Hidden Costs of Online Home Sales Southampton

Hidden costs of online home sales The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has warned those selling property they face paying two sets of fees if they sign a 'sole agency' agreement with an estate agent.

Sellers who sign such agreements are liable to pay their agent their fee even if their property is sold through another agency.

Problems are particularly acute in online markets, with some internet property retailers purporting not to be estate agents, while in the view of the OFT they should be considered as such.

"With the growth of internet property retailers, it is critical that consumers signing such agreements understand the restrictions they place on them," said the OFT.

If sellers have signed a 'sole agency' agreement with a high-street estate agent and, in the event, sell their property through an online retailer acting as an agent, consumers are at risk of paying two sets of fees.

"Some internet property retailers claim not to be estate agents when, in the OFT’s view, they are, and this may be important if the consumer has signed a sole agency agreement with an estate agent," continued the OFT.

The OFT has warned online retailers not to mislead consumers be falsely claiming they are not estate agents while fulfilling this role.

Organisations making such claims can be prosecuted under a range of defilation including Part 8 of the Enterprise Act 2002 for breaches of the Control of Misleading Advertisements Regulations 1988, Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999.