To be losing patience with estate agents

[GoBrookeYourself]

House was on the market with estate agent 1 for 5 months-Ish and then we moved to estate agents 2. Under the contract it states anyone introduced by estate agent 1 who buys our property ensures the fee goes to estate agent 1 if sold within 6 months of leaving. All well and good. Estate agent 2 has had our house on the market for 5 weeks-Ish and we accepted an offer late last week. Our viewings slowed substantially so very excited to have an offer as we have found the house we want to buy (which is selling through estate agent 1).

Now estate agent 2 contact us introducing who will be looking after the sale of the property. Estate agent 1 then contact DH to say it’s someone they’ve introduced and the fee is payable to them. DH asks them to sort it with EA2. EA1 then call me to tell me they have tried to contact EA2 and EA2 have said the buyers are different to the ones EA1 put on their list of people who viewed the house. EA1 are disagreeing and saying it’s the same people and we need to sort it out or we’ll have to pay 2 lots of fees(?)! I explain that we don’t get any information bar surnames about the people viewing the house so aren’t really in a position to say who the buyers are. EA1 ask me to call EA2 to tell them I want to pay EA1 the fee. I call EA2 to explain who says she’ll call EA1. I get an email which I see just after I’ve called EA2 from EA1, sent before I managed to call EA2, to say she’s contacted the buyer to tell them she’ll be dealing with the sale. EA2 then contact me to say they’ve contacted the seller too to say they’re dealing with it.

The whole thing is ridiculous and unprofessional- we’ve suggested splitting the fee which EA2 agreed to and EA1 refused to and we have received no fewer than 8 calls and 2 emails today arguing that the fee goes to them. Starting to get really annoyed by the situation and worried they’re going to scare the buyers off with their unprofessionalism.

Sorry for the long post, really needed a rant. Has anyone else been in this situation? Is there a chance we could get charged both lots of EA fees (which are exactly the same fee)?

Did EA1 provide you with a list of people they can legitimately claim to have introduced?

Did your contract with EA1 state the fee was payable if they found you a proceedable buyer or similar wording?

How did EA1 find out about your buyers with EA2?

EA1 gave us a list, yes, but there are a couple of issues- the first is that the list only had surnames on and the second is that EA1 are saying the buyers are using something called a finder and the name on the list they gave us is of the finder, whereas EA2 are using the name of the actual buyer.

The contract with EA1 stated that if a proceedable buyer was found from their list of introducers within 6 months of us leaving them, the fee is payable to them. Which we are fine with, we’re happy paying the fee, the fees are the same for both EAs, but we keep receiving calls and emails along the lines of ‘but it’s our fee not theirs’ and as far as we’re concerned, we don’t have the information required to make that decision. All we have is a list of surnames EA1 gave us.

Thank you for replying by the way.. EA1 found out as they’re the ones we’re buying our next property off so they called EA2 to confirm we had an offer and were proceedable on the next property so they could accept our offer formally and (I’m presuming) took it from there

I don't understand the problem here. If your buyers were first shown the house by EA1 then EA1 should have a provable record on file. EA1 should be making their claim to EA2. It's actually quite common and happens all the time.

I don’t really understand the problem either except that we keep getting contacted and now they’re both contacting the buyer telling them they are their new point of contact. But both EAs are telling us that if it doesn’t get resolved we’ll have to pay 2 sets of fees, but we don’t have the information to resolve it, they do.

EA1s point is that their name on the file is of the finder acting on behalf of the buyer, whereas the name EA2 have is of the buyer not the finder. Which is all well and good and we’ll then pay the fee to them but EA2 are denying that it’s the same person.

That! This is NOT an unusual scenario and the agents should sort it out between themselves. You should barely know it is going on!

Doyou have the buyers number? RIng and ask them what their take on the sitation is?

They can't be happy with lots of squabbing either and they will have nothing at al to lose by clarifying whether they did or did not use a finder initially. It won't have any impact on them, so they have no reason to lie, or withhold that information!

