I think we've dropped ourselves in it.

bullett

Kind of just want confirmation/advise. We are in the process of buying/selling a property. We have had no buyers from the EA and as such decided to come off the market. Had a confirmation letter from the EA with a final date of October. That's sounded a long time so I checked the contract. It appears we have a 21week Sole selling contract. Now this in itself isn't an issue except that we have now had a private offer.

Now in my experience contracts all appear to be 12 weeks and sole agent. It wasn't specifically pointed out the differences and to be fair we didn't read the contract closely enough or question the difference in the terminology. I suppose even if we had read more closely we would still have signed as the likelyhood of a private sale was slim.

Are we completely stuffed, would it be worth attempting a negotiation or are these things pretty watertight? Any other options open to me?

Thanks
Bully

shiny76

How did the private buyer find out your property was for sale?

maninthestreet

5 month sole-selling rghts? Looks like they saw you coming!

betmunch

shiny76 wrote: »

How did the private buyer find out your property was for sale?

Doesnt matter with Sole Selling Rights, the only person that can sell it is the EA. They are due their fee.

OP thought it was Sole Agency Rights.

Hope I am wrong for the OP's sake, but that is my understanding of the situation.

kingstreet

If you've found a buyer now, the fact they think the contract ends in October isn't really relevant. If they have rights now, they will be entitled to a fee if the purchaser proceeds to exchange.

Were you aware of this potential interest at the point you went on the market with this agent? If so, did you inform them in advance?

bullett

Sole selling rights apparently.

We were not aware of any outside interest when we signed up. Hence why it wasn't really an issue even if we realised the difference between agent and seller.

The buyer found us because we are buying their house. They wanted to downsize we wanted to upsize. Great for everyone. We found their property after signing up with our EA.

iwilldoitthistime

Could you not agree to delay the exhange until October? Friends of mine did the same (swap houses) and delayed so they didnt have to pay the EA. They agreed that each party gained by half of the EA fee.

DVardysShadow

Is it worth it, to possibly lose this sale, come off the market, go back in October, when things are going quiet until the spring all to avoid the agent's fee? To lose say £3000 on the price to avoid £2000 in fees?

Time to bite the bullet.

WebGuru

Did the EA explain the contract to you?

High street agents won't exist in 5 years anyway. The market responded when EA's realised they could cut high street agent costs via online estate agents.

bullett

We are going to proceed anyway, and will do what we can to avoid the payment.

The EA didn't explain the contract, didn't specifically point out to us that it was Sole Seller or 21 weeks. As both these points are non standard I feel he should. We should have read and questioned more carefully though.

HellsGranny

Might be a thought to try a free session with a solicitor, so he can advise you if it is reasonable given the fact you weren't given the details of the EA's T&Cs.

You may have an outside chance of a claim under Unfair Terms and Conditions, but somehow I doubt it.

Cheers, HG