can a buyer sack an estate agent

themissingdigit

We are buying a house (or hope we are). What should the procedure be?

Our offer was accepted, we've had no formal acceptance notification from the agent, we were pressurised into using their conveyancing and have heard nothing from them either.

Our vendor is very twitchy and says he will allow viewings until our survey has taken place. We have only just applied for the mortgage because we couldn't get the information from the estate agent, causing a two week delay.

The house is multi agent, could we withdraw that offer and move to another agent. Can we get a refund for the conveyancing deposit, if they have started proceedings yet?

If this wasn't a dream house for us, we would have walked away long ago.

Doozergirl

It's not a good idea to start again with another agent - there's a chance the original agent will get nasty. If they made the introduction, they are within their rights to claim their fee from the vendor.

Tell the agent you're not happy with the communication from them. Find out what you've paid the conveyancing deposit for - if it's searches and they're being carried out then there's no chance of getting your money back. If you can get it back, go with another solicitor quickly, but make sure they come with recommendations - there's no point jumping from the frying pan into the fire!

Could you knock on the door or drop a note through the vendors letterbox asking for them to contact you? If you explain that you went with the agents conveyancer for speed but they're not being forthcoming I'm sure they'll be sympathetic. They want to see their house sold more than you want to buy it even! The vendor will be able to put pressure on the agent to move the conveyancing on and they will have more swing with them than you currently do.

If you can establish a relationship with them, it's often a little less stressful than constantly talking through agents - you can really gauge how the other feels about the sale and have compassion for them. Sales have always worked better for when we have communicated directly.

HTH

theGrinch

try and get all parties together and sit down and talk it through. everyone will feel better after

themissingdigit

Thanks for the info Doozergirl & theGrinch.We have now spoken to the vendor this evening & now feel a lot better. He feels the same about the agent, but as you say, he wont change agent now as he knows he may get stung for 2 fees.