We don’t have any information except the buyers first name and the finders last name so can’t contact anyone, but it’s the thought of 2 potential fees that are stressing me out. Plus the unprofessionalism of them squabbling over it and the unprofessionalism from the buyers point of view too.

As it involves a legal contract it sounds like something your solicitor can sort out.

How does EA1 have your buyers contact details? The fact they have them suggests that they did find these buyers. Also the fact that EA2 is willing to split the fee, why would they do that if they have found these buyers?

Pass it on to your solicitor then. They should be able to work it out!

truffleshuffles I agree with the splitting thing, but can’t exactly say that to them.

I’m not sure if I’m getting confused (both EAs are alternating between calling DH and calling me about it), but from what I can understand, EA1 have emailed the finders (this has all happened today so I don’t think they’ve actually had a response from them yet), telling them that they’re in charge of the sale now and EA2 are speaking directly to the buyers and are in constant contact with them. That’s how I’m understanding the situation anyway, I may have gotten it wrong as neither EA are giving me much information other than arguing that I need to pay the fee to them.

DH is going to send them an email asking them to deal directly with the solicitor now instead of us. Our frustrations are with the unprofessionalism and the constant threats of being told that if we don’t pick EA1 we’ll have to pay 2 lots of fees and if we don’t pick EA2 we’ll have to pay 2 lots of fees. As a PP said, I don’t even feel like I should know this argument is taking place between them!

How did EA1 find out the name of the buyer? I doubt this should have been disclosed under GDPR.

You could tell EA1 the buyer was not proceedable at the time he was marketing the property, so unless he agrees with EA2 to split the fee he will get nothing. Alternatively, get the buyer to put in writing which agency was responsible for the sale, and tell the other to get lost. Unfortunately Estate Agents are not known for being reasonable.

EA1 & EA2 should not be getting you involved with this. You should not be getting involved with this. This situation is not uncommon - leave them to it.

The agent you are buying from has an interest in sorting this out with your solicitor. The one you are selling with are supposed to work for you and should sort it out with the other one. Bluff and double bluff, not your problem, bang their heads together.

notangelinajolie I really really want to leave them to it, but they won’t stop calling/email/veiled threatening about the 2 lots of fees. A part of me is also nervous about annoying EA1 as they are who we are buying our new home from and we love the house and don’t want anything to mess the sale up.

I understand what buyers are but what are finders?

I'd be telling them you no longer want to sell and see how you can wait long enough to owe no one anything while not losing your buyers.

Quite frankly I'd be calling their bluff and reminding them that you can always back out and then there will be no fee! I mean obviously you won't, but it might make them summer down a bit.

EA are an outrageous bunch, but they are very very keen on their money!!

Agents usually split the fee in this scenario. EA2 should be doing all of the post sale work because they are your agents now so deserve to be paid for that. EA1 deserves a part of the fee because they found the buyer. Tell them both you will not be paying 2 sets of fees and they can negotiate on the split of the fee between them. It shouldn't be difficult for EA1 to prove that the finder was acting on behalf of their buyers .

I think EA2 could legitimately claim that if EA1 had put the correct name on the list they they would have referred the buyers in question back to them. If EA1 wanted to protect themselves they should have put the correct name on the list.

You are only buying your new home through EA1 Once it goes to solicitors they have no input! And their sellers would be really ssed off if they knew why EA1 had effectiely pulled the l=plug on you... not to mention it is illegal!

Talking of which - what Ombudsmen scheme are both agents part of? You might get some traction there!

newgrandad i’d never heard of finders before this either. Essentially it’s someone wanting to buy a house, who (maybe due to time constraints, distance etc) can’t look at houses themselves so gives someone (the finder) a list of criteria and the finder finds one that ticks all their boxes.

What’s confusing me though is EA1 have told us the name of the finder they had on record and who is on the list and they happened to be the only sellers we showed round ourselves instead of the EA doing it as it was an evening viewing, and the lady was talking about how excited she was to buy and not rent any more and came with her mum. So I basically have no idea what’s happening any more because if it was them, they didn’t sound like finders.