House sold but want to pull out- fees?

Marleyandme

Our house sold stc shortly before EA contact expired. The owner of the house we were due to move to decided to pull out of the agreement (private sale/purchase), and we have sold our house with no onward chain with a view to renting for a while before buying again. We are now considering pulling out of our sale, (yes I know it's a pretty low thing to do but we have valid reasons), so was wondering if we pull out what fees (if any) we can expect to pay to the estate agent and solicitor? Sale is about 6 weeks in, well before exchange of contracts, we would owe EA 1.5% on completion.

thanks in advance.

Gorgeous_George

The solicitor will have some costs to be recovered from you. My guess is £500 should cover it.

The big one is the EA fees. If I was the EA I would consider that I had fulfilled my side of the contract and I would look to recover the 1.5% + VAT. This wouldn't be easy - depending on the wording in the contract. In these troubled times, EAs will have more resources to devote to chasing time-wasters.

Good luck.

GG

Jorgan_2

It depends what has been written into the contract you have with your EA. Many work on a 'No Sale - No Fee' basis, in that case you wouldn't owe anything, but some have a 'Ready, Willing & Able buyer' clause, so you may have to owe part or all of the fee, depending on how advanced your buyer is. Your EA may also have an admin fee clause, you really need to check the contract.

PasturesNew

The estate agent is most likely to bill you the full value they'd have achieved if you'd completed. So the full fee. This will be because they found you a buyer ready and able to proceed. So they did their work.

The solicitor has most likely done all the searches and 80% of the work by now too. So I'd expect to have almost a full bill from them and be grateful if it's less. I'd probably expect it to be £100-200 max under their full fee.

real1314

if you're way before exchange, then the actual sale price has not been agreed yet. Have they had a survey?


So, although I don't agree with this (but ultimately it doesn't really affect the buyers if you were going to pull out anyway.. ... but it is harsh on the EA)...

You could advise the buyers that when you move you will be taking every carpet, curtain and rail, every light fitting, all the kitchen units and appliances, even the TV aerial etc.
This might make them want to revise their price, but you don't have to accept it, so the sale might then fall through.:embarasse

Marleyandme

Thanks to all for your replies. My partner and I have had a good long chat about the situation and we have decided to continue with the sale and hopefully play the market to our advantage. Just a case of last minute nerves on my behalf!

zebulon

Marleyandme wrote: »

Just a case of last minute nerves on my behalf!

:rotfl:
is that what you called "we have valid reasons"