can we pay sellers EA fees?

jammie*dodger

Given that the EA told us about the sale doesn't that mean they introduced us to the property? Also what about the agreement our friends have with the EA - I would have thought that would have prevented us doing this?

rd_ea

jammie*dodger wrote: »

Given that the EA told us about the sale doesn't that mean they introduced us to the property? Also what about the agreement our friends have with the EA - I would have thought that would have prevented us doing this?

If they have signed a sole agency agreement then it is likely that the EA is due a fee as they did introduce you to the sale. If they had not told you and you say your friend was being private about it then you may not have known they were selling at all.

Speaking as an EA myself, they could speak to their EA and explain the situation. If no further work is required to be done by the EA they may agree to reduce their fee as they do not need negotiate things further. Be aware though that not all EA's are reasonable and may push for their full fee - i would rather get a partial fee for intoducing the buyer but not negotiating the sale than having a drawn out dispute with the vendor/purchaser over the full fee.

On the other note about who pays the EA bill - it may be different in england but in Northern Ireland it is common for vendors to pay the EA directly. We usually send a copy of invoice to both vendor and solicitor - if there are funds left over from the sale the sol wil pay us, if not or if for example the vendor wants to pay from their credit card then they just pay us directly.