Sole agency, then selling?

Mr_da

Had a sale which nearly went through on my property about a month ago, fell apart through various reasons. Now the person who was buying it is renting a few doors away has knocked at mine introducing themselves and asked would I still be willing to sell to them but not through the estate agent as we are both not impressed with them, and mainly to obviously save each other some money.
They are renting at the moment money in bank, and will be for the next five months, and are happy to buy as soon as possible.
The question is , is it out of the question to terminate contract with estate agent and sell to this person in the future. Or are we forever now locked into an agreement with the agent as they first introduced the buyer.

Lamy_2

You will have to check your estate agent's contract to see what it says about introducing people and the time period you're locked in for.

Some agents have the clause that even if you sell later on if it's to someone they introduced they still get their fee.

ACG

As above, I have seen examples where the agents have found out a sale has gone through and then invoiced the vendor after the event based ont he fact they did the initial introduction.

I would personally say if you do decide to go down that route, put the money for the agents aside incase they get in tuch 6-12-24 months down the line. OR read your T&Cs to see what you signed up for.

Mr_da

Yes it does say "if a purchaser introduced by the agent goes on to buy the property (whether or not through another agent), after the date of this agreement has ended" will be liable to pay remuneration to the agent. Sounds like I'm kind of stuck with that and that buyer indefinitely.

steampowered

The question is , is it out of the question to terminate contract with estate agent and sell to this person in the future. Or are we forever now locked into an agreement with the agent as they first introduced the buyer.

The answer is almost certainly "yes".

Sole agency contracts typically make you liable for the estate agent's fees if you sell to anyone who either:
- was introduced by the estate agent; OR
- bought the property during the period covered by the estate agent's contract.

Marvel1

How do they save money?

G_M

Mr_da wrote: »

Yes it does say "if a purchaser introduced by the agent goes on to buy the property (whether or not through another agent), after the date of this agreement has ended" will be liable to pay remuneration to the agent.

I believe the Ofice of Fair Trading got a court decision that such a clause could only be held to be valid for 6 months.

I might be wrong though.