Estate Agent that states their terms are non negotiable

Albermarle

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81996854#Comment_81996854

I did a lot of commercial deals in my job and there was always a lot of pushing & shoving from both sides, accusations of being inflexible, too expensive etc. In the midst of all the discussions you always had to keep the basic rules in your mind.

The Seller has the power to set the price/conditions, & the Buyer has the power whether to buy or not. Just as you say.

eddddy

bucaramanga said

I asked them to reduce the tie in period from 20 weeks to 12,

In terms of negotiating strategy…

Were you offering the estate agent a firm commitment in return for giving you better terms?

e.g. "If you reduce your tie in period to 12 weeks, I'll sign up with you"

If not, the estate agent might have suspected you were trying to conduct a "competitive auction of contract terms"

e.g.

• You ask agent A for a 12 week tie in period.
• If agent A agrees, you say to agent B "Agent A has offered me 12 weeks, so will you offer me 10 weeks?"
• Then you go back to agent A and say "Agent B has offered me 10 weeks, so will you offer me 8 weeks?"

And estate agents probably won't negotiate on anything, if they suspect that might happen.

bucaramanga said

to change a sole selling rights contract to a sole agency rights contacrt,

Why are you keen on Sole Agency rather than Sole Selling Rights? Are you planning to actively look for buyers yourself?

lfc321

If they’re well regarded (as you say in your OP), then they’re probably doing OK in attracting business. If they give you special terms, they’ll be worried that word will get around and everyone will want the same. In the end, that will be bad for their business.

An estate agent that is struggling for business is more likely to be flexible.