Legal advice/views

[cloud451]

Have just put my house on the market. My first viewer was the mother of my next door neighbour. The neighbour saw the estate agents taking pics and told his mum. Instead of contacting me directly the mum made an appointment to see the property via the estate agents. My guess is that legally if she buys the house we will have to pay the estate agent fees. However, if she didnt tell the estate agent that she was the mum of my neighbour and we sell it to her without involving the estate agents can we avoid their fees by just saying the buyer is the mum of our neighbour and found out from us.

[Jeannie D]

That would be difficult to do when the estate agents formally introduced Neighbour's Mum to you as a viewer and when they will have a complete record of her details. Even when you cancel your agreement with an estate agent, they always reserve the right to charge a commission if a sale subsequently results from a potential buyer introduced to you by them. I wouldn't advise that you try - sorry.

[brian]

Originally Posted by cloud451

Have just put my house on the market. My first viewer was the mother of my next door neighbour. The neighbour saw the estate agents taking pics and told his mum. Instead of contacting me directly the mum made an appointment to see the property via the estate agents. My guess is that legally if she buys the house we will have to pay the estate agent fees. However, if she didnt tell the estate agent that she was the mum of my neighbour and we sell it to her without involving the estate agents can we avoid their fees by just saying the buyer is the mum of our neighbour and found out from us.

Stop trying to get out of fees - you've a chance to sell your house because of the estate agent, so don't be ungrateful that they're doing their job to get your house sold!!