Selling house without an estate agent

[rfisher]

Someone wants to buy my house.

It's not on the market for sale but is being advertised for rent.

Why do I need an estate agent if I decide to sell?

Presumably I can just get a conveyancing solicitor to handle the sale without involving an estate agent?

Also, as the potential buyer initially contacted the rental agent about buying are they entitled to any kind of fee if the sale goes ahead?

ITY.

[.:ian:.]

You dont need an EA, and if the rental agent didnt mention any contracts/fees/etc at the time they introduced the purchasers, then you are not bound to anything that requires you to pay them a fee.

Dont let them try and force you to sign anything!

[herewego]

How did you meet the buyer? Was he introduced to you by the agent? Have you checked the agreement you have with the rental agent?

[rfisher]

All done over the telephone.

Rental agency gave me the name of the potential buyer and the phone number of their estate agent with whom they have just sold their previous house.

I rang the EA (who was aware of the situation via the potential buyer) to tell the EA how much I want.

Sounds like the buyer may need to argue with her EA about them charging her a finders' fee as they've actually had to make a telephone call to her about a possible house purchase .

Fun.

[ineedagallardo]

The EA would have already had a fee from the sale of there initial house.

If you haven't signed anything then they can go do one as your legally bound to nothing.

[M400 NBL]

Your potential buyer's estate agent will be getting a fee from them already...and shouldn't expect a fee from you too. In theory it should be a very straight forward process compared to normal.

[rfisher]

Maybe I've just stumbled on a better way to sell a house and save around 3% estate agent fee .

Never felt very happy about handing several £1000s to an estate agent when selling a house.

However, not nearly a gnats chuff as much as the annoyance felt when coughing up stamp duty for GB to piss up the wall.

[reddragon]

As already said, if you haven't agreed to pay anybody a fee then you are not obliged to. The agent selling your buyer's house - were they the ones dealing with the offer? If the rental agents also does sales it may be worthwhile to ask if they would 'progress the sale' for you as it is easier when a 3rd party can be between yourself and your buyer (esp with regard to negotiation - either price changes or agreeing completion dates).

I would also say it would be a kind gesture to pay the agent something for introducing the buyer even though you are not contractually obliged to. In some ways, your good fortune of finding someone who is now buying your house was introduced by the agent to rent, and therefore a fee equal to the fee the agent would have got for the rental would seem fair. Depending on whether you are happy with the service of course! As I wrote above, having an agent may prove valuable and often (yes often) they will save you more than their fee during the transaction compared to negotiating on things yourself.

[reddragon]

rfisher said:

Maybe I've just stumbled on a better way to sell a house and save around 3% estate agent fee .

Never felt very happy about handing several £1000s to an estate agent when selling a house.

However, not nearly a gnats chuff as much as the annoyance felt when coughing up stamp duty for GB to piss up the wall.

3%?? Wherabouts in the UK are you. Most fees round 1.5% (Surrey).
Agents will never be popular with the people paying the fees, but don't forget all the work they do and never get paid for. That's how it balances out, whoever came up with no sale, no fee is to blame for the seemingly high fees for selling.

ETA Don't forget you will need a Home Information Pack on the house even if it is a private sale. A decent solicitor should be able to organise it for you, otherwise ask a local friendly agent who they use (I wouldn't recommend a cheap internet based company).

Edited by reddragon on Wednesday 30th December 18:44