Exiting estate agent agreement for private sale

eddddy

chile_paul2 said:

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

I guess you should tell the EA as soon as your mum accepts the builder's offer. Otherwise the EA might phone saying they've got somebody who wants to view the property - and your mum will have to think up excuses to refuse the viewing.

And/or it's a bit unhelpful to let the EA do a hard-sell to prospective buyers - "There's this great property that matches your requirements" - and then when the prospective buyer shows an interest, your mum tells the EA she's already accepted an offer.

In fact, you can even discuss it with the EA before your mum accepts the offer from the builder - "I've had an offer of £x from the builder, do any of the people you've introduced want to make a better offer, before I accept the builder's offer?"

EssexHebridean

You Mum will need to let her solicitor know that it is a privately arranged sale too - otherwise they will be waiting for a memorandum of sale from the agents! 

Grumpy_chap

chile_paul2 said:

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.

£200 seems extremely low as an early exit payment to cover the marketing costs.
Most sole agency agreements have a minimum duration which is hard to get out of.

eddddy

Grumpy_chap said:

£200 seems extremely low as an early exit payment to cover the marketing costs.

Most sole agency agreements have a minimum duration which is hard to get out of.

Looking at the rest of the thread, I think the OP now realises that there is a 16 week minimum contract period, and the £200 fee is payable if/when they terminate the contract after that 16 week period.

Mgman1965

Most, if not all EA contracts are pretty watertight on things like this and finding a prive buyer and not having to pay the EA.

It's been tried so many times to avoid paying thousands of £££'s EA fees they have it very well covered.

eddddy

Mgman1965 said:

Most, if not all EA contracts are pretty watertight on things like this and finding a prive buyer and not having to pay the EA.

It's been tried so many times to avoid paying thousands of £££'s EA fees they have it very well covered.

That's not really correct.

There is a statutory definition of "sole agency". If the estate agent uses the term "sole agency" in their contract, they are required to use the statutory definition of "sole agency".

The statutory definition is clear that no fee is payable if the seller finds a buyer privately:

“SOLE AGENCY

You will be liable to pay remuneration to us, in addition to any other costs or charges agreed, if at any time [unconditional contracts for the sale of the property are exchanged]

• with a purchaser introduced by us during the period of our sole agency or with whom we had negotiations about the property during that period;

• or with a purchaser introduced by another agent during that period.”
  

Link: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1991/859/made

You might be thinking of a "sole selling rights" contract - which is different.


(Although occasionally, I've come across estate agents who use the term "sole agency" in their contract, but then add extra clauses, to make it more like a "sole selling rights" contract. I don't know how the Property Ombudsman and/or the courts would react to that.)