Withdrawing from Estate agent contract - arranged our own sale with parents

FreddieFrugal

Hi, we’ve been with an estate agent for a few months and had several viewings but no offers as yet.

We’ve fortunately ended up in a position where my mother and father-in-law have found a buyer for their property, and as they have yet to find somewhere they want to move to, they’ve offered to buy ours.

We have a Sole Agency Agreement with our current agency states:

The Seller will be liable to pay fees to the Agent, 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 the Agent during the period of the Agents sole agency, or with whom the agent had negotiations about the property during that period; or

• with a purchaser introduced by another agent during that period

I’m assuming from this that they can’t charge us fees in this example, as the buyers (our parents) were clearly not introduced by an agent. They haven’t had any interaction or communication with an agent regarding our property. They live locally to us and obviously were aware of our property before it was marketed.

I think we could proceed with this even if we were still in the 14 day notice period of withdrawal from the contract, and not expect any issue from the Estate Agent.

Is this correct?

Thank you

bobster2

Some notes here on Sole Agency agreements vs Sole Selling Rights agreements...
https://www.rwkgoodman.com/info-hub/estate-agents-take-notice-different-forms-agency-contracts-explained/

FlorayG

I think that word'introduced' makes it clear. As long as your parents dealt and negotiated directly with you and not through the agent. Although the agent may have done a lot of work, this is the same situation as if they had not been able to sell it and you removed it from the market - they haven't done any work with THIS buyer

eddddy

FreddieFrugal said:

I think we could proceed with this even if we were still in the 14 day notice period of FreddieFrugal said:

@eddddy - thanks for the reply. No, not an initial cooling off period, in my contract we need to have 14 days notice in writing to withdraw from the contract.

So my thinking was whether we needed to wait those 14 days before proceeding or if we could just go right ahead without concern that the estate agent might consider trying to charge us.

But it seems like that unlikely to be a problem.

FreddieFrugal said:

@eddddy - thanks for the reply. No, not an initial cooling off period, in my contract we need to have 14 days notice in writing to withdraw from the contract.

So my thinking was whether we needed to wait those 14 days before proceeding or if we could just go right ahead without concern that the estate agent might consider trying to charge us.

But it seems like that unlikely to be a problem.

 from the contract, and not expect any issue from the Estate Agent.

Is this correct?

It's correct that, based on what you've said, no fee is payable to the estate agent.

But I'm a bit confused - you say you've been with the estate agent a few months, but you're also mentioning the 14 day cooling off period.


Anyway, it's probably best not to cancel the contract during the 14 day cooling off period - because if you do that, the estate agent can charge you any costs they've incurred.

Instead,

• Tell the agent that your parents have offered to buy your house, so you you don't want any more viewings for the moment

• To avoid confusion, clarify that no agent has introduced your parents, so no fee is payable to the estate agent

• Terminate the contract (note: you are terminating the contract - not cancelling it) according to the terms in the contract - e.g. after the minimum contract period and with 28 days notice

• (If your parents change their minds about buying, you have to go back to your current agent - unless/until you've correctly terminated the contract - as above)

• Some (less noble) estate agents might charge you a fee when you terminate the contract - check your contract for details

Having said all this, the estate agent might be a bit of a rogue and try to suggest you still owe them a fee.

FreddieFrugal

@eddddy - thanks for the reply. No, not an initial cooling off period, in my contract we need to have 14 days notice in writing to withdraw from the contract.

So my thinking was whether we needed to wait those 14 days before proceeding or if we could just go right ahead without concern that the estate agent might consider trying to charge us.

But it seems like that unlikely to be a problem.

eddddy

FreddieFrugal said:

@eddddy - thanks for the reply. No, not an initial cooling off period, in my contract we need to have 14 days notice in writing to withdraw from the contract.

So my thinking was whether we needed to wait those 14 days before proceeding or if we could just go right ahead without concern that the estate agent might consider trying to charge us.

But it seems like that unlikely to be a problem.

OK - I understand now.

No you don't need to wait those 14 days before proceeding.

But if you're beyond the minimum contract period, and it's only 14 days notice - it's up to you whether you want to say you're selling to your parents.

The agent might ask you what your plans are - either out of 'professional curiosity' or to make sure you're not secretly selling to somebody they introduced. It's up to you what you divulge.