On Fri, 18 Jun 2004 23:02:36 +0100, "Owain"
wrote:

"Mike Mitchell" wrote
| Apparently as long as someone has been referred to the property
| by the current agent (I assume up until close of business on
| the day of expiry of the sole agency agreement), that -
| henceforth former - agent gets the commission if the viewer
| does go ahead and buy the property, even if the viewer took
| a week or so to make a decision.
| What I'm not quite sure of is, the property will be on at a lower
| price with the new agent. Am I supposed to inform the viewer of that
| (if he does put in an offer)? In other words, he will probably see the
| property on with the new agent as of tomorrow or Monday and won't want
| to pay the current asking price if the new price is lower. However, he
| was referred to the property via the current agent at the higher
| price.

If the sale progresses towards conclusion and the viewer only finds out
'second-hand' that it is being advertised at a lower price, he might be
rather less than impressed and take the viewpoint that if you have (from his
viewpoint) been playing silly beggars he can do the same and do one of those
'wait until the day before completion then ask for another £5 off' haggles.

I'd be upfront with him, tell him you're now inviting offers around a new
lower marketing price (as Rick suggests, because you're no longer including
certain things in the sale, no need to sound desperate). Hopefully he will
make an offer and, because the sale price is lower, that former estate agent
is going to get a bit less in commission (it should be %age of the actual
realised price, not the marketing price) than he was expecting, which will
serve him right for not pulling finger out earlier on.

But what if the viewer did make an offer on the basis of the lead he
followed up, namely the one with the (as of today) ex-agent? That
offer would be based on the price advertised with the ex-agent!

Therefore, as far as both the ex-agent and the putative buyer are
concerned, the price as of the viewing was X pounds.

The fact that as of today (or whenever, probably Monday, the new agent
starts advertising the property) the price will be Y pounds, i.e.
several thousand lower. So what happens if the viewer decides not to
make an offer, unaware that the property is shifting from one agento
to another, but then sees the property on with the new agent in, say,
a week's time? As far as the viewer is concerned, this time he is
coming to view based on the advertised price of Y pounds via the new
agent!

Basically, I think it's daft that the rule exists whereby ANY lead
guarantees an ex-agent the commission if that agent handled the
initial enquiry. I would suggest that it is a lot less hassle all
round, and as you say, a kick up the rear for agents that did not
perform, if leads would be honoured *only* via the *current* agent (or
agents in the case of multiple agencies).

What about the situation where a viewer views a property, and then
views it again six months later?!! Does the original (long since
forgotten about) former agent *still* get the commission?

MM