Exiting estate agent agreement for private sale

chile_paul2

Hi, would be grateful for advice on this situation.

My Mum has signed terms with an estate agent to sell her property. It’s a 16 week sole agency agreement and there is provision to exit the agreement early on payment of there marketing costs (£200+VAT)

However completely unrelated Mum had a builder attend her property to do some repairs (started before she signed the estate agency agreement) and he has now approached her to make an offer to buy the property.

What would be the best way to exit the estate agency agreement so she can sell privately. He has had no contact with the estate agency whatsoever so they are unaware of him.

Should we just tell them that we want to take the property off the market or explain the situation?

We can evidence through contact history and invoices etc that he was doing work for my Mum before the estate agency had started to market the property but I’m conscious that they might claim that their full fee would be payable.

pinkshoes

So does this builder just randomly make offers on houses he is doing work in?

How did the builder know the house was even for sale?

Was the offer BEFORE it was put up for sale by the EA?

(In short, it could look like the builder saw the for sale board when he was doing some work and therefore knew it was for sale due to the For Sale board provided by the EA, and thus they had an input into the sale...).

If you'd had a conversation BEFORE it went on sale about potentially selling it to the builder, then your mum should have mentioned this to the EA before it went on sale to put a clause into the contract. 

Read the T&Cs she signed VERY carefully!

Herzlos

It sounds like the builder approached your mum to buy the property after it was listed, therefore the EA can argue that they introduced them. It depends on how the builder found out about it though, was it through word of mouth and completely unrelated to any listings or signage?

RHemmings

Herzlos said:

It sounds like the builder approached your mum to buy the property after it was listed, therefore the EA can argue that they introduced them. It depends on how the builder found out about it though, was it through word of mouth and completely unrelated to any listings or signage?

It takes more than just a potential buyer viewing an advertisement to count as an effective introduction to a property. See more here: https://propertyindustryeye.com/new-advice-on-dual-fees-says-first-agent-must-have-done-a-viewing-in-order-to-claim-commission/

However, in this case the new buyer will have been found during the period of sole agency. Even if the sole agency agreement is terminated, the buyer has already been found. 

Arguing that the buyer already knew of the property before the sole selling period started seems a bit tenuous to me. Why would the OP have contracted the EA if they already had a buyer? 

eddddy

chile_paul2 said:

It’s a 16 week sole agency agreement and there is provision to exit the agreement early on payment of there marketing costs (£200+VAT)

I assume you mean the minimum contract period is 16 weeks (and the contract/agreement will continue after that until it's terminated).


Are you sure you've understood the terms correctly? Are you sure it's not a £200 fee if you terminate the agreement after the 16 weeks is up? Or maybe during the 14 day cooling off period?

I've never heard of an estate agent that lets you terminate the contract during the minimum contract period (i.e during those first 16 weeks).


But hopefully, that's kind-of irrelevant anyway. If it's a (genuine) sole agency contract , then your mum is free to find her own buyer and proceed, without paying the estate agent's fee for finding a buyer. So there's no need for your mum to terminate the agreement during the 16 week period. She can just tell the estate agent that she's found a buyer herself.


(But have you checked out the builder to make sure he's a serious buyer?)

chile_paul2

pinkshoes said:

So does this builder just randomly make offers on houses he is doing work in?

How did the builder know the house was even for sale?

Was the offer BEFORE it was put up for sale by the EA?

(In short, it could look like the builder saw the for sale board when he was doing some work and therefore knew it was for sale due to the For Sale board provided by the EA, and thus they had an input into the sale...).

If you'd had a conversation BEFORE it went on sale about potentially selling it to the builder, then your mum should have mentioned this to the EA before it went on sale to put a clause into the contract. 

Read the T&Cs she signed VERY carefully!

Thanks for the response.

He appears to be a very genuine guy and he lives just round the corner from Mum.

Essentially he was doing a job for Mum before the EA agreement was signed and whilst chatting she mentioned that she was thinking of moving and he said how nice he thought the property was- she thought he was just being pleasant and conversational and didn’t think he would be that serious.

A few weeks later he returned to finish the job after the EA contract had been signed (but before they had put up the For Sale sign) and they chatted some more and he asked if he could come back later that evening with his wife - she liked it and they made an offer the next day.

chile_paul2

eddddy said:

chile_paul2 said:

It’s a 16 week sole agency agreement and there is provision to exit the agreement early on payment of there marketing costs (£200+VAT)

I assume you mean the minimum contract period is 16 weeks (and the contract/agreement will continue after that until it's terminated).


Are you sure you've understood the terms correctly? Are you sure it's not a £200 fee if you terminate the agreement after the 16 weeks is up? Or maybe during the 14 day cooling off period?

I've never heard of an estate agent that lets you terminate the contract during the minimum contract period (i.e during those first 16 weeks).


But hopefully, that's kind-of irrelevant anyway. If it's a (genuine) sole agency contract , then your mum is free to find her own buyer and proceed, without paying the estate agent's fee for finding a buyer. So there's no need for your mum to terminate the agreement during the 16 week period. She can just tell the estate agent that she's found a buyer herself.


(But have you checked out the builder to make sure he's a serious buyer?)

Thanks, I’ll re-read the terms and you may be correct.

Good point on checking out he is a serious buyer, I’ve spoken to him a couple of times and he seems serious and I’m getting Mum to ask him for proof of funds etc. 

Should we tell the EA before we start getting conveyancing solicitors etc involved or leave it until further down the line?

chile_paul2

eddddy said:

chile_paul2 said:

It’s a 16 week sole agency agreement and there is provision to exit the agreement early on payment of there marketing costs (£200+VAT)

I assume you mean the minimum contract period is 16 weeks (and the contract/agreement will continue after that until it's terminated).


Are you sure you've understood the terms correctly? Are you sure it's not a £200 fee if you terminate the agreement after the 16 weeks is up? Or maybe during the 14 day cooling off period?

I've never heard of an estate agent that lets you terminate the contract during the minimum contract period (i.e during those first 16 weeks).

You are correct it’s a 16 week minimum period after which you have to give 28 days notice to terminate.

The £200+ VAT is to cover marketing fees if you terminate at any time, it’s not an early exit/termination fee

chile_paul2

The contract also has a section asking about whether there are asking any interested parties either introduced privately or through another agent prior to the agreement with a Yes or No tick box. This was left incomplete!

GDB2222

It’s definitely a sole agency agreement, not sole selling rights?

chile_paul2

GDB2222 said:

It’s definitely a sole agency agreement, not sole selling rights?

Correct, the agreement references sole agency agreement on multiple occasions