Selling property questions - selling privately?

well yes.

i m amazed that you think your agent is at fault for it not selling in the current climate. whereve you been? mars?

Oh no, i dont blame them at all - just saying its rubbish that we have only had one viewing... meaning the market was rubbish not the agent.

Not sure where the contract is at the mo so wondered if anyone knew off hand...

look, before i lose the will to live, no one can answer. read your sodding contract.

Tinks - although you will need to read your contract for exactly what it says but I would imagine you would do. We needed to have told the agent within 3 weeks if we knew of someone interested. I have done it before myself though. I took the property off the market and waited the 6 weeks (it said I needed to in my contract) and then sold it privately to a family member.

It is different depending on different estate agents so my experience may well be different.

FWIW I can't find my current contract either, it seems to be one of those pieces of paper that just gets 'put aside'.

Is your house competitively priced? One viewing is pants. I know the market is awful, we have reduced our property by 20k and it's so frustrating. We're paying a stupidly high mortgage on an empty property at the minute.

Cheers - you're really helpful! jees... what is it with some people - only popped on whilst feeding my baby to ask a quick question. Forgot i have to clearly word everything in case it is misinterpreted! Whats that saying... if you've got nothing nice to say.....

Thanks Sherry - i will dig it out in the morning. Hopefully there is a way around it. I think it is competetivley priced, on for £5k more than we paid for it 3 years ago but just want to break even... unfortunately we can't afford to lose money on it at the moment so may just have to ride it out if we cant get rid... just need more space.

I know what you mean unfortunately we have ours up for less than what I paid for it just over a year ago. We will be in negative equity with it but we are lucky it is a second property (or unlucky whichever way you look at it).

Who knows what is going to happen with the housing market - i dont think anyone does. If you can it may be better to ride it out.

Who rattled your cage? It's a perfectly reasonable query surely?

I don't actually know tinks but sure someone here can be more constructive.

no it isnt. it s ullterley impossible to answer, as per my post. anything else is pure speculation. and its annoying to constatnly read piece of string questions / unanswerable questions posted by dimwits.

why am i even replying to this? god knows.

Whatever, nick. there's a difference between speculation and educated advice on the possibilities, people often ask 'what if?' or 'where do i stand?' on hitched, and get some reasonable answers. i hope the following is useful.

the wording you're looking for on the contract relates to selling rights. i can't remember it all off the top of my head, but my old firm's wording was 'sole selling rights' - basically if a sale is agreed while on the market with them you have to pay - even if your agent had nothing to do with it. and if someone who viewed via your agents (i.e. booked an appointment through them) later buys your house after you've left your agents, you are still liable to pay the fee. people often find it hard to believe this, but it will be supported by a court if it comes to it as the agent is said to have introduced them.

the wording for EA contracts is prescribed in the various acts - have a look through and google what you find or if i'm about i'll look it up for you. i've got it all upstairs, i'm just lazy ?

If it is a friend then I asumme they have seen the house - I wouldn't involve the agent - they would never know. Say you are taking it off the market and instruct your solicitors

Absolutely not true and poor advice. Estate agents will keep a list of all properties they have/have had on the market. the OP would have to withdraw their house from sale to sell it. The EA will, most likely check the LR website to see whether the OP's house has sold - if so they are likely to pursue or at least investigate dates etc.

Tinks - if your contract mentions "sole agency rights" then you can sell the property privately, if it mentions "sole selling rights" then you cannot

I agree with Hecate - the way the market is now, estate agents are going to keep an eye on all properties selling. It's not like they are rushed off their feet and won't notice.

Thanks everyone. Ive now managed to find the contract. It basically says that it is a Sole Agency Agreement and there is a specific clause that states that we have to pay the fee even if sold privately... It doesnt however give us a timeline. We have to give 14 days notice to terminate the agreement and have not as yet had any contact with the friend of a friend who may be interested.

