Quote:
Originally Posted by Chip  We insisted on OUR lawyer holding the deposit. We we're selling.
We was only charged €1,000 from start to finish. I think it was worth it from a sellers point of view. Even if its just to stop the estate agent keeping the deposit should something go wrong and it actually go to the seller...it is after all their deposit on their property.  |
I think as long as a lawyer is holding a deposit, the important thing is that there is agreement on both sides, less important whether buyer's or seller's lawyer. An alternative is an escrow account, with the deposit nominated in the buyers' names but reclaimable if the deal doesn't complete.
The only reason agents want to keep deposits is that they have easy access to their commission when completion arrives. I have sympathy with their view, because they are not in a strong position to get paid (nor the individual sales agent either, of course) if they don't have the money before signing. They aren't able to stop a sale completing in notary
just because they don't have their commission. This is a problem that will always need addressing given that whatever one thinks of them, and whatever they might get up to, those that get clients a sale do deserve to get paid.
I personally wouldn't trust a lawyer any further than an estate agent, especially given what I heard the other day in notary ... as I posted on the Santander thread, the sellers' lawyer walked in and said "don't worry, I'm a lawyer, I can do anything I like, my client will do what I tell him to do". Given the case I had yesterday, this would have actually involved handing money over to a seller
prior to notary. Frankly I'd rather trust an estate agent!
The real problem is not that estate agents can't be trusted, but that
some cannot be trusted ... and that it is impossible to know which ones. This is where personal reputation and private recommendation are so important.