Estate Agent Asking for More Money to List Property for Another 6 Months

adzy77

Hi, we have a property for sale via Strike and we are coming to the end of our initial 6 month listing period.

They have contacted me today to say that in order to keep the listing up for a further 6 months I will either need to pay £199 or reduce the price by 5% and they will list for free for a further 3 months.

This was never mentioned when signing up nor am I able to find any wording to support this (i have requested this from them too).

The only part im aware of when signing up and is still in their terms is this:

"At the end of your 6-month Marketing Period your Property will be delisted and removed from our Website, portals and other advertising mediums unless we decide, in our sole discretion, to continue to market your Property for you free of charge for such period as we decide. Where we decide to continue to market your Property you will be required to keep your 'For Sale' board erected in accordance with clause 6 above."

As of yet they have been unable to provide anything that backs up their request for payment so at the moment it just seems like a ploy to get some extra money out of us.

Before I escalate this further, what rights do they have to do this if any? And what should I be saying?

The property sale has fell through a couple of times (both buyers fault) hence why its been up for 6 months and have no interest to moving to a different EA at this stage.

Thanks

MikeJXE

Not sure what rights you have but if your property has been on the market for 6 months and not sold

You obviously have a problem and that could be the price 

adzy77

MikeJXE said:

Not sure what rights you have but if your property has been on the market for 6 months and not sold

You obviously have a problem and that could be the price 

Did you read it all? As mentioned, its been up for 6 months due to other factors out of our control. Price/interest has not been an issue thus far

eddddy

I'm not really sure what your argument would be.

In simple terms their contract says...

• "We'll advertise your house for 6 months. After that we'll decide whether we want to give you some extra months for free"

And now after 6 months they're saying...

• "We've decided not to give you any extra months for free. But you can buy a few more months for £199 if you want, or if you reduce your price we'll give you some extra months for free."

You might think they're being a bit cheeky - but they're not breaking the terms of the contract that you agreed to.

user1977

As edddy says, they’re complying with your current contract, and quoting their terms for a continuation. Whether those are likely to be negotiable, I don’t know.

Or did you think you could force them to market the property indefinitely?

adzy77

eddddy said:

I'm not really sure what your argument would be.

In simple terms their contract says...

• "We'll advertise your house for 6 months. After that we'll decide whether we want to give you some extra months for free"

And now after 6 months they're saying...

• "We've decided not to give you any extra months for free. But you can buy a few more months for £199 if you want, or if you reduce your price we'll give you some extra months for free."

You might think they're being a bit cheeky - but they're not breaking the terms of the contract that you agreed to.

No I do get that. My issue is this is the first I have heard of it until I had someone call me today, almost like a sales call. If this was a common thing, I would expect them to have some sort of policy that they can share to back this up.

I have requested for any such policy or terms but they haven't been able to provide any so just seem to be plucking figures out of thin air, thats my concern.

Neil49

Why don't you move to another agent? 

propertyrental

You knew the 6 months was ending, so you knew a decision would be needed, either

* to accept additional free time if offered
* to pay for a new contract with them
* to leave the market or
* to move to another agent.

I don;'t see what they've done wrong or why you are surprised.

Obviously I don't know why it's not sold, or what history there may be, but if they've not got you a buyer in 6 months I'd advise marketing elsewhere.

Bigphil1474

The OP has had buyers but it's fallen through twice, as per the original post. OP, I think all you can do is see if they produce their policy/terms then either pay up or move to another EA. If you are getting offers at the current asking price, makes no sense to reduce your price.

[Deleted User]

Your contract is over. Anything  they do or don't offer you now  is irrelevant, they have met the terms of the original contract. 

eddddy

adzy77 said:

eddddy said:

I'm not really sure what your argument would be.

In simple terms their contract says...

• "We'll advertise your house for 6 months. After that we'll decide whether we want to give you some extra months for free"

And now after 6 months they're saying...

• "We've decided not to give you any extra months for free. But you can buy a few more months for £199 if you want, or if you reduce your price we'll give you some extra months for free."

You might think they're being a bit cheeky - but they're not breaking the terms of the contract that you agreed to.

No I do get that. My issue is this is the first I have heard of it until I had someone call me today, almost like a sales call. If this was a common thing, I would expect them to have some sort of policy that they can share to back this up.

I have requested for any such policy or terms but they haven't been able to provide any so just seem to be plucking figures out of thin air, thats my concern.

I'm sure it was a  sales call - intended to persuade you to pay them £199.

But businesses don't have to provide details of their selling policies (or pricing) to you - and they are free to pick numbers out of the air, if they want.

(Like if you asked a plumber how much to install a garden tap. He/she can say £150, £250, £500 or whatever figure they like. They don't need to have a policy or price list to support the figure they pick.)


My guess is that the £199 is negotiable - perhaps right down to zero.

But often, making complaints and escalating them isn't a good negotiation strategy.  Being friendly sometimes works better.