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Can I ditch my Estage Agent and sell privately?

tc83
Posts: 15 Forumite


I have had my house on the market for 6 months with one estate agent and I have had 3 sales fall through. The people from the house I’m buying have contacted me directly and want to buy my house to rent out. If I take my house off the market I will not have to pay any fees however if I then sell privately to these people can the EA claim the fees?
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I have had my house on the market for 6 months with one estate agent and I have had 3 sales fall through. The people from the house I’m buying have contacted me directly and want to buy my house to rent out. If I take my house off the market I will not have to pay any fees however if I then sell privately to these people can the EA claim the fees?
Check your contract, but there will probably be a clause in there about the agents fee still being payable if you sell to someone they have introduced. Its a pretty standard clause im afraid.Spelling courtesy of the whims of auto correct...
Pet Peeves.... queues, vain people and hypocrites ..not necessarily in that order.0 -
fed_up_and_stressed wrote: »Check your contract, but there will probably be a clause in there about the agents fee still being payable if you sell to someone they have introduced. Its a pretty standard clause im afraid.0
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The estate agent introduced me to them as their buyer however they were not introduced to me as a potential buyer. So technically the estate agent can't claim they introduced them to us.
It is a tad rare for me to side with & be sympathetic Estate Agents, but in this case definitely. Shame on you Sir!0 -
theartfullodger wrote: »Think you'll find the Judge does not agree.
It is a tad rare for me to side with & be sympathetic Estate Agents, but in this case definitely. Shame on you Sir!0 -
I have had my house on the market for 6 months with one estate agent and I have had 3 sales fall through. The people from the house I’m buying have contacted me directly and want to buy my house to rent out. If I take my house off the market I will not have to pay any fees however if I then sell privately to these people can the EA claim the fees?
Only wanting to save myself thousands of pounds. No shame in that!!!
So you wan't their services but don't want to pay for it...... Good luck with your [STRIKE]scam[/STRIKE] plan....0 -
I disagree with the other posters.
But first, are you saying that you are buying and selling through the same EA?
If so, the EA introduced you to the property you are buying.
But the EA has not introduced the 'other party' to your property.
Talking of Judges (and 'effective introductions'), see what the court of appeal said in Foxtons v Bicknell : http://www.solicitorsjournal.com/news/family/children/no-future-estate-agents-battling-over-introductions
But this won't stop some dodgy EAs kicking up a fuss.
Obviously, this assumes that you have a fairly standard 'Sole Agency Agreement' - that talks about fees being payable for introducing a buyer.
If you have a 'Sole Selling Rights' agreement - you probably will have to pay a fee.0 -
I agree with eddy, for what it's worth. You have no contractual relationship with the EA whatsoever. And an introduction does not mean, in law, just a literal introduction as people. It is an introduction to the transaction on the property.
Your vendors/buyers will have a contract with the EA however, but that is essentially their problem. It's likely to be silent on matters like this however, because it's rare, and the UK tends to use a selling EA model.0 -
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It's quite a unique situation but I think eddddy is correct. You need to check the terms of your contract with the EA.
You are selling your house with estate agent X. You have had many fall through but no buyer. You want to dump them.
You are buying a house from person Z. Person Z is using estate agent Y.
Person Z has offered to buy your house. Person Z was not introduced by an estate agent because they already knew you, you are buying their house.
Could you please clarify: Are estate agent X and estate agent Y the same?Changing the world, one sarcastic comment at a time.0
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