Estate Agents

[Bettiwho]

We were signed up with an estate agent and now have given them notice to leave them an sell through another Agent. However a potential buyer had been shown round our house and made an offer which refused. Now having moved to another agent is there a time period that the potential buyer can make another offer through our new agents without us having to pay a fee to our old agent for "introducing" the buyer to our house

[lady_p_gold]

Be very careful here and make sure you put your notice in writing with a proper date and get a reply from the Estate Agent. Also if you have a board make sure it is taken down. It all hinges on how a potential buyer became aware of the property being for sale, if they saw the old board or made and enquiry and then followed it up weeks later then you might find the first lot of estate agents asking for their commission. So in case of any confusion make sure their services are totally dispensed with so there can be no comebacks. (I speak from experience as a friend of mine sacked his estate agents because they didn't pass on an offer and then someone bought over eighteen months later privately and they proved that it was their board they had seen and they took my friend to court and won!)

[lady_p_gold]

Also you will have signed a Contract at the time you employed them, read it carefully, it should all be covered in there I would have thought.

[Hgrove]

The estate agents will most certainly try to extort money from you, so be sure to read the contract carefully, consulting a solicitor or a law centre if necessary, so you can take appropriate action (write a letter, give sufficient notice, etc.) to cover yourselves.

[themas]

A lot of agents terms commit you to paying their fee if they introduced someone - even if the sale goes through long after you have ended the contract. In the situation you describe I think it extremely likely your original agent would want the fee if the potential buyer concerned did eventually buy. As the other have said, read the contract very carefully. You could also ask the agents to give you in writing a list of any people they consider they have introduced - if its done in the right way this should limit their ability to come after you to the people they name.

[NerdyGeek]

Be very careful.

Estate Agents = Devious B***tds