Mildura

2 - 7% not anywhere I've heard in the UK that's for sure! These days fees tend to be between 0.75% and 1.5%, depending on how much the EA wants your business and how much competition the EA feels they have.

Thank you! Always good to be remembered! I have to head out for a while now, but will post something a bit later.

Fair enough, but I wasn't alone in reading a different way to you.

Well, that is a rather different claim. Your original post said that only 4000 homes had ever sold in London for more than £1m. Now you're selecting just one year.

I'm pretty sure that this figure is unlikely to be accurate. Do you have any kind of source for your claim?

It was on for £875k as recently as December, with Seymours. Clearly nothing a 30% price increase won't solve!

Grade II* listed. You've got about as much chance of turning it into a spaceship as you have of converting it into 6 flats! Lovely building though, shame about the lack of parking and limited outside space.

That house has been on and off the market for at least 10 years. The owner must derive some peculiar arousal from his home being permanently for sale.

Not sure I quite follow this part. Just because a previous EA is involved, why should it make more sense for you to communicate with the vendor? Fairly normal I'd say. Most of my clients are not going to want me giving out their name and address to just anyone who asks, even if it may lead to a sale. However, if it were a vendor of mine I'd ask the vendor if they wished me to pass on their details to a prospective purchaser and go from there. Fairly simple, it hasn't sold so the vendor is bringing in a second EA in the hope of increasing their chances of finding a buyer.

Virtually all of them will be working in the commercial/retail side of the business. Very, very few will be from residential estate agency.

I'm not sure what litigation options the op has open to them, gazumping is not illegal, despite being an unpleasant practice. Anyway, as this relates to an event that took place over a year ago I suspect we are unlikely to ever find out.

I would have said it's fairly fundamental to the situation whether the op has made an offer or not, but maybe that's just me.

At no point has the op said they've made any offer on this property, so there is nothing to withdraw.

It's not a tax.

But the solicitor would have seen the property sales particulars, and if they weren't provided with a copy they should have asked for one. This enables them to confirm exactly what is being sold, and that all the correct permissions are in place. It is also very likely that there would have been a report from the mortgage valuer, highlighting what is being sold, and asking the solicitor to ensure that all relevant permissions are in place. It is worth remembering that the solicitor handling the conveyancing not only acts for the purchaser, but also acts on behalf of the mortgage lender, assuming there is one in this particular case. So, there is a far better chance of success by taking action against the solicitor who acted, rather than the EA.