Redbrik reservation fee

monakhalaji

Hi
I have my offer accepted on a property which is marketed by redbrik. Now they are asking for a reservation fee of £595 to put the property as sold subject to contract and the fee is not refundable. Has anyone had such a experience with Redbrik and is there anyway to skip this fee?

Albermarle

For sure it is not normal for there to be a reservation fee. Is there anything out of the ordinary about the property?
Is it a house, flat, new build or what ?

ellsbells97

We were originally buying a house with Redbrik - admittedly we didn’t ask but couldn’t really see a way around the reservation fee. Solicitors we approached for quotes all said in their experience in does help sales go through faster and just deducted the costs of the searches etc, which is basically what the reservation fee is paying for. 

In fairness, they do advertise the reservation fee agreement on all of their rightmove listings etc, we knew about it before we even made an offer, and they mentioned it when we made our offer, and again when it was accepted. I don’t know if it’s maybe more expensive than just paying for the searches via a conveyancer, but if the house is right, the house is right. 

Unfortunately (through no fault of Redbrik) our sale dragged on for 11 months and then fell through - but because it was our sellers who withdrew and not us, they refunded the fee. We found them to be good to work with, we just had a particularly difficult process which is definitely an exception to the rule. 

ellsbells97

Albermarle said:

For sure it is not normal for there to be a reservation fee. Is there anything out of the ordinary about the property?
Is it a house, flat, new build or what ?

The estate agent also provide the searches (and some other bits, I can’t remember what, you’d be able to find it on their website) when you pay it - it isn’t just to have the property taken off the market. It’s a bit pricey but a couple of EAs in the area offer it/something similar.

Albermarle

ellsbells97 said:

Albermarle said:

For sure it is not normal for there to be a reservation fee. Is there anything out of the ordinary about the property?
Is it a house, flat, new build or what ?

The estate agent also provide the searches (and some other bits, I can’t remember what, you’d be able to find it on their website) when you pay it - it isn’t just to have the property taken off the market. It’s a bit pricey but a couple of EAs in the area offer it/something similar.

The OP omitted that info ......

GDB2222

https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/www.redbrik.co.uk

They seem to be a Marmite sort of company, as the reviews are nearly all either 1 star or 5 stars. 

eddddy

monakhalaji said:

Has anyone had such a experience with Redbrik and is there anyway to skip this fee?

You could try stating that you won't pay a reservation fee.

• The estate agent might strongly advise the seller against accepting an offer from somebody who won't pay the reservation fee. 

• Or the seller's contract might say that the seller has has to pay the £595 fee if you don't - which might put the seller off

But expect a bit of a fight with the estate agent.


More generally, the concern would be that you back out of the purchase for reasons that are not your fault, or for reasons that might be entirely the fault of the seller. 

For example, if the seller knew about, but didn't mention serious problems with the property, which cause you to back out - presumably you'll lose your deposit.

Or the seller is uncooperative - or maybe even if they change their mind about selling.