Can anyone explain something to me about estate agent fees

[whichkindof]

I am autistic and the contract is too much for me to break down, I’m trying to find out how long the agent lists my property for and what happens if it hasn’t sold by that point, do we have to pay’s fees in that case or do you just relist with them or take it off the market all together?
We are only going with the one agent

It'll be in the contract you sign with them. Usually no fees are payable unless they sell your property & at exchange of contracts (when your buyers sign to exchange contracts, usually at the tail end of the conveyancing process).

So no you wouldn't be liable for fees unless your agent sells your property. But check the contract before you sign.

Thank you for this. Yes I have got the contract and have looked but there is so much information in it it’s hurting my head, I will look over it again later though and try to find that specific part.

You can ask the estate agent to go through it with you? Or ask a pa or friend to help?

Agents have contracts of different lengths.

Some insist on 20 weeks, some are less than that. It means that you are contracted to that agent for the length of time specified, unless you decide to withdraw your property from sale. You can’t then relist with another agent until the end of the original contract.

The agent gets his or her fee when the property is sold.

I know what you mean about the small print.

I would talk to the EA who valued your property, ask them directly how long you are tied into the contract (if it isn't clear, it is often about 12 weeks but your contract should mention a number of weeks). At the end of the 12 weeks (or whatever period of time is specified in the contract) you can decide whether to stick with them anyway or move to another EA. Also check that if they fail to find you a buyer, you won't have to pay them anything.

The usual deal is no sale, no fee. And you only have to pay their fee if the sale actually gets to completion and the house is sold.

Apart from some online agencies (no office) like Purple Bricks where you pay a fee upfront whether the house sells or not. I would avoid those.

You could email your questions to the estate agent and ask them to confirm the answers, and point you towards where the answers to the questions are outlined in the contract

Share this kind of thing with your partner if you struggle with it?

Well not everyone has a partner so that’s a bit of an assumption.

It’s fine for them to ask questions on Mumsnet & get advice.

This op does
multiple threads about buying process and the very long one about what to offer is the op under a different name (I’ve not outed the op, they admitted multiple name change)

Our Agent didn’t have a contract and was worth his weight in gold. Can you go with another one? I would be careful about one with an overly complex contract. I wouldn’t trust the agent to advise you on contractual language and provisions.

What do you mean your agent didn’t have a contract?

so you had no idea about his fees?