Credit card protection from estate agent payment upfront

usman330

Hello all,


Putting house up for sale and have found an agent who seems to fit the bill. They offer 2 fee structures, payment upfront which is 40% cheaper than payment on completion that they offer.


I did grill them about taking the cash and then sitting back and not working hard to sell the property, they assured me that they don’t like to have property up for a long period as it is detrimental to them so they would work hard either way.


My only worry is that if I pay upfront they could go bust and then the cash is lost, this did happen to a freind of mine in the past.


They do take credit card with a 3% charge which isn’t a problem, but would a credit card payment protect me in this situation?

[Deleted User]

Only in the event of them going out of business. Not for the lack of effort they will put in.

Ben8282

I can't say that I like the payment upfront idea at all. If you do choose this option, whatever you do don't give then a sole agency agreement. If they are paid in advance they will have no incentive whatsoever to advertise your property. None whatsoever.

MEM62

usman330 wrote: »

I did grill them about taking the cash and then sitting back and not working hard to sell the property, they assured me that they don’t like to have property up for a long period as it is detrimental to them so they would work hard either way.

You believed something that an estate agent told you? :rotfl:

Pay upfront and you cannot switch estate agent when they turn out to be useless. There is no way I would commit to a single estate agent under these terms - not matter what the saving.

eddddy

Ben8282 wrote: »

If you do choose this option, whatever you do don't give then a sole agency agreement.

MEM62 wrote: »

Pay upfront and you cannot switch estate agent when they turn out to be useless.

Online fixed fee agents don't usually work like that.

You pay them a fee to advertise your property - usually for a maximum period of either 6 or 12 months.

They don't generally care, if you also advertise the property elsewhere and/or instruct other agents.

You can tell them to stop advertising it at any time (e.g. because you want to start using another agent) - but you won't get any of your money back.


Even when they say 'Pay on Completion', what they sometimes mean is you'll either have to pay...

- on completion, or
- when you tell them to stop advertising your property, or
- when the 12 months is up (even if the property isn't sold)

(whichever happens first).

So check the contract carefully.

MEM62

eddddy wrote: »

Online fixed fee agents don't usually work like that.

You pay them a fee to advertise your property - usually for a maximum period of either 6 or 12 months.

They don't generally care, if you also advertise the property elsewhere and/or instruct other agents.

You can tell them to stop advertising it at any time (e.g. because you want to start using another agent) - but you won't get any of your money back.


Even when they say 'Pay on Completion', what they sometimes mean is you'll either have to pay...

- on completion, or
- when you tell them to stop advertising your property, or
- when the 12 months is up (even if the property isn't sold)

(whichever happens first).

So check the contract carefully.

There is no suggestion in the OP's original post that this is an online service.

Spikey_w

usman330 wrote: »

Hello all,
My only worry is that if I pay upfront they could go bust and then the cash is lost, this did happen to a freind of mine in the past.

You know what USMAN, I recently lost money when a forum member scammed me.:mad:

The story is I signed up and saw members on here offered to share the referral bonus for Ratesetter where he would share the £40 of the £50 bonus money. TrustinglyI used this member's referral link and PM him many times about it but had no reply or even acknowledge this. I thought members here were honorable people, but except for this guy it seems.

I would advice anyone encountering this member to know what he has done and think twice about helping or even worst trusting him.

Oh, and this guy is.... USMAN330 !!!

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.php?p=72112344&postcount=59