Buying a house direct from the vendor
Discussion
Recently we went to view a newly refurbished house, we both liked & had a second viewing on Friday.
When we got there, (whilst waiting for the agent), the seller came out and spoke to us, he said to us that as he'd bought a neighboring property to do up, that he would be willing to lower his asking price significantly, if we cut out the agent, as he needs the funds to renovate his next property.
He told us what he would take for it as a lump sum & for the price it's a considerable discount & as it's our first property we need to save as much as possible!
My question is, i understand he'll have some form of contract with the agent, however if we went direct to him (which he asked us to do), are we going to be liable for any costs by doing so?
I presume not, as we have no contract with the agent, other than them showing us the house?
When we got there, (whilst waiting for the agent), the seller came out and spoke to us, he said to us that as he'd bought a neighboring property to do up, that he would be willing to lower his asking price significantly, if we cut out the agent, as he needs the funds to renovate his next property.
He told us what he would take for it as a lump sum & for the price it's a considerable discount & as it's our first property we need to save as much as possible!
My question is, i understand he'll have some form of contract with the agent, however if we went direct to him (which he asked us to do), are we going to be liable for any costs by doing so?
I presume not, as we have no contract with the agent, other than them showing us the house?
We went to see it & he said (before we even talked about it).
He said:
'I'll knock £10k off the ask if you buy direct, as I've bought a neighboring property to do-up & i need the money to do that.'
I said ok that's interesting, he said he has to pay £3k in fees to the EA & he needs to get a deal done so he can start work & complete the other house he has to do up.
It doesn't bother me either way, so i've left the ball in his court.
He said:
'I'll knock £10k off the ask if you buy direct, as I've bought a neighboring property to do-up & i need the money to do that.'
I said ok that's interesting, he said he has to pay £3k in fees to the EA & he needs to get a deal done so he can start work & complete the other house he has to do up.
It doesn't bother me either way, so i've left the ball in his court.
FrankAbagnale said:
Doesn't make any sense to me to reduce by £10k to avoid £3k fees - cutting the agent out won't make the deal go any quicker and he may find himself taking a lower offer and being bound by contract to pay the fee.
With that said, as a purchaser, there will be no come back on you. Although, if you live in a small town etc it could be shortsighted as any agent will be wary about introducing you to houses in future. If you live in a larger town/city I doubt anyone would remember in future other than the agent you're dealing with now.
Not that it matters to you, but there has been an effective introduction to the seller by the agent. Assuming they have a normal contract in place the agent will have a right to a fee should you purchase the property for anywhere between 6-12 months from the end of the sole agency contract.
Other people may say they got away with it by keeping it quiet/letting it from the owner etc and the agent didn't get a fee. That doesn't mean the agent wasn't entitled to one.
The way he approached you, purchase of neighbours house, needing money to do it up from his own sale, avoiding £3k in fees with a £10k price drop. Something doesn't quite sit right here for me and i'd be very suspicious.
We actually got to the property to view on time (second viewing).With that said, as a purchaser, there will be no come back on you. Although, if you live in a small town etc it could be shortsighted as any agent will be wary about introducing you to houses in future. If you live in a larger town/city I doubt anyone would remember in future other than the agent you're dealing with now.
Not that it matters to you, but there has been an effective introduction to the seller by the agent. Assuming they have a normal contract in place the agent will have a right to a fee should you purchase the property for anywhere between 6-12 months from the end of the sole agency contract.
Other people may say they got away with it by keeping it quiet/letting it from the owner etc and the agent didn't get a fee. That doesn't mean the agent wasn't entitled to one.
The way he approached you, purchase of neighbours house, needing money to do it up from his own sale, avoiding £3k in fees with a £10k price drop. Something doesn't quite sit right here for me and i'd be very suspicious.
Edited by FrankAbagnale on Monday 10th April 12:39
The vendor was there as he has totally renovated the house & was working on it.
Our agent showed up late & he struck up a conversation off his own back.
