Advice on agency appointments for the sale of a London home
Insight
Each month, the Farrer & Co Residential Property partners give us a brief insight into their working lives. This month, we provide an overview of advice given to a client seeking to sell her London marital home following her recent divorce.
The Brief
Our Family team acted for a high net worth client navigating a difficult divorce. The financial order issued by the Court at the end of the divorce proceedings ordered the sale of the marital home in London. Our client was eager for a prompt and discreet sale of the property and our client’s ex-husband was happy for her to manage the sale given the order provided for her to receive the bulk of the proceeds. Our client asked us to connect her with the best in class agents to assist with the sale.
Executing the Brief
We knew we could quickly draw up a list of super agents with a proven track record and who, importantly, would also be a good character fit for our client.
Our client had lived at her home for more than 30 years (owning no other property during this time) so was unfamiliar with the sales process and the different types of estate agency businesses now operating in London. We explained that, alongside the traditional corporate estate agency firms, a broader offering had evolved over the past decade, from one-man bands, to boutiques, to relatively small agencies with extensive international reach. We discussed market norms in relation to whether the client should instruct a single agent, or more than one agent, and also discussed the pros and cons of an off market versus full marketing campaign.
With a better understanding of what our client would like from her appointed agent, we were delighted to suggest three top tier names, and she proceeded to arrange a beauty parade later that week, to give her the opportunity to meet each agent in person and show them the house.
Our client was quick to decide that she wanted to appoint two of these agents as joint agents and asked us to review their terms and conditions. This is an exercise that we are always happy to carry out for clients. It is important clients understand the terms they are signing.
A point that most standard terms and conditions contain which some clients do not find palatable is that full agency commission generally becomes due on exchange, rather than completion. Our client was not comfortable with this provision as both she and her husband were concerned by the risk of failed completion (as their adult son had experienced this when his purported cash buyer exchanged contracts but did not complete and withdrew from the purchase). Our excellent working relationship with our client’s chosen agents helped to ensure that this point and a handful of other changes were quickly settled.
In the meantime, we had been preparing the sales pack so the full sales pack was ready once the terms were agreed. We worked closely with the agents to ensure their brochures were free of errors and contained all material information at the outset.
With such good preparation, we were well placed to facilitate a seamless transaction.
The debrief
The property was sensibly priced by our recommended agents and our client was delighted when two competing buyers proceeded to best and final offers within a fortnight of the property being launched. We exchanged on the sale last week, and our client is relieved to be able to move forward with her life and start to formulate her future plans.
