreed with the estate agent. i know i am bound by the agent and can not market independantly aswell