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Estate agent fees
Posted: June 11th, 2022, 8:29 am
by toofast2live
We are the buyers.
We saw the house through agent one. Agent one was subsequently dismissed by the seller.
Agent two was engaged and has re advertised the house at a price we find attractive.
If we now view and buy the house through agent two what is the normal contractual situation? Seller has to pay two fees? Or is agent one completely out of the picture.
Or should we view the house again through agent one and him liais with agent two about fee sharing?
I have definitely heard of disputes in this area and would appreciate any clarification.
Moderator Message:I have moved this to the Legal Issues board where it may get more responses. (It wasn't in the right place on Taxes
) (chas49)
Re: Estate agent fees
Posted: June 11th, 2022, 9:13 am
by DrFfybes
Firstly, not really your problem, it was the sellers' choice to switch agents.
However...
Did you make an offer under Agent 1? If not, why not?
If not, and it was because you felt the house was overpriced, and especially if Agent 1 intimated to you that the minimum acceptable was aboe your offer, then there is a slight case for Agent 1 not being paid.
Have you gone back to Agent 1 and asked if you can make an offer?
But really, it is between the seller and the agents.
Paul
Re: Estate agent fees
Posted: June 11th, 2022, 11:38 pm
by gryffron
Agents’ contracts usually state they are paid for “introduction” of a buyer. So agent 1 will likely want their pound of flesh. But I agree with the previous poster, it isn’t your problem. Proceed as normal with the current agent (2) and leave the problem of who pays fees to who to the other parties to sort out.
Though it may be politic to mention to agent 2 that you had already viewed the house via agent 1. Don’t try to hide it or you may find yourself part of the contract dispute.
Gryff
Re: Estate agent fees
Posted: June 11th, 2022, 11:55 pm
by AsleepInYorkshire
toofast2live wrote:We are the buyers.
We saw the house through agent one. Agent one was subsequently dismissed by the seller.
Agent two was engaged and has re advertised the house at a price we find attractive.
If we now view and buy the house through agent two what is the normal contractual situation? Seller has to pay two fees? Or is agent one completely out of the picture.
Or should we view the house again through agent one and him liaise with agent two about fee sharing?
I have definitely heard of disputes in this area and would appreciate any clarification.
The contracts between the seller and the estate agents are of no concern to you legally. I'd suggest you're over-thinking this a little. Simply make an appointment to view the house with agent 2 and make an offer or if you've already viewed just make an offer. The rest is of no concern to you legally. The seller will deal with the agents fees.
Good luck ... crack on
AiY(D)
Re: Estate agent fees
Posted: June 12th, 2022, 7:44 am
by mutantpoodle
or.....
make your offer to the seller
tell him which agent you viewed with,
after that its 100% clearly his decision what to do and who to do it with
Re: Estate agent fees
Posted: June 12th, 2022, 11:34 am
by wanderer
mutantpoodle wrote:or.....
make your offer to the seller
tell him which agent you viewed with,
after that its 100% clearly his decision what to do and who to do it with
This sounds like good advice to me.
Re: Estate agent fees
Posted: June 12th, 2022, 11:40 am
by BullDog
wanderer wrote:mutantpoodle wrote:or.....
make your offer to the seller
tell him which agent you viewed with,
after that its 100% clearly his decision what to do and who to do it with
This sounds like good advice to me.
Spot on. You never want the risk of being sucked into a "he said this, she said that" type dispute. It's 100% the sellers issue and sometimes the first agent only has rights for a defined period if there's no sale within that period. But you don't know. Best to stay well out of it and make the offer to the seller directly. It's their problem to sort out the agents.