To pull out of this verbal agreement?

[Flossyfloof]

I have just bought a lovely house for rental purposes. Put it in the hands of my normal agent and asked them to start marketing it. Within two days they had a very nice tenant, just the sort of person I would want in there. However, they were actually advertising it at one hundred pounds less than it should have been on at. When I got home on the day I found out about this the confirmation letter had arrived - I have signed nothing yet. IN the meantime a very nice lady has been in contact privately and she desperately wants the house. I would like to let her have it and have a go at managing it myself. I don't feel as if I owe the agents anything but I do feel uncomfortable about pulling out.
What do you think?

[Imisssleepingin]

If it's the agents mistake then I think you're ok to pull out.

[Trills]

YWNBU to pull out - the verbal agreement was made without both parties actually having the same idea of what they were agreeing to. It's not your fault and you shouldn't feel bad about it.

[Sallyingforth]

A verbal agreement is legally binding. But if the agent has let it at a different price to the one you agreed on, he has broken that agreement and you are not bound by it.
But he may try to insist that the price was a guide, not fixed. You need to be certain of what was said.

[JarethTheGoblinKing]

Give the first person the chance to make up the £100 a month. If he doesn't want it at that price, let the other person have it.

[ophelia275]

Think how you would feel if you were the first tenant and were suddenly told you have to pay more even though the agent has apparently confirmed your offer in writing. This is why landlords are so despised and have a reputation for being greedy!

[YouOldSlag]

YANBU. It's not your fault, it's the agent's.

[Noqontrol]

Well it's not your fault if the agent advertised it at the wrong price. £100 is a lot of money, could you still afford your bills without that? Ask the estate agent to go back to the tenant, tell her he's made a mistake and try and sort the situation out. I'd also consider using a more competent estate agent next time so you don't end up in this situation again. If the tenant that the agent has found is as nice as you say, well I'd consider it carefully. A good tenant is worth their weight in gold. Maybe you could meet halfway, an extra £50 or something. But I wouldn't feel bad whatever you decide to do, it's not your fault / mistake, and you are running a business not a charity.

[Flossyfloof]

Thanks for your thoughts. As you say, Noq, I am running a business but I always try to treat people well. Last time I was letting a property through them a very strange thing happened. I had just come home from work and a couple drew up in a car and explained that they were looking at renting the house opposite, They were asking about the area etc. As Iwas busy telling them what a nice place to live this is, it dawned on me that I had a house up for rent in an area closeby. They had been to see the agents about it but been told. completely untruthfully, that the keys were out. They said that they had come into the office quite late in the day and that they had the impression that it was just too late for the agents to bother with them.
I really like to have nice relations with everyone but I do pay the agents a lot of money to do all the hard work for me! I didn't mean to drip-feed, sorry if it seems like this.

[VolAuVent]

The agents should call the potential tenant and explain. They made the mistake so they can sort it out, and there won't be a direct confrontation between you and the tenant.

[OutragedAtThePriceOfFreddos]

I would pull out, definatly.

If you go back to the original tennant you will have to pay something to the agency, at least an introduction fee, and I don't think you owe them anything after the monumental mistake they made. I'm sure you could have found plenty of tennants yourself if you had advertised privately at £100pcm less than what the property was worth.

It's not you that would be letting down the original tennant, it would be the estate agent.