Estate agents contracts and changing agents.

Statex2_2

Hi, I am in the process of selling my house but not happy about the estate agent. They do not tell me when all buyers are viewing. They do not accompany all the viewings, which they agreed to when I signed up. Especially if they are after 4.30pm. When I signed up I told them that I did not have a property to buy, I advised them to get everything ready and I would place it on the market when I had a property to purchase.

The property I intend to purchase is a specific type and I advised them of that fact but they placed my house on the market anyway. I have a buyer who has made an offer they said I should accept, which I did but told them that he would have to wait until I found somewhere to purchase that met my needs.

However I accepted the offer on Sunday 4 November 2018. Monday received a letter asking who was doing the conveyance. I did not reply. Thursday received a phone call asking the same question. I was driving and my wife answered I said I may use the same solicitor that sold my parents house but made no definite choice. Thursday afternoon received a call from the solicitor stating that the agent had asked him to call me. I stated that I did not have a property to purchase. I asked him a few questions about specific properties he said it was outside his field. He said he would email me details of his service and when and if I was ready to proceed I was to contact him.

Received a letter from the agent today Friday stating that they had sent all my details and details of their fees and the sale to the Solicitor. This is without my consent. I do not feel that the estate agent should act in this way.

My main question is after the 12 week contract period expires will I be able to change estate agents without any costs? As far as I can make out as a layman the contract states that if the sale via another agent is to a person that they have introduced to me I will have to pay them 3.85% of the sale price. This raises another point when someone views my property they never give me their names so I cant prove who has viewed . They sometimes give just a christian name or no name at all. Am I able to request via a freedom of information request, the names of the people who have viewed my property?

I do not believe that they have acted very professionally. As I am in my early 70's they probably think they can do as they please.

The reason for changing agents is that I believe the buyer will not wait for me to find a property and pull out and I do not wish to continue with this agent to resell the property.



I would be grateful for any advice.

middleclassbutpoor

I would suggest that you learn to be firm with others and not be led along like you are stating you have.

You wanted to put house on market but not until you found somewhere - why did you not find somewhere before engaging an EA then?

Your EA has clearly gained your signature and keys to market your property. They probably even got some ID from you...

They have found you a buyer and now expect you to do your part on the conveyancing side.

It is normal practice and it is likely within the contract or their general t&c's that you signed that they will provide your details and the details of your conveyancer upon a successful sale. It may even be a legal requirement to do so.

You have the following choices;

- Proceed with the sale and find somewhere quick.
- Tell the EA you are not ready to sell and have changed your mind.
- Proceed with what you are doing and hope they don't come back and sting you should a buyer they can prove was introduced by them.

By the sounds of it - you don't sound ready to move and you have allowed all of this to move at a pace that isn't right for you.

If you want to move, concentrate on instructing a solicitor and then control the pace of the sale through taking time to respond to them etc.

Whatever you do, don't cut your nose off to spite your face if you are only going to change agents now because you have just realised that they are keen to make their money and sell houses at any cost. It could be a case of jumping from the frying pan into the fire..

Thrugelmir

Statex2 wrote: »

When I signed up I told them that I did not have a property to buy, I advised them to get everything ready and I would place it on the market when I had a property to purchase.

Unlikely that your offer would be accepted unless you were in a proceedable position, i.e. your own property was subject to contract.

middleclassbutpoor

Thrugelmir wrote: »

Unlikely that your offer would be accepted unless you were in a proceedable position, i.e. your own property was subject to contract.

They may not need to sell to buy if they have cash....

Not enough information to know either way but I would have thought it was unusual to wait until you found a house to buy before putting yours on the market.

That said, someone did that who wanted to buy our house and subsequently lost out because they were not in a position to proceed when someone else also liked the house.

Just instruct a solicitor and tell them you are now looking to find somewhere - they will drag things out without breaking a sweat..