Selling to a friend

[cma]

Hi I wonder if anyone can give me some advice please - I have just this weekend put my house on the market with an estate agent - then my friend comes to me and says that she would like to buy my house. (which was a little weird to begin with but we have talked it through and touch wood it all seems fine). anyway i am tied in with an agent, obviously if i sell to her privately i will save on the estate agent fee - but i am contracted to be with them for 8 weeks, can give notice of 2 weeks after 6 weeks on their books.

Does anyone know if i can get out of this contract with the agent?

[googler]

Depends on the contract you have with your agent. Not enough detail in what you've said so far.

If the agent has got you to sign a sole agency, sole selling rights contract, it may have the provision that however a buyer is found during the course of their contract, their fee is payable.

Need more info on what's in your contract before anyone here can answer. You won't necessarily save on the fee if you sell to your friend.

[cma]

Hi

thank you for replyling -

Right more detail - it is down as 'sole agency'
some text in the contract says:

'you appoint us a your sole agent to market and to endevour to negotiate the sale of the property at a price acceptable to you.

You will not instruct any other estate agents for a minimum period of 8 weeks from the first point of marketing even to the end of the agreement.

At the end of the 8 week period following the first point of marketing, or only with out consent during this period you may appoint any other agents. If you do so we will no longer be your sole agents and we will change our rate of commission to the multiple agency rate noted ont he opposite page.

You will be liable to pay our selling commission as well as any other costs or charges which are agreed , if at any time you exchange contracts for the sale of the property:

with a purchaser introduced by us or with whom we have had negotiations about the sale of the property during the period of this agreement, even if that purchaser was later introduced to you by another estate agent; or

with a purchaser who approached you directly as a result of our marketing campaign or through another estate agent during the period of this agreement. you will not be liable to pay ourselling commissionin these circumstances if the purchaser was introduced to you by any other estate agent(s) whom you may have appointed with our consent at the end of the 8 weeks period following the date of the first point of marketing.

so basically my friend approached me direct without seeing any of their marketing - as i was telling her my plans to put the house on the market one evening - then she went away, thought about it and came back with an offer. During this time i was unaware how serious she was about the deal and had signed up with the estate agents that very day.

we had some viewings on the house yesterday through the estate agents and one of the couples has made us an offer on the house - the estate agent has said she will officially put the offer to us tomorow so I am not sure how we get out of accepting the price through the agent when the couple have also agreed to the asking price - am i in my right to tell the agent that i have a private sale of which i will not need to go through them and pay their fee?!?!?!

My friend is happy to wait till the end of the 8 week agreement for the sale, but its going to be awkward with the estate agent and obviously i would prefer not to pay the £2000 fee as this could go towards the new house.

Please if anyone can offer me some advice that would be great

Thanks

C

[googler]

So you've got two verbal offers for the same amount? Normally, I'd expect the agent to go back to both, and say that you can't choose between two identical offers, and see if either buyer is willing to up their offer, but since you haven't told the agent about one of the offers, she can't do this......

It's difficult doing business with friends, as you're finding out.

If you REALLY want to sell to your friend, and deny yourself the possibility of getting a higher offer from the other buyer, then why not come clean with the agent, and negotiate that you'll pay them a partial fee to cover their costs and a little bit for their trouble?

However, considering you've only been on the market... a week? Your first viewers put an offer in immediately? Considering the current state of the market, it seems likely that your house may well be in demand, and you could find further offers landing at your door soon, and you could get some competing bidding going on.

Do you really want to deny these possibilities as well, in favour of selling to your friend at the current price?

[cma]

I was so worried that this would happen, I can't really back out from my friend now as she is one of closest friends. So I will go with her offer.

I keep reading that if you have a sole agency contract then if you introduce your own buyer to the table and as long as it is not due to any of the EA's marketing then you are exempt from paying any fees. But now that the EA has found us a buyer i think they may be a problem with taking the house off of their books as they have produced a kosher buyer who could proceed. - is this true?

Could we just tell the EA that due to financial issues we will need to withdraw our house from the market? then sell to our friends after the 8 week period is up? Would this effect my HIPs taking it off the market?

So many questions - I am so sorry :0(

[googler]

"Could we just tell the EA that due to financial issues we will need to withdraw our house from the market? then sell to our friends after the 8 week period is up?"

Oh my, and some people accuse EAs of being dishonest........

Strictly speaking, if you take it off the market now, and sell it totally privately to your friend next time, you won't need a HIP as you won't be advertising it in any way then. But in order to do that it seems you have to lie to your EA.

[investment]

if your Friend comes to you after 8 weeks then yes...