HELP! with sole agency agreements

claretherookery

help - we are 'for sale' & we have an agent in place with a sole agency agreement.
to be honest - they havn't been doing much....
when i was outside the other day an elderly guy was looking at our cottage and as i had just done a viewing that the estate agent had arranged (and the place was tidy!) - i showed him round.
he fell in love with it and asked if he could bring his wife the next day.... now at this point i didnt know legally what i could do ... so i told him to call the agent.
he did ~ the agent told me he had called and the guy told her he had already seen it the day before...etc etc...
what i need to know now is ~ do i have to pay the agent if they purchase as the agent didnt introduce them.
i didnt know that we could advertise and sell our own property even though we have an agent in place.
can anyone help????

Ian_W

Do you have an agent's For Sale board outside? If you do, then I think the answer is you will almost certainly have to pay the EA because they will argue he only knew it was for sale because of the board.

If you don't, why was the elderly guy looking at your cottage - had he seen it in the agents window or local property ads?

If none of those apply and it was purely by chance he happened to be looking at your cottage when it was for sale, without any prior knowledge that it was for sale [oh, was that a pig flying past! ] - then check your contract.

Trouble is you've now refered this potential buyer to the agent, so they will no doubt argue that they are involved in sale, because you involved them.

On a sole agency agreement you can advertise or use the internet and not pay the agent if you find the buyer, but you should do so with your own contact details and if you find a buyer, tell the agent what's happened without passing on your buyers details.

Sorry it may not be what you want to hear - you could also check with your sol and ask him to withold the EA fees, if he advises you are justified in doing so, but I would be very surprised if you don't end up arguing it in the County Court in the circumstances you've described. _pale_

Happy_saver_4

Some cowboy EA's are now using ' Sole selling' right agreements which does not preclude you from selling your property. But, if you or anybody else sells the property you will still have to pay their agreed fee! :mad:

If you feel you must enter into a ' Sole Agency ' agreement always make sure that is exactly what it is. NEVER sign a ' Sole Selling Right ' agreement.

Robert_Sterling_3

I agree with the above.

If you appoint a "SOLE AGENT" for an agreed period of time then during that period of time whoever sells the house that sole agent get their commission.

The Estate Agent has an established business to run. Whilst they appear to you to be doing nothing they are actually in possession of the names and addresses of lots of people who are trying to buy a house in your area and will select some of these prospective customers to come and look over your house.

HGLTsuperstar

I know this isn't what you want to hear but, whether the EA is doing much or not, by redirecting your prospective buyer to them, you've really trapped yourself. What I mean is that, say you had 2 weeks left on your agreement with the EA, and you then withdrew it and asked your guy to come back in a month, then you'd have more of a case, but even doing that now, the EA can claim the buyer came through them initially and will have a clause saying you will owe them fees on that buyer for a stated period after the end of your contract with them.

wen13

This is very interesting as we are in a similar position - where a lady walked past and having seen the board outside asked to look around. I did wonder this so thanks for all who replied.

HGLTsuperstar

wen13, if she saw the board outside, then your EA introduced her (albeit passively), plain and simple