Selling - Sole Agency Tie In

ChesterJester

GrubbyGirl_2 said:

I've owned 10 houses and the only time I've not been able negotiate a reduction in both commission and length of contract was the last move in 2020 when the market went crazy.  The house sold in 1 week anyway so wasn't a problem.  The market is very static at the moment so you should be able to get a better deal.  Definitely don't tie yourself in for more than 6-8 weeks

Thank you, the last agent who visited wasn’t particularly strict about contract periods but did mention something about the legal requirement being a minimum of 12 weeks now. Sounded like BS if I’m honest.

ChesterJester

Just spoken to the first agent, they’ve defended the 16 week contract + 4 week notice period due to swallowing the costs of marketing up front and being able to absorb due to being an indie agent. I can only assume the same will be said trying to knock their fee down. Though they seem to ignore the fact their fees are also the highest of the lot.

Not quite sure I buy it as one other indie agent has just offered a zero week contract with 3 weeks notice period and a much lower fee. I have queried them to clarify if it is actually zero week but it’s looking a lot better.

ChesterJester

So I’ve read through the paperwork from the agents and collated the following details:

Agent 1
16 weeks including 4 weeks notice @ 1.2% incl VAT.

Agent 2
16 weeks including 4 weeks notice @ £3000 flat fee (1.3% of market valuation) incl VAT.

Agent 3
16 weeks + 4 weeks notice @ 1.8% incl VAT.

Agent 4
0 weeks + 3 weeks notice @ 1.0% incl VAT.

As you can see, fairly similar across the board in terms of contract length apart from agent 4 who seems to have come in with a stronger offer. The only catch is their contract doesn’t mention the fees/penalties for giving notice (incurring costs etc) which I have queried.

Note all 4 agents came back with similar valuations.

jimbog

Do they all have ‘ready, willing and able’ clauses? Which means you will have to pay the fees if they find someone and you subsequently change your mind about selling

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6588649/estate-agent-s-fee-clause-ready-willing-and-able-purchaser

GDB2222

jimbog said:

Do they all have ‘ready, willing and able’ clauses? Which means you will have to pay the fees if they find someone and you subsequently change your mind about selling

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6588649/estate-agent-s-fee-clause-ready-willing-and-able-purchaser

That clause is an absolute nightmare, and I would not agree to it.

ChesterJester

Does the literal phrase “ready, willing & able” have to be used or can they disguise it under different wording? Currently I’m not seeing it but they could have worded it another way.

Slinky

Do be careful you don't get so hung up on fees and tie-ins etc, you forget about obvious differences between agents.  I chose our agent because they have the best photography in the area, bringing in a professional to take photos, including lighting darker areas, rather than the other big EA in the area whose photos look like they are taken by their staff on their phones. The amateur stuff can look dreadful - including things like washing hanging on radiators, and messy worktops. The agent I used would not put that sort of thing up.  You only get one chance to make a first impression and you want it to be top dollar to achieve top dollar, as soon as possible.

eddddy

ChesterJester said:

Just spoken to the first agent, they’ve defended the 16 week contract + 4 week notice period due to swallowing the costs of marketing up front and being able to absorb due to being an indie agent. I can only assume the same will be said trying to knock their fee down. Though they seem to ignore the fact their fees are also the highest of the lot.

To get the agent to negotiate, I think you need to show some definite commitment - for example "I like you best, and so I will instruct you if you can reduce you minimum contract period to 8 weeks and price match xyz agent."

Otherwise, they'll suspect you are just trying to play them off against each other in a "reverse auction" - going around to each agent in turn, trying to get a better deal each time.

(And I'm not sure if you're doing this by email, but you probably need to negotiate by phone or face-to-face.)

ChesterJester said:

Does the literal phrase “ready, willing & able” have to be used or can they disguise it under different wording? Currently I’m not seeing it but they could have worded it another way.

They can use different wording. The question really is "Can they charge me a fee if I withdraw from the sale - even if it's after accepting an offer?". You need to read the contract wording to see if that's the case.

ChesterJester said:

The only catch is their contract doesn’t mention the fees/penalties for giving notice (incurring costs etc) which I have queried.

If the contract doesn't mention fees for giving notice (more typically called "withdrawal fees"), then they can't charge them.

They can't "make up" fees which aren't mentioned in their contract.