Selling privately after advertising with an estate agent

whattodo02

hi, I wonder if anyone can offer advice please.


we have been on the market with an agent for the last 2 months. we've had a few viewings but no offers.


we then had a friend ask us if her friend could view as she was looking to move to the area.




we agreed and did this, now she has given us an offer and we are thinking about accepting.
But I wondered where this leaves us with estate agent fees? we have a 'sole agency' contract. we have passed the minimum period that we have to be on the market with them. we would just need to give 14 days notice to end the contract.
would this mean we could go ahead and sell without their fees or would we still be liable please?
Many thanks in advance

Levs01

There is probably a clause that's says if you sell within a certain period after removal from sale the fees would be due. Read your T&c's and it should tell you. Oh and EA's regularly check the land registry of properties they've had on to see if this type of thing happens so they can claim. It's to prevent you getting a buyer they introduced and you trying to avoid their fees and cancel and sell private. Your sale may be private but you have to prove they never saw the rightmove ad or anything else.

steampowered

You need to read the T&Cs in your contract. There will be a clause which explains when the agent is entitled to commission.

A sole agency contract will typically say that the agent is entitled to commission if the house is sold during the term of the contract, or during a waiting period thereafter.

If there is a waiting period you'd need to let it run out before selling the house if you want to avoid paying them fees.

whattodo02

All I can see is we need to give 14 days to end the contract. would this be the waiting period?


Also any ideas how on earth we would prove it, would we still need to after the 14 days of ending the contract?


Many thanks for taking the time to reply

martindow

whattodo02 wrote: »

All I can see is we need to give 14 days to end the contract. would this be the waiting period?

Normally you are tied in for a number of weeks before you can give notice - this can be longer than the couple of months you mentioned in the OP.

whattodo02

sorry yes we were initially tied in for 12 weeks (that's been and gone)
now it says we need to give them 14 days if we wish to no longer advertise with them

eddddy

In overview, typically...

A sole agency agreement means that you have to pay the EA a fee if any agent introduces a buyer during the sole agency period.


A sole selling rights agreement means that you have to pay the EA a fee if a buyer is introduced in any way during the sole selling rights period.


You have a sole agency agreement and your buyer was not introduced by an agent (even though the buyer was introduced during the sole agency period)...

... so normally, you would not have to pay a fee.


BUT... some sneakier EAs call their agreement a sole agency agreement, but when you read the terms, it is more like a sole selling rights agreement. So you need to read it carefully.


Note: it's the date a buyer was introduced that is significant in EAs' contracts, not the date of the sale. (So your plan to cancel the EA's contract is irrelevant.)

whattodo02

eddddy wrote: »

In overview, typically...

A sole agency agreement means that you have to pay the EA a fee if any agent introduces a buyer during the sole agency period.


A sole selling rights agreement means that you have to pay the EA a fee if a buyer is introduced in any way during the sole selling rights period.


You have a sole agency agreement and your buyer was not introduced by an agent (even though the buyer was introduced during the sole agency period)...

... so normally, you would not have to pay a fee.


BUT... some sneakier EAs call their agreement a sole agency agreement, but when you read the terms, it is more like a sole selling rights agreement. So you need to read it carefully.


Note: it's the date a buyer was introduced that is significant in EAs' contracts, not the date of the sale. (So your plan to cancel the EA's contract is irrelevant.)

Thank you, probably a silly question, but if you were in my position, what would you do?

G_M

whattodo02 wrote: »

Thank you, probably a silly question, but if you were in my position, what would you do?

I'd read my contract with the EA!

eddddy

whattodo02 wrote: »

Thank you, probably a silly question, but if you were in my position, what would you do?

I would ...

- check the contract to make sure it's a 'proper' sole agency agreement.

- tell the EA that I've had a private offer of £x from a friend of a friend, and give the EA 2 or 3 days to ring round the people who viewed, to see if they want to better the offer.


Expect the EA to quiz you about who the buyer is, and how they found out about your property.

(Some EAs might try to argue that they introduced your buyer, because the buyer saw their adverts or for sale board. But that argument has been thrown out by the courts.)

whattodo02

I have and can't see anything other than the 14 days to leave them


sorry that was in reply to GM