Can you pay EA fees through savings if there is no equity leftover from the sale?

Ruth95

I'm in a really tricky situation with trying to sell my flat. It has been massively devalued (won't go into details because it is an insanely complicated situation). What I'm trying to figure out is if we were to accept an offer that covers the remaining balance of our mortgage but doesn't leave us with any equity, can we pay our estate agent fees with money we have saved? If so how can we do this?

Say if we (my husband and me) were to sell for £225K (which is how much is left on the mortgage) and our estate agent fees are £4.5K (inc. VAT), do I have to go into negative equity and owe my mortgage provider money to pay the estate agent fees? Or can I just pay the estate agent fees through savings?

I've seen a previous thread where someone mentioned needing to go through money laundering checks if you try and do this. But is it only necessary to carry out money laundering checks if I'm trying to pay the Estate Agent direct? Can I pay the money for estate agent fees to my solicitor as part of the disbursment costs and they just handle it all as part of the sale? 

As mentioned we're in a really complicated situation so I get that some people might think that getting to the point where we are no longer home owners but are debt free isn't the smartest choice. I am just trying to figure out what our options in one hypothetical situation out of a few options. 

user1977

If you've got enough savings I don't see what the problem would be? I doubt the EA cares too much where the money is coming from to pay their invoice, they only need to do AML checks in relation to how buyers are funding their purchase. You can pay their bill in dirty tenners if you like...

anselld

Your Solicitor will send a completion statement prior to completion and it will show a negative balance.  You pay this off to the Solicitor prior to completion and then they sort everything out on completion day as normal.

incus432

You would have to pay the solicitor the EA fee in advance of completion 

UnsureAboutthis

incus432 said:

You would have to pay the solicitor the EA fee in advance of completion 

Exactly that. As I was reading down the posts, this is what I intended to post.
Any EA worth their salt will not come near anyone if there is no guarantee of getting apayment once the sale has been completed.

ReadySteadyPop

Ruth95 said:

I'm in a really tricky situation with trying to sell my flat. It has been massively devalued (won't go into details because it is an insanely complicated situation). What I'm trying to figure out is if we were to accept an offer that covers the remaining balance of our mortgage but doesn't leave us with any equity, can we pay our estate agent fees with money we have saved? If so how can we do this?

Say if we (my husband and me) were to sell for £225K (which is how much is left on the mortgage) and our estate agent fees are £4.5K (inc. VAT), do I have to go into negative equity and owe my mortgage provider money to pay the estate agent fees? Or can I just pay the estate agent fees through savings?

I've seen a previous thread where someone mentioned needing to go through money laundering checks if you try and do this. But is it only necessary to carry out money laundering checks if I'm trying to pay the Estate Agent direct? Can I pay the money for estate agent fees to my solicitor as part of the disbursment costs and they just handle it all as part of the sale? 

As mentioned we're in a really complicated situation so I get that some people might think that getting to the point where we are no longer home owners but are debt free isn't the smartest choice. I am just trying to figure out what our options in one hypothetical situation out of a few options. 

Do you have any offers at the moment?

theartfullodger

You can pay with whatever you like - roulette winnings, kids savings (if they agree), sale of family heirlooms etc etc etc... assuming no issues with laundering 

saajan_12

Nothing special about an EA fee, there's also solicitors costs, mortgage (if in negative equity already), larger onward purchase. so people contribute new money in a house transaction all the time. The Solicitor may want to go through AML checks for anyone they deal with, but any reason you think that'll be onerous? If its a (relatively) small amount, then it being in your savings account for a few months should suffice.