Being charged to take house off market

magicmary

Hi all, would really appreciate advise on this matter.
 I am in the process of buying a house, however when our offer was accepted by the vendor we were charged a fee by their agent to ensure the property is taken off the market. I wasn’t happy with this at the time but as we really didn’t want to lose out on the house we paid up. Is this actually legal practise? It feels like you are being blackmailed into paying a fee or else presumably they will keep the house advertised and you run the risk of being gazumped? 

MovingForwards

Is this a new build?

magicmary

No it’s not a new build. 

jimbog

If you have a contract with their estate agent? What does it say?

niceguyed

Seems highly unusual. Were there any terms attached to this? For example do you get the money back if the sale completes or if the vendor pulls out before exchange. What does your solicitor say seeing as you've asked about the legality of this? It's not unusual for a house to stay marketed as SSTC although if it was me once the MOS is issued I'd insist it was taken off the market. 
I'm slightly taken aback you paid up, I can't imagine many people would with any sense. How much was this fee? 

Thrugelmir

magicmary said:

No it’s not a new build. 

Care to elaborate then. Or were you just having a rant. 

Mickey666

magicmary said:

Hi all, would really appreciate advise on this matter.
 I am in the process of buying a house, however when our offer was accepted by the vendor we were charged a fee by their agent to ensure the property is taken off the market. I wasn’t happy with this at the time but as we really didn’t want to lose out on the house we paid up. Is this actually legal practise? It feels like you are being blackmailed into paying a fee or else presumably they will keep the house advertised and you run the risk of being gazumped? 

Can't see why it would be illegal, though I've never heard of it before, but it's all just negotiation and you had no obligation to pay up.  You could have agreed on the basis that the same amount was knocked off the agreed offer price - a sort of advance deposit.

NameUnavailable

Nothing illegal if someone asks you to pay a 'fee' for something and you agree to it.

I've never heard of paying an agent to take a property off the market before though.

magicmary

Thrugelmir said:

magicmary said:

No it’s not a new build. 

Care to elaborate then. Or were you just having a rant. 

Wow you sound like a delight.
What more would you like to know? The year it was built, how many bedrooms, where it is? I answered the question I was asked and confirmed it is not a new build property. 

magicmary

jimbog said:

If you have a contract with their estate agent? What does it say?

They sent a “letter” via email saying it is an admin fee to all buyers to cover the costs of getting the sale process going ie. producing memorandum of sale, cancelling any booked viewings and removing the property from everywhere it is marketed. It is refundable if the vendor pulls out, but if we pull out or do not proceed quickly enough it is not. 

Mutton_Geoff

magicmary said:

jimbog said:

If you have a contract with their estate agent? What does it say?

They sent a “letter” via email saying it is an admin fee to all buyers to cover the costs of getting the sale process going ie. producing memorandum of sale, cancelling any booked viewings and removing the property from everywhere it is marketed. It is refundable if the vendor pulls out, but if we pull out or do not proceed quickly enough it is not. 

And, as with all things in life, you have the option of saying no.