Anyone changed their mind after giving notice to an estate agent?

LG142

Seashell517 said:

Big wall of text. Didn't read it. My advice is to add paragraphs and maybe a summary, for people who don't want your life story, to your post.

Point taken and post shortened! Thanks 

eddddy

LG142 said:

So are you saying that if we accept an offer from a buyer introduced through the old EA we have to go back to them to complete the sale? Or can we complete the sale with the new EA? We have already payed an upfront fee so there is no chance of them claiming any commission on it

If the old EA introduced the buyer, ideally you don't want that buyer to have any dealings with the new EA. If they start dealing with the new EA, you'll have to pay the new EA a fee.

So any prospective buyers introduced by the old EA should continue to deal with the old EA. So if one of those prospective buyers wants to make an offer, they should do it through the old EA.


(The downside in your case is that the old EA was paid in advance, so when you end their contract, they might become a bit disinterested in chasing up people who've viewed, negotiating offers, progressing a sale etc. If they were being paid on completion, they might be a bit more enthusiastic.)

avawat20

Just go ahead with the viewings- if they introduced them even via advert they could have a future claim. Just have the viewings and see where it goes.

eddddy

avawat20 said:

Just go ahead with the viewings- if they introduced them even via advert they could have a future claim.

Just to clarify - seeing an advert (or seeing a 'for sale' board etc) isn't an 'introduction'.

The EA would have to do something like arrange a viewing for an 'introduction' to occur. This was clarified by the Court of Appeal in 2008.

As a result of that case, The Property Ombudsman has clarified their definition of an 'introduction':

18j Effective Introduction. An effective introduction must evidence that the agent carried out an act that initiated the buyer’s reaction to the property. As such, there is a need for a defined transaction event to occur. This can be most clearly evidenced by an agent carrying out a viewing.

Link: https://www.tpos.co.uk/images/Codes_2019_a5/TPOE27-8_Code_of_Practice_for_Residential_Estate_Agents_A5_-_Effective_1_June_2019.pdf

avawat20

eddddy said:

avawat20 said:

Just go ahead with the viewings- if they introduced them even via advert they could have a future claim.

Just to clarify - seeing an advert (or seeing a 'for sale' board etc) isn't an 'introduction'.

The EA would have to do something like arrange a viewing for an 'introduction' to occur. This was clarified by the Court of Appeal in 2008.

As a result of that case, The Property Ombudsman has clarified their definition of an 'introduction':

18j Effective Introduction. An effective introduction must evidence that the agent carried out an act that initiated the buyer’s reaction to the property. As such, there is a need for a defined transaction event to occur. This can be most clearly evidenced by an agent carrying out a viewing.

Link: https://www.tpos.co.uk/images/Codes_2019_a5/TPOE27-8_Code_of_Practice_for_Residential_Estate_Agents_A5_-_Effective_1_June_2019.pdf

Interesting! Thank you. Funny how the agents word it in this way though we THEY explain it to you... 🙄

LG142

Since posting this I have spoken to a few other agents. It seems that if this were to happen (although very rare) then they would not complete the sale and instead redirect you back to the old agent as they were the one that originally introduced the buyer, unless the buyer explicitly refused to deal with the old agent. They would therefore not charge any fees as they did not complete the sale 

eddddy

LG142 said:

Since posting this I have spoken to a few other agents. It seems that if this were to happen (although very rare) then they would not complete the sale and instead redirect you back to the old agent as they were the one that originally introduced the buyer, unless the buyer explicitly refused to deal with the old agent. They would therefore not charge any fees as they did not complete the sale 

Yep - but don't rely on the EA  alone to do that.  You should get a list from the old EA of people they introduced, and give it to the new EA - and explicitly tell the new EA that you won't pay them a fee, if any of those people go on to buy.

LG142

eddddy said:

LG142 said:

Since posting this I have spoken to a few other agents. It seems that if this were to happen (although very rare) then they would not complete the sale and instead redirect you back to the old agent as they were the one that originally introduced the buyer, unless the buyer explicitly refused to deal with the old agent. They would therefore not charge any fees as they did not complete the sale 

Yep - but don't rely on the EA  alone to do that.  You should get a list from the old EA of people they introduced, and give it to the new EA - and explicitly tell the new EA that you won't pay them a fee, if any of those people go on to buy.

Yes I will be getting a list from the old EA and make sure that I check names of any new viewings booked in, they did advise me to this and said that if I recognise a name to call them straight away. And of course we will have a clause written into our agreement to cover ourselves if this were to happen, thanks