EA has Divided loyalties or conflict of interest

[Bigbird]

hi,

Our EA came back to us with an offer from the council but are very slow to crack a deal as we feel he is working on their behalf. He’s pressuring us into getting out of house as soon as possible. We are querying the sale price offered by the council and the duration of time we have to leave our property. I believe that the council are more flexible than this and would be happy to wait until we have signed a contract for our new home as houses are in short supply and also would be open to negotiating a better sale price.

We are very eager to move on from house ASAP as we have other areas of our life that need attention. I feel that the EA supplies a good few houses to the council and remains more committed to their needs rather than ours as we are a once off sale.

Is it possible for us to move on from this EA? We signed a contract that says we are tied to him for year but since we feel that there are conflict of interest but can’t prove it what can we do?

Any sensible replies welcome

BB

 

[Leo]

The EA has a legal obligation to get you the best price they can. Failure to do so, or acting in the best interests of another person or body could see them lose their licence.

It's very unlikely that a local authority would commit to purchasing a property, and then be willing to wait indefinitely to close out the sale. There's little or no upside for them when they are under pressure to provide more housing as a matter of urgency.

You would need to be able to provide proof in relation to breech of contract in order to get out of your obligations.

 

[Bigbird]

Hi Leo, thanks for your response. We stressed to the EA at the beginning that we could only sell property once we signed a contract for a new home. We asked him verbally and writing could he do this and he agreed.

The only thing we should have done was to get our solicitor to browse over the EA’s contract and include our request in it.
If he (EA) approached the council saying look these people are dying to move. They are actively looking for a home and putting offers in etc. they have the house ring fenced for you as it they feel that it’s an easier process all round- can you work with them? But he didn’t do that.

The council are stuck for houses and I can’t see that going away any time soon. We are willing to hand over ours as soon as we have signed for a new one. If i was desperate for a house and somebody described their situation as above i’d go for it.

 

[elcato]

Our EA came back to us with an offer from the council but are very slow to crack a deal as we feel he is working on their behalf. He’s pressuring us into getting out of house as soon as possible. We are querying the sale price offered by the council and the duration of time we have to leave our property.

1) You are guessing he is acting for the council also
2) Just say no to moving out as discussed at the start
3) Tell him you want more money for the house sale