Legal Advice required for estate agent.

adam918

Hi,
Six months ago i signed a contact with an estate agent to sell my house, The EA suggested i sell at 152000 but i believed it to be worth more so i put it on the market at 165000. The EA then said that as he believed it wouldnt sell at this price then he would put a claus in my contact of 250 pounds plus VAT to recoup the costs involved on his side. After 6 months and three substantial price drops the house is now on the market at 150000 and has been since November.
I have had enough and cancelled my estate agent as he's completley rubbish, and he's still insisting on this 250 + VAT. Is there anyone with a bit of legal knowledge out there that can tell me if im tied to this contract or not.
Many Thanks for your help
Adam

Doozergirl

He has incurred fees associated with advertising your property at a price higher than he was comfortable with and you agreed to recompense him if you subsequently changed agents. Sounds fair enough to me. You should have employed another agent if you didn't like the terms

If you don't want to pay the extra £250 then you'll have to stick it out with him and take a different marketing approach by either improving the presentation photographs or the presentation of the house itself - is there a rightmove link?

adam918

Hi,
Thanks for your advice, i fully understand that i signed the contract, but to be honest i feel as though the EA hasnt been doing there job properly so im reluctant to pay for a service i havent got. I only found out yesterday that ive had 3 viewings in december! And as the house is at a lower price than the estate agent recommended for sale and its not sold then the claus shouldnt come into effect anymore.
http://www.rightmove.co.uk/viewdetails-17051405.rsp?pa_n=1&tr_t=buy

Jorgan_2

adam918 wrote: »

Hi,
Thanks for your advice, i fully understand that i signed the contract, but to be honest i feel as though the EA hasnt been doing there job properly so im reluctant to pay for a service i havent got. I only found out yesterday that ive had 3 viewings in december! And as the house is at a lower price than the estate agent recommended for sale and its not sold then the claus shouldnt come into effect anymore.
http://www.rightmove.co.uk/viewdetails-17051405.rsp?pa_n=1&tr_t=buy

Does the contract state a time frame/price range that the fee will apply for? If not, the fee is still payable. As Doozergirl said, if you were not happy with terms, why not find another agent?

The EA may not pursue you for the money, some don't bother chasing, others can be like a dog with a bone.

adam918

there's no time frame, ive just checked my contract and theres a special provision box at the bottom which says minimum fee. This has all come about because im changing my estate agent. Great Fun!

Debt_Free_Chick

adam918 wrote: »

And as the house is at a lower price than the estate agent recommended for sale and its not sold then the claus shouldnt come into effect anymore.

The EA's price is six months old, though. What does he think it should be marketed at now?

It could still be overpriced at £150k.

Basically, that £250 is a charge for "wasting his time, trying to get someone to buy a property that is clearly overpriced". It's for the work he did six months ago, so the price today is irrelevant.

To be honest, that clause was a warning - either "don't be silly at that price" or "find another EA unless you pay me £250 for the time I'm going to waste".

Had the property sold, he would have had his normal fee and so this £250 wouldn't have mattered.

merlinthehappypig

To be honest I would have little sympathy for you. The agent may be rubbish, but the charge is arising from you failing to take the agent's advice on the value of the house.

From the other point of view, someone who is trying to buy at present, I am sick and fed up with repeatedly coming across 'sellers' who think that they know better than the agent what their house is worth and refuse to consider offers that even the agents think are excellent. These are primarily houses that have been on the market since spring/early summer last year or longer.

I appreciate that no-one can be forced to sell, but such people are simply wasting our time and theirs, especially when we have a 400 mile round trip to view.

The fact that your house has been on over 6 months with no sale, despite price reductions, shows that it is simply too expensive.

The irony is that, had you taken the agent's advice at the start, you may have sold earlier and for a better price. Your decision on the price is going to cost you a great deal more than £250.

dmg24

Agree with the others. If you feel that the estate agent was not doing his job correctly, you should have raised your concerns at the time, not now that you are querying the bill.

tux130582

i wish you could get a house like that in bristol for 150k!