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Has anyone here used a pre-contract deposit agreement?
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For all the hassle and downfalls of having such an agreement, I'd be feeling better about my buyer pulling out of our sale on Monday if I had a grand right now...0
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sounds like several weeks will be wasted working on such a contract
And several hundred pounds in legal costs negotiating it AND explaining to the client what is and what isn't covered and where the grey areas are!RICHARD WEBSTER
As a retired conveyancing solicitor I believe the information given in the post to be useful assuming any properties concerned are in England/Wales but I accept no liability for it.0 -
Richard_Webster wrote: »And several hundred pounds in legal costs negotiating it AND explaining to the client what is and what isn't covered and where the grey areas are!
You keep it to a simple one liner: 'If you pull out, you lose your deposit.' So, if aliens start invading the planet and you pull out, you lose your deposit. World war 3 starts and you pull out, you lose your deposit. You realise Gollum secretly lives in the property and you pull out, you lose your deposit. Your cat is sick and you pull out, you lose your deposit. Prince Harry is having wild parties next door and you pull out, you lose your deposit. There is no way you can misunderstand that. It has nothing to do with fair. Both sides are taking a risk, so both sides should have something at risk.
You'd probably want a second line in there with a time constraint, too: 'If you don't exchange contracts in X weeks, you lose your deposit.' This is the only area where people might lie, to try and get their deposit and the other parties, by saying they never got the contract.“Democracy destroys itself because it abuses its right to freedom and equality. Because it teaches its citizens to consider audacity as a right, lawlessness as a freedom, abrasive speech as equality, and anarchy as progress.”
― Isocrates0 -
You keep it to a simple one liner: 'If you pull out, you lose your deposit.' So, if aliens start invading the planet and you pull out, you lose your deposit. World war 3 starts and you pull out, you lose your deposit. You realise Gollum secretly lives in the property and you pull out, you lose your deposit. Your cat is sick and you pull out, you lose your deposit. Prince Harry is having wild parties next door and you pull out, you lose your deposit. There is no way you can misunderstand that. It has nothing to do with fair. Both sides are taking a risk, so both sides should have something at risk.
You'd probably want a second line in there with a time constraint, too: 'If you don't exchange contracts in X weeks, you lose your deposit.' This is the only area where people might lie, to try and get their deposit and the other parties, by saying they never got the contract.
Why resurrect a 2 year old thread that died a natural death as everyone realised the subject matter was a non starter.If you are querying your Council Tax band would you please state whether you are in England, Scotland or Wales0 -
My buyer tried to get me to agree to a £2000 deposit on each side when I accepted his offer. I spoke to the EA who agreed this was unusual, and decided not to agree to this.
Anyway, the buyer withdrew the deposit demand, and we've now exchanged contracts, so it all worked out fine.0 -
lincroft1710 wrote: »Why resurrect a 2 year old thread that died a natural death as everyone realised the subject matter was a non starter.
Gazumping, gazundering and gazanging are all variations of front running and fraud. Luckily for people involved in these transactions, it's not a crime in the housing market, yet. I guess you want it to be a non-starter so you can continue being fraudulent. If the buyer or seller was really looking for a option, they should pay the price of an option and make it clear that is the type of agreement that both parties are entering.
If you are a buyer and thought prices were going to go up 20%, you'd want this. If you are a seller and thought prices were going to go down 20%, you'd want this. Quite simply, I'm surprised that we are not working to this higher standard, where both parties honour the price.“Democracy destroys itself because it abuses its right to freedom and equality. Because it teaches its citizens to consider audacity as a right, lawlessness as a freedom, abrasive speech as equality, and anarchy as progress.”
― Isocrates0 -
BeansOnToast wrote: »My buyer tried to get me to agree to a £2000 deposit on each side when I accepted his offer. I spoke to the EA who agreed this was unusual, and decided not to agree to this.
Anyway, the buyer withdrew the deposit demand, and we've now exchanged contracts, so it all worked out fine.
You could have quite easily gazumped him, given he had already given you the extra information that he was keen to buy, by wanting to enter such an agreement. Though you probably weren't worried that they could gazunder you, given the market is up 20%. Sellers have an advantage in a rising market and can dictate the terms to the buyers, whilst the opposite is true in a falling market.“Democracy destroys itself because it abuses its right to freedom and equality. Because it teaches its citizens to consider audacity as a right, lawlessness as a freedom, abrasive speech as equality, and anarchy as progress.”
― Isocrates0 -
The market is up 5% on last year in this town, according to Rightmove, not 20%. so it isn't quite so much of a buyers market as you make out.0
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