Buying without an Estate Agent - what are the rules?

hairymaclary

We viewed a rental property last week. During the viewing, the owner told us that the property is also being advertised for sale (they want to cover all bases in the current climate, fair enough). We didn't know this prior to viewing.

Long story short, we've decided we'd like to buy it instead of renting. Could we do this without using the Estate Agent? We are in direct contact with the owner, so don't see the need for an Estate Agent since we've already viewed the property and made our decision. But what are the rules here? Obviously they will have signed a contract with the Estate Agent, but we've never sold a house before so no idea what it would consist of.

By the way, we've already asked the owner about this and are waiting for a response.

pulliptears

Yes, it's all very simple.
Instruct your solicitor, pass on to them the details of your sellers and their solicitor and let them get on with it.  We bought our last house without using EA's and it was a smooth process.

davidmcn

You don't need to "use" the agent - they're the landlord's agent, not yours. If you haven't been introduced via them then it's the landlord's problem whether they're liable for a fee or not (hopefully not).

eddddy

An estate agent won't be acting in your best interests, but their key job is to make the sale happen.

A good estate agent will try to "hurry the seller and buyer along", and resolve disagreements between seller and buyer, and try to negotiate compromises etc.

• For example, on one occasion following a bad survey, I dramatically reduced my offer. The seller went ballistic with me, and never spoke to me directly ever again. It was the estate agent who talked the seller down, and persuaded him to accept my reduced offer. Without the estate agent, that deal wouldn't have happened.

• Conversely, I recently watched a sale without an estate agent go down the pan because of a misunderstanding between buyer and seller - they ended up screaming at each other over the phone. I'm sure that an estate agent's involvement would have avoided the misunderstanding.

But I've also seen a number of transactions proceed without problems, without an estate agents involvement.

AnotherJoe

Its not really up to you if you dont "use" the EA, its up to the seller. The seller may want you to.

Note, the seller may well be on the hook to pay a commission to the EA so the seller may not gain anything by not using them either.

Generally I've found they are more helpful than not, as Edddy has said they can provide a useful buffer. 

AdrianC

If an EA has been advertising a property to let, you can bet your bottom dollar that there will be a clause in that contract that makes the landlord liable if the property is sold to somebody who has been introduced to it through the letting advert.

As Joe says, it's not your call. By all means, speak to the owner of the property directly - but it's not up to you whether it goes through the EA or not.

And, no, you won't get it a couple of grand cheaper... and let's be honest, that's what this is about, isn't it?

hairymaclary

Thank you for the responses. The seller wants us to direct our offer via the EA, so I guess that's that. Fingers crossed!

Jumblebumble

AdrianC said:

If an EA has been advertising a property to let, you can bet your bottom dollar that there will be a clause in that contract that makes the landlord liable if the property is sold to somebody who has been introduced to it through the letting advert.

Do we know if the letting agent and the estate agent are one and the same ?