Buying a house - Commitment fee to estate agent??

AdrianC

You know where the vendor lives...

"Hello, vendor? I viewed your house earlier, and really like it - so much so, that I want to put in an offer of £x,000 - but the agent refuse to pass it on to you until I've paid them two grand for the pleasure. Obviously, I think that's completely extracting the michael, and frankly I refuse to play that game. Would you like to call them tomorrow and tell them where to shove that? When I hear back from you, I'll place the formal offer. Thanks. Speak to you later."

markin

"We do not accept lender reports, home buyer surverys or other such reports as a means to renegotiate on the agreed price."


Sounds like they think they own the property, I thought 'Is this a new build sales team?'


EDIT: Seems it is a new home from your last thread.

ThePants999

I'm kinda disappointed to hear it's LoveYourPostcode - we already knew to avoid them like the plague, no new information here other than what new depths they're plumbing.

As has been said, get in touch with the vendor directly. Chances are they don't realise what shenanigans their agent is pulling "on their behalf".

elsien

"We aim to achieve the highest selling price within 21 days"

Not if they fanny around like this, they don't.

Oxon

ThePants999 wrote: »

I'm kinda disappointed to hear it's LoveYourPostcode - we already knew to avoid them like the plague, no new information here other than what new depths they're plumbing.

As has been said, get in touch with the vendor directly. Chances are they don't realise what shenanigans their agent is pulling "on their behalf".

I was intrigued so looked them up. According to their website they operate “as a brand rather than a traditional estate agent” :think:

Mutton_Geoff

It’s in their terms ..

https://www.loveyourpostcode.com/terms-conditions/

Commitment Fee
We have a near 95% success rate for sales completing comparing to the industry average 70%. Our sales do not fall through because our clients are financially committed to completing. The commitment is calculated between 1% – 2% of the property value. In the event the sale does not complete, the commitment fee will be used to cover our administrative costs.

I’m surprised the vendors didn’t question how this worked and whether it had the risk of putting off buyers. Unfortunately the market is full of tricks to trap the naive. My guess is they didn’t read the small print.

No wonder they state their fees as 1-3% for the vendor, they’re doubling up by charging the purchaser a fee as well!

eddddy

Mutton_Geoff wrote: »

I’m surprised the vendors didn’t question how this worked and whether it had the risk of putting off buyers. Unfortunately the market is full of tricks to trap the naive. My guess is they didn’t read the small print.

I suspect that the EA is a bit more devious than that.

My guess would be that the EA told the seller about the commitment fee - and why it is a marvellous idea - and the seller fell for it.

And the EA will now tell the seller that they've had an offer, but the buyer is probably a time-waster, because they won't pay the commitment fee.

Sadly, if the seller has been 'brainwashed' like that, you might have to just walk away.

SG27

That would be enough for me to pull out there and then. So if the survey comes back saying new roof needed and you pull out you will lose your £2000, plus your solictor and survey costs.

No chance!

Write a letter back saying you do not accept the terms, send a copy to the vendor directly.

SG27

"Any conditions of purchase (these must be specified now)"

No, these will be specified as and when issues arise throughout the conveyancing process.

jeffwjz

Thanks everyone I have replied the email to reject the terms. Also I remembered another intriguing thing.

My wife called to make an offer of X amount and immediately the agent replied "oh we have another offer of Y amount which is about £10000 more than yours, would you consider raising your offer?"

Out of a slight panic my wife raised the offer by another £3000 and said it's the best we can do. The next day, the agent called again and said our offer is still being considered! And then they sent the email above.

In the hindsight, we feel tricked - is there really another buyer with a higher bid? Is the EA even allowed to disclose another buyers bid??