Agent wars

kazzamunga

Guessing this exchange isn't explicit enough? Though it does refer to a conversation we had and shows agreement with our proposal. (Read up from the bottom!)

Hi [kazzamunga],

I wasn’t in yesterday, I was off on annual leave so ill double check but should be fine as I discussed with you initially.

Kind Regards
[EA2]

Hi [EA2],

Just wondering if you’d seen my email below. We’re in a bit of limbo until we can get confirmation on this, as we’d like to pursue the offer we’ve had but don’t want to end up in a difficult position later.

I am aware that people in similar positions have been taken to court by the second agent, and it could be argued that your Rightmove ad informed the purchaser that the property was still available, thus providing an indirect introduction - so we can’t move forward until we get agreement from you that this won’t happen.

Thanks,


----

Hi [EA2},

Thanks for the update yesterday, and your advice concerning the recent contact from [EA1].

If we do go ahead and accept the offer from the previous buyer, as you say, we don’t have much to lose in the current circumstances!

However, having spoken to our solicitor, as the section of your contract about when we could become liable to pay is quite wide-ranging, could I have assurance from you in writing that us going back to [EA1] wouldn’t result in us having to pay fees to both agents? I.e. could you confirm in an email that your agreeing to this overrides the terms of your contract, and that if we do accept the offer from [EA1]’s lead, EA2 won’t expect any fees?

We won’t do anything until we have a response on this, as it seems like it could be a minefield!

-taff

Should be fine? A straight up 'no, we won't be charging you our fees as well' is completely different to 'should be fine', whch says nothing and means nothing unless they are talking about their weather prediction....

need_an_answer

I would want a bit more clarity on "what we discussed initially".

If its not in writing then they can easily wriggle out.

Perhaps you could suggest they summarise the points of that discussion clearly in writing for you to consider/follow.

kazzamunga

It's like trying to catch a fish!

I've gone back with:

Hi [EA2],

Sorry to persist, but we do need a more explicit agreement than this, which summarises what was agreed on the phone on Tuesday – if for some reason you can’t, we’ll just tell the purchaser that we can’t pursue that route until the end of our contract with [EA2].

Thanks,

[me]

kazzamunga

I mean, if I don't get anything back from EA2, is there any merit in going back to EA1 and saying 'you guys sort it out between you, because if I don't get anything in writing from both of you I'm not doing anything'?

m0bov

G_M wrote: »

and move to agent 3!

Could OP then end up with three agents to pay??:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

kazzamunga

m0bov wrote: »

Could OP then end up with three agents to pay??:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

Sounds ideal!

itmakessense

Depends on the agents, the majority of them will do whatever they can to make you pay. Just do not trust any of them especially if part of a high street chain of agents

getmore4less

You could put the price up by one set of fees or take the hit.

1%(which is around what it should be) is tiny in the big picture for your hard to sell property that no one else wants at the moment.

You(through your agent) have messed this potential buyer about once already and lost 3 months.

kazzamunga

getmore4less wrote: »

You could put the price up by one set of fees or take the hit.

1%(which is around what it should be) is tiny in the big picture for your hard to sell property that no one else wants at the moment.

You(through your agent) have messed this potential buyer about once already and lost 3 months.

The messing around *definitely* came from their end. They took 7 weeks to tell us they'd gone with the wrong solicitor, and then pulled out when we asked for certainty that they would expedite things. But anyway.