would we have to pay our estate agent, we found a "buyer"

xfsfan

We have been with our estate agent since april, viewings havent been steady at all, think we have had four or five people come to view it. No offers. We havent heard a thing from the EA since a week before christmas when we last dropped the price.

Because we are desperate to sell I have been putting up adverts online using my own pictures, I have not used any pictures the EA took, they are all my own that I have taken.

A lady emailed me over the weekend, then gave me her phone number so I could call her, she saw my advert on gumtree, liked the look of the house and would like to come and view it.

She told me they had already sold their house recently so it would be a cash sale and would we want to do it privately or through my EA.

Never done this before so didnt really know what to say to be honest.

Spoke to my family about it and opinions are split, one side says I still have to pay our EA, the other side say we dont as they did not find this buyer (if it sells of course)

I have just been looking over my contract and it says sole agency agreement on it. It also says this contract gives us the right to act as sole agent for a period of twelve weeks.

Anyone any ideas on if we would have to pay them or not? Its fine if we do, just trying to figure everything out and didnt really want to call them to ask because the lady might not even want it after seeing it in person.

pmlindyloo

Basically it depends on the wording of your contract - you need to read it with a fine toothcomb.

Have a look at this website:

http://www.theadvisory.co.uk/estate-agents.php (scroll down - the relevant part is on the righthand side) to give you an overview.

MissMotivation

It depends what contract you have signed....

Sole Agency Agreement - you would need to pay to agents fees if they introduce a buyer to you by way of any advertising they have done

Sole Selling Rights - you would need to pay the agents fees if anyone purchases the property, including a private buyer, friend, family....

Basically, if you've signed a Sole Selling rights agreement you're screwed!

googler

Why didn't you tell the agent you were advertising it personally elsewhere?

When advertising it elsewhere, why wouldn't you put the agent's contact details on the advert?

sonastin

If, as you say, it is sole agency then there is a chance that you won't need to pay the agent. How about getting a solicitor to look over the contract and giving you a view. You'll need a solicitor anyway when it comes to selling the house so you might as well engage him now.

Even if there is nothing in the contract which entitles the EA to a fee, expect to be charged one and expect a fair degree of correspondence from the EA trying to get you to pay up - even if it is just a nuisance payment to make them go away. They might just put more effort into extracting a fee from you than they have put into selling the house.

As a defence against this, get your paperwork in order now. Make a record of the gumtree advert which shows that it isn't based on their marketing materials. Ask the buyer (if she ends up making an offer) if she will give you written confirmation that she had not seen the EAs marketing and that her interest in the property came from the Gumtree add and not through the work of the EA.

xfsfan

googler wrote: »

Why didn't you tell the agent you were advertising it personally elsewhere?

When advertising it elsewhere, why wouldn't you put the agent's contact details on the advert?

I did tell them I was planning on putting adverts up of my own and they said that was ok for me to do, but I didnt really think about it too much as in, if we actually found a buyer, I have been using gumtree for years and the amount of time wasters on there is shocking, if I am honest I didnt think we would find somebody genuine.

I didnt put the agents details on the ad as I wasnt sure if I had to, hence asking now if I send them to my agent or do it privately..

Dpc_2

Sould be ok if sole agent and you told them you were advertising.

The other thing to consider is contacting the agent about accepting a reduced fee but getting them to do chain checks, affordability checks, sales chasing and any other negotiations ie after survey. Also they come in handy for keys hand over on completion.

An agents job does not end once a buyer is found.

Ianh82

you shouldn't have a problem. i advertised mine seperately and told my estate agent that and he said it's not a problem unless a buyer they sent originally brought the house then they could have you on introducing them and demand a fee.

if they had no intervention with the sale, they don't really have a leg to stand on. but read the small print.

[Deleted User]

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movilogo

Can you not simply cancel the contract with EA and move on with your own found buyer? You can terminate contract with EAs after 3-4 months of usual locking period.

But read the wording of your actual policy first.

xfsfan

Just wanted to post an update. My EA just called me, I told him about the advert I had put up and that the lady contacted me to say she wanted to come and view the house, if it sold where do we stand with their fee?

He said they have been advertising the house, they also put up a "for sale" sign, and sent viewers to us in the past so they are due their fee, he told me I have to tell the lady to contact him so she can arrange the viewing with them and we cannot do it any other way.

What he says it true, we have had some viewers around in the past, before christmas, but none of the viewers were interested in offering on or buying the house, so those viewers did not result in the sale of my house, yes there is a for sale sign outside but as we live in the country in a rural location at the end of a cul de sac we dont have people driving or walking passed the house on a regular basis except for the postie. The lady lives 300 miles away so its not like she walked passed my house then contacted me.

Paying the EA is not the problem, if they are due their fee then they are due their fee and that would be fair enough, but their advertising has not resulted in the sale of my house so Im unsure why I should be paying them 2 per cent for a buyer they didnt even find (if she buys it that is..)