A better offer on my flat has been made.

aphek

I am selling my flat to a developer through an estate agent. The developer is offering £60,000, of which I will have to pay £2,400 to the estate agent upon completion. This is very good money for the estate agent as all he had to do was phone up a developer who immediately offered me £60,000.

Another developer has just offered me £61,000 saying that he won't need to do any searches ( he already owns two flats in the block where I live ), and that all will go smoothly. Obviously, if I agree to his offer I won't have to pay the estate agent their £2,400 ( but might have to pay a 'get-out' fee ).

I would be very grateful for some advice on this as I urgently need to move but don't want to get my fingers burned.

kazwookie

I would suggest you look at and carefully read the contact you have signed with the estate agent, as the clues as to how much you will have to pay will be in there.

googler

How did the second dev find out your flat was for sale?

phoebe1989seb

googler wrote: »

How did the second dev find out your flat was for sale?

I was thinking the same thing, but assumed that they discovered it as a result of already owning flats in the same block/development (OP says investor already owns two in their block) perhaps......

Prothet_of_Doom

Even if the EA wants all his commission, it's still £1000 more. I'd suggest that you read the small print, as it's usually clear that you can't side step the EA.

Accept the new offer on the basis that they must exchange within two weeks. (Check with your solicitor that he has no problem with this) Then I'd go back to the estate agent and tell them that they need to get the first developer to offer £63K and exchange within 2 weeks or you will have to go with the second Developer.

Atomix

Dont accept the second offer just yet, the developer might come in with a higher offer still... you will need a cut-off price ie when you eventually agree on a deal, but another £1k to a developer is nowt.

Nice when it happens like that eh!

hazyjo

No guarantees he's not going to gazunder you at the last minute...

Also, I certainly would not presume "Obviously, if I agree to his offer I won't have to pay the estate agent their £2,400". You had a contract with them, they found you a buyer... if you then pull out, you will probably find you're actually still liable for all their fees! They have done what you signed up for.

I would hurry things along with the first buyer, and, if it falls through (or if he tries to gazunder), get in touch with the other developer.

Jx

moneyistooshorttomention

Must admit I'd be in a bit of a quandary myself in your situation, ie knowing that both the parties concerned are developers, rather than home-owners.

Also, my first reaction to your saying you have to hand £2.4k to the EA was "How much!:eek:". Crikey...I'm going to have to pay my EA around that level and my property is worth approx. 3 times what yours is. That EA charges a LOT then don't they!

Hope you work this out okay. I'd certainly stick with my buyer for sure if it was a home-owner (as my own buyer is), but would be in a bit of a quandary if it was a developer anyway (knowing they seem to have few qualms about "stuffing" their vendor from what I can see) whereas I've assumed that most home-owning buyers will act ethically, so I will in return.

Headache time and hope it works out for you.

Enfieldian

Yep.

Change buyers for £1,000 and then when the original buyer comes back with another £500 switch back to him and so on.......

Seriously though, ask both parties for their best and final offers including anticipated exchange/completion dates and make your decision based on two lots of full information.

phoebe1989seb

moneyistooshorttomention wrote: »

Must admit I'd be in a bit of a quandary myself in your situation, ie knowing that both the parties concerned are developers, rather than home-owners.

Also, my first reaction to your saying you have to hand £2.4k to the EA was "How much!:eek:". Crikey...I'm going to have to pay my EA around that level and my property is worth approx. 3 times what yours is. That EA charges a LOT then don't they!

Hope you work this out okay. I'd certainly stick with my buyer for sure if it was a home-owner (as my own buyer is), but would be in a bit of a quandary if it was a developer anyway (knowing they seem to have few qualms about "stuffing" their vendor from what I can see) whereas I've assumed that most home-owning buyers will act ethically, so I will in return.

Headache time and hope it works out for you.

Gosh yes, that does seem an extortionate amount of EA commission - I hadn't noticed that bit :eek: We sold my parents' house for almost five times that and paid a fixed fee of around £2500! No experience with investors personally, except the one that withdrew from buying my parents' house after two days when he made enquiries at the council and found he couldn't have a dropped kerb put in......not sure why he wanted one tbh when there was already a drive and garage

phill99

aphek wrote: »

Obviously, if I agree to his offer I won't have to pay the estate agent their £2,400 ( but might have to pay a 'get-out' fee ).

.

Hope you have a good solicitor!