I guess I am right in thinking that if we terminate the agreement now and then dont contact this person for the 14 days then we are in the clear? The clause about selling privately basically says that if we speak to anyone privately that we need to refer them to the agent...

I hate all the legal jargon they use in these contracts!

disclaimer - I know you cannot give a definitive answer but if any legal bods/or someone has done this before has a rough idea then I would appreciate any guidance ?

Obviously as I haven't got the Contract in front of me this isn't official advice.

However, I would be loathe to do it on such a quick turnaround. I presume you were referring to giving the notice - so 14 days - then getting the ball rolling with your friend on day 15? I would leave a longer turnaround period tbh if you want to be sure that you are in the clear. Stamp Duty forms - that your friend will have to sign - will clearly ask whether you are know to him so the relationship will be well documented.

Cheers Hecate. Im not building my hopes up that anything is going to happen but I guess if it does we will end up having to pay the fees. It wouldnt normally bother me so much but as we havent made a bean on the property we are going to be well out of pocket. Hey ho - these things happen eh! I know we arent the only ones in this position.

With regards to the stamp duty forms, we dont know this guy from Adam, we dont even know his name yet its just a neighbour has told us he has a friend who is interested in buying a flat in this block so he is going to put him in touch with us.

Thanks again!

I am an estate agent and I agree that your question is perfectly reasonable!

As previous posters have said, the real answer lies in whether your contract states 'Sole Selling Rights' or 'Sole Agency Rights'. The huge majority of estate agency contracts are now usually for 'sole agency rights', as I believe Sole Selling Rights are generally no longer deemed fair (as you wouldn't, in effect, even be able to sell to your own son or your mother without paying your agent a commission).

So basically, if you had a Sole Agency contract with me, and YOU found yourself a buyer through any means other than through another agent, you don't have to pay me a penny (sadly for me ?).

If you find you have a Sole Selling Rights contract, then give notice now, because that is very restricting.

* Note - If you are selling to a friend of friend, make sure that they are not registered with the estate agent, or have received details from them etc., because if they have, although it would be difficult for the agent to prove themselves instrumental in the sale, it may muddy the waters slightly.

Thanks cjb, it seems I have Sole Agency Agreement but there a clause stipulating that if we sell privately it has to go through them! Grrr!

Can I ask you how things work with a HIP, if we take the apartment off the market, can we use the HIP again if we put it back on or do we have to pay for another one. Im tempted to take it off with these agents anyway, I know the market is poor but I have only had contact with them once in 6 months and that was me calling them!

A HIP is your property, so you can take it with you. Depending on how long you've had it, the local search may need renewing at some point

Just to add I have also been advised that if you decide to take the property off the market, then subsequently put it back on, another HIP would be required (providing 12 months has elapsed since the property was first marketed)

This was advice from my HIP provider, who could be wrong.

No contact in 6 months is definitely poor - the market is pretty rubbish but it's not non-existent - it does seem like you've had a poor service.

Basically, whether you own the HIP or not depends on how you've paid for it. If YOU have paid for it fully already then yes, it's yours and you can do what you like with it. This is by far the usual method. However, if your agent paid for it, on the basis that they would deduct the payment from their fee once they sold the property, or they have funded your HIP and your contract includes a 'withdrawal' clause, then no, you can't take it with you.

Either way, your existing HIP is only valid for 28 days if your property is withdrawn from the market - so, when your agreement expires with your current agent, you have 28 days in which to remarket, or you'll have to pay for and obtain a new HIP.

Thanks both of you. We own the HIP now as paid out for it last month - seems like such a waste of money but thats a whole other debate. Have just chatted to H and we will leave it on the market for now and just see what happens. Not holding out much hope but you never know do you!

Grrr, can't get Edit Notes to work properly... just to say we are now having a huge debate in the office as to how long a HIP stays in force after a property is withdrawn.. will let you know the outcome ?!!!!