estate agent etiquette - do we make the offer through the original agent or the new one?

[MannyWaters]

Would value your wisdom on this please.

We offered on a property a month ago which was rejected.

Now it is being marketed by a new agent.

We are thinking of going for a second viewing and possibly making an increased offer. But do we need to go back to the first agent who introduced us to the vendor and negotiate via him?

Is there a gentlemen's agreement between agents to do this or does the new contract with the new agent mean previous introductions are wiped from the slate?

DH wonders if the new agent might not want to keep us in the picture with this house because if our offer was successful the first agent would get the comission.

Anyone know what the etiquette in this sort of situation is?

Thanks in advance.

Is the property now multi-agent then ?

If not then you should be negotiating with the agent who is currently marketing the house. As far as I know the other agent cannot get commission for the sale of the house if it is no longer being marketed by them as the contract between the seller and the original agent is no longer active/valid.

I would go with the new agent - mentioning the history, in case there are some bits in the contract about that sort of thing.

The vendors must have not liked something about the 1st agent to get rid of them, so I would leave that agent alone.

Thanks - no, the property is solely with the new agent.

So I can take it that the new contract means we only have to deal with the new agent?

That makes life simpler!

As far as I am aware but I am not a conveyancing solicitor !

We were selling a house and this is what happened with us.

We had a viewing and an offer from the previous couple who weren't in a preceedable position.

We let the estate agent go giving notice etc and had a new estate agent.

The previous couple came back after a few months and wanted to view the house with the new estate agent. We queried this with our new agent and he informed us that if the house sale went through with this couple who had previously viewed the house and offered on the house that legally we would have to pay the EA current and old for selling the house.

However, the EA also mentioned that they can keep it quiet if they want to and not mention this or sometimes two EA can come to an agreement between them.

In the end we didn't sell to the original couple, one reason was we didn't want to pay any more estate agents fees and sold with another couple.

[back from lunch]

Thanks for sharing your experience pop1973.

So this situation does muddy the waters a bit, then...

Any advice from anyone about whether to make a further offer via the first agent (who no longer has a contract with the vendor) or second (sole) agent?

If second agent is now the sole agent, I think it'd be entirely reasonable and sensible as a purchaser to make an offer through them. But I'm not an agent and have no experience of this.

You should deal with the new agent and offer through them but give them the history as the original agent will be able to claim their fee as the introduction of you to the property was with them IYSWIM

you should contact the new agent to view again but the original agent will legally be entitled to commission as he introduced you as buyers. However, that is the vendors' problem, not yours .

Thanks for all your replies.

That does make us less attractive as buyers, then,
if the vendor potentially becomes liable for two lots of commission
from both the original agent and the one he is currently under contract with.

Big bucks involved when the house is going to go for around £850k.

An awkward situation, but thanks for your thoughts.