Should I question the integrity of my estate agent?

eddddy

Elze said:

- The contract with the estate agent clearly states they will get their fee if they have initiated negotiations. So, indeed, they haven't found an external buyer, but will still get their fees as they started negotiations between me and my ex

Why have you involved the estate agent in a negotiation between you and your ex-partner?

What sort of contract do you have with the estate agent? e.g. "Sole Agency" or "Sole Selling Rights" or something else? What is the minimum contract period?

Unless it's a very unusual contract, you could have simply terminated the contract with the estate agent, and agreed a price between yourselves - and saved yourselves a huge estate agent's fee.

Tracet74

If you both agree, get an RICS Chartered Surveyor to provide an independent valuation addressed to you both.  You can use it as factually correct rather than an estate agents' valuation which is only a market appraisal.  A small but subtle different.

Bookworm105

so you refused an offer and are now thinking that the (refused) offer is the market value on the basis no one else has come forward to offer that amount?

The EA will (probably) be a on commission, so has zero incentive for suggesting a lower price as that just reduces their income. Seems to me your anger is clouding your viewpoint.

Elze

Thanks for your comments, very helpful. And I suppose you are right. It is a small difference. Thanks for all agreeing. I have reasons to be very suspicious of every move of the other side, having learned the hard way.

To be clear here, I will not be receiving 640K, there is obviously a large mortgage on the house that needs to be paid off first.

And yes, we are quibbling over 10K. For me 10K is a lot of money, as it would be for most people. For him it isn't much at all. So, even though it may seem petty to you, after having had to fight for my half of the capital, and then settling to avoid a court case, I have now seen a large part of my settlement go up in smoke due to house price changes, it feels rather painful to let go of another 10K. We agreed part of the house would be used as my maintenance, and effectively I now have no maintenance left.

Like everyone else, I will have to earn my own income. So I don't need anyone feeling sorry for me. 

But it does feel quite painful that he gets away with not paying maintenance, and gets to keep all his - sufficiently high - city income. while I will have to settle for a much smaller house than anticipated (smaller houses have not fallen in value in the same way) and no maintenance. The difference financially between his and my life is what makes one feel it's all rather unfair. 

Thanks for your help.

ognum

Elze said:

Thanks for your comments, very helpful. And I suppose you are right. It is a small difference. Thanks for all agreeing. I have reasons to be very suspicious of every move of the other side, having learned the hard way.

To be clear here, I will not be receiving 640K, there is obviously a large mortgage on the house that needs to be paid off first.

And yes, we are quibbling over 10K. For me 10K is a lot of money, as it would be for most people. For him it isn't much at all. So, even though it may seem petty to you, after having had to fight for my half of the capital, and then settling to avoid a court case, I have now seen a large part of my settlement go up in smoke due to house price changes, it feels rather painful to let go of another 10K. We agreed part of the house would be used as my maintenance, and effectively I now have no maintenance left.

Like everyone else, I will have to earn my own income. So I don't need anyone feeling sorry for me. 

But it does feel quite painful that he gets away with not paying maintenance, and gets to keep all his - sufficiently high - city income. while I will have to settle for a much smaller house than anticipated (smaller houses have not fallen in value in the same way) and no maintenance. The difference financially between his and my life is what makes one feel it's all rather unfair. 

Thanks for your help.

Who helped you create this financial mess, surely you had a good divorce lawyer.  Do you have children?  If you have no children why are you getting maintenance?  If you have children go back to court to get an adequate settlement.  Surely we are passed the age when men had to provide for women even after divorce, go and get a job, you say I will have to provide my own income like you are not doing that now.

These is no point in comparing your life now with an ex partners.  Move onward as fast as you can stop watching what he has and create your own life.

Elze

It's easy to judge when you don't know someone's situation. There's a lot more to it. We did have good divorce lawyers, and it was a reasonably fair judgement (albeit he got off lightly). But it was based on the value of the house, which has since fallen significantly. No one's fault. But it's mostly the problem of the person with little income, who has less of a chance of earning more and making up for the shortfall.

RHemmings

Elze said:

It's easy to judge when you don't know someone's situation. There's a lot more to it. We did have good divorce lawyers, and it was a reasonably fair judgement (albeit he got off lightly). But it was based on the value of the house, which has since fallen significantly. No one's fault. But it's mostly the problem of the person with little income, who has less of a chance of earning more.

Can you make your ex-partner an offer, for an increased price for the house? If he questions it you can say that the fall in the value of the house is causing you difficulties, and given his better financial situation, perhaps he could be generous in this circumstance. You can mention that you and he (presumably) refused a slightly higher offer in the past. 

It's a given that I don't know his personality and you may be able to predict how he would respond to you. 

ThisIsWeird

Elze said:

Thanks for your comments, very helpful. And I suppose you are right. It is a small difference. Thanks for all agreeing. I have reasons to be very suspicious of every move of the other side, having learned the hard way.

To be clear here, I will not be receiving 640K, there is obviously a large mortgage on the house that needs to be paid off first.

And yes, we are quibbling over 10K. For me 10K is a lot of money, as it would be for most people. For him it isn't much at all. So, even though it may seem petty to you, after having had to fight for my half of the capital, and then settling to avoid a court case, I have now seen a large part of my settlement go up in smoke due to house price changes, it feels rather painful to let go of another 10K. We agreed part of the house would be used as my maintenance, and effectively I now have no maintenance left.

Like everyone else, I will have to earn my own income. So I don't need anyone feeling sorry for me. 

But it does feel quite painful that he gets away with not paying maintenance, and gets to keep all his - sufficiently high - city income. while I will have to settle for a much smaller house than anticipated (smaller houses have not fallen in value in the same way) and no maintenance. The difference financially between his and my life is what makes one feel it's all rather unfair. 

Thanks for your help.

Ok, happy to accept there may be some 'unfairness' or general imbalance there that we weren't aware of. 
£10k is a lot to pretty much all of us, and if it's truly more significant to you, then you have the option of holding out, or negotiating.
It does sound as tho' your ex holds most of the aces? He's presumably in no hurry to sell, whereas you could do with sorting this asap?
If what you describe is correct, then this £10k means a lot less to him than you. But he's still 'entitled' to it. 
It may stink, but I think - if you can - go for it and move on. In a year, £10k will feel largely meaningless in the scheme of things. In two years, it'll be a memory. 
I'm curious about this EA's commission, tho' - they clearly did not introduce you to eachother as vendor and buyer! Perhaps worth a close look at the T&C's?

steve866

I am also curious as to the estate agents commission, you could save ~£15k here.

Elze

Thanks for your thoughts on the estate agents commission. 

Unfortunately, the T's and C's are pretty clear on that, and that ship has sailed. It states the commission applies...'when the estate agent has started negotiations'. I even checked this with the solicitor handling the sale and she agreed that - frustratingly - as my ex has arranged his offer through the estate agent they are due their commission.

The fact he doesn't seem to read T's and C's and/or look for ways to save money is one of the indications that it's not about the money for him.