He said when he purchased this house to do up, he also bought the neighbouring house to do up as well, we told him we were FTB with an agreement in place & he said he needed a quick sale to free up cash to do the second house.
He said going via the EA was going to cost him £3k in fees, but as he wanted to get them both completed & sold he'd take an offer on the one we were viewing, we asked him what he'd accept & he said £10k less than the listed price to go direct.
I've left it with him and told him to check his contract with the EA & come back to me as it's not us that will be liable for any costs.
We have no issue going via the agent & offering slightly more, (he doesn't know this), however we shall see what happens when he comes back to us.
Those are all fair points, however i guess a survey would show this up.
It's had a full rennovation, wiring is new, plumbing is new, new boiler, flooring, rads, decoration, doors, you name it. (All clearly visible.)
When we initially discussed the property with the agent he also said he'd offer a 12 month warranty on the property.
I've given it a thorough going over & it does 'look' to have been done properly.
The agent did say when they showed us round first time he wanted a quick sale as he had another property he wanted to do up.
It's had a full rennovation, wiring is new, plumbing is new, new boiler, flooring, rads, decoration, doors, you name it. (All clearly visible.)
When we initially discussed the property with the agent he also said he'd offer a 12 month warranty on the property.
I've given it a thorough going over & it does 'look' to have been done properly.
The agent did say when they showed us round first time he wanted a quick sale as he had another property he wanted to do up.
I spoke to the vendor last night.
He said that having had second thoughts on the whole thing he'd rather go through the EA.
He said he had a multi-EA deal & thought that would of allowed him to sell directly, however after reading the small print it doesn't, so he's going to honour the deal.
We're hoping to put an offer forward today that he'll accept.
He purchased 2 houses to do up (both next door to each other) & is going to do the second house up to live in himself.
He said that having had second thoughts on the whole thing he'd rather go through the EA.
He said he had a multi-EA deal & thought that would of allowed him to sell directly, however after reading the small print it doesn't, so he's going to honour the deal.
We're hoping to put an offer forward today that he'll accept.
He purchased 2 houses to do up (both next door to each other) & is going to do the second house up to live in himself.
easytiger123 said:
So the vendor suggests to you, a total stranger, that you should go along with him in some idiotic plan to break his contract with the very agent who put you in his house for the viewing, in order to save some money and presumably think the agent would never spot this? The guy is a moron, and though he's thankfully seen some sense and abandoned his Laurel and Hardy plan, I'd be very careful about dealing with him on any basis.
Given it's all going the proper route & we'll ve having the associated surveys done.I see no issue now that this is anything different than any other house purchase, you don't know who or what has done anything to the house previous.
UPDATE
You'll all be pleased to know that once our offer was accepted (lower than ask), the seller then pulled out the next day.
Thankfully we'd not incurred any costs!
He began texting me saying he wasn't selling anymore as his ex was taking him to court for custody of their child or something.
I said that's fine don't worry about it etc. (We were annoyed but such is life).
He then text me again a few hours later begging for forgivness and saying he needed the asking price really.
I told him thanks but no thanks & blocked him, made the agent aware etc.
However on the plus side we made an offer on our 'first choice' property, as we know they were keen to sell to secure a move into a home they'd offered on.
We've had that accepted & it's full steam ahead as we're both chain free!
Lesson learned
(Oh & it has a large shed)!
You'll all be pleased to know that once our offer was accepted (lower than ask), the seller then pulled out the next day.
Thankfully we'd not incurred any costs!
He began texting me saying he wasn't selling anymore as his ex was taking him to court for custody of their child or something.
I said that's fine don't worry about it etc. (We were annoyed but such is life).
He then text me again a few hours later begging for forgivness and saying he needed the asking price really.
I told him thanks but no thanks & blocked him, made the agent aware etc.
However on the plus side we made an offer on our 'first choice' property, as we know they were keen to sell to secure a move into a home they'd offered on.
We've had that accepted & it's full steam ahead as we're both chain free!
Lesson learned
(Oh & it has a large shed)!
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