Keith Clough

Had a few agents in from local area including one from Doncaster and even tried an internet valuation. Decided to go with Keith Clough as I had seen they had plenty of signs with sold on in the village I lived in.

Brochure was great, advertised on various websites including Rightmove and sign in the garden. Took just two days to get three viewings, ended up selling to someone who was also up for sale with Keith Clough as my house had been recommended to them by someone in the office.

Fairly quick completion and I ended up moving into a rental property with Keith Clough.

Can’t fault the experience.

I agree. Keith Cloughs staff are polite and on time but VERY RELUCTANT to clarify any questioned points, and in addition VERY SLOW to specify actual costs.

That never-ending contract was the thing that made us give up in the end. There was no attempt to negotiate. It seems you are expected to 'like it or lump it'! Well, glad to say, we lumped it. We concluded a speedy, reasonable and honest deal with another agent.

Keith Clough The Estate Agents Epworth ALSO known as Keith Clough (henceforth referred to as Keith Clough for brevity's sake.)

They came round as arranged, and on time. Perfectly polite whilst doing their survey and valuation. A female member of staff displayed a Laptop showing an example video of a property for sale.

Charge was acceptable at 1% of the buying price. Although we had to force it out of him. He did seem a trifle reticent to spell out the costs until he had given his sales pitch.

A selling board was put on the property before we saw the contract, let alone signed a contract!

Contract arrived and we read it with growing feelings of disquiet. Our issues were as follows:

1. No time limit on contract. Totally open ended.

2. "Sole Selling Rights". That means that even if we found a buyer through our own efforts then we'd still have to pay the full charge. This wouldn't have been a problem if there had been a time limit on the contract or if there had been a small discount on the charge if we passed on a successful buyer inquiry to Keith Clough (say about 0.1% discount).

3. Withdrawal Charge. If we decided to stop using Keith Clough then we'd be expected to pay for the right to do so. So we could put our home up for sale with this estate agent for a year (as an example), not sell it, but then be expected to pay Keith Clough when moving to another estate agent. The charges were not clearly specified, but a fee of £100 + VAT was the starting point.

This Withdrawal Charge was also payable if Keith Clough decided to terminate the selling contract, if, in THE ESTATE AGENT'S OPINION the vendor was being unreasonable concerning price, or the vendor acted in a way that was detrimental to a sale or was unacceptable to Keith Clough. None of this was clarified. What constituted behaviour that was detrimental to a sale? Not made clear. What constituted unacceptable behaviour to Keith Clough Estate Agents? Not specified. So Keith Clough could, at their own behest, decide that they'd had enough of us at any time they liked and then terminate this contract and charge us for the privilege. And this they expected us to sign?

This, to me and my wife, seemed to be a trifle extreme for an estate agent's contract. We sought further information by visiting the websites of The Office of Fair Trading, Citizen's Advice Bureau etc. It soon became apparent that the contract from Keith Clough Estate Agents was something to be avoided. Especially as there was no time limit specified! The contract is legal as far as I can tell, but I am not a lawyer, but it did look like an invitation to put my hand into a meat grinder and pay for the privilege. The time to negotiate with a service provider of any kind is before you sign the contract, not afterward in a court of law! I know having had some experience of this kind of thing. So this objection was a "deal killer" from the start.

3. Ready Willing and Able Purchaser. Basically, if a purchaser is "Ready, Willing and Able" to exchange contracts on our home then we'd be liable to pay the commission (and other charges not specified) on the sale, even if it did not go through because of us. This was a really new bit of estate agent language. so I looked it up. This is a condensate of the legal definition.

Ready, willing and able purchaser - You have to pay if the estate agent finds a buyer who is prepared and able to buy your property and exchange unconditional contracts. You still have to pay, even if you withdraw from the sale and unconditional contracts are not exchanged.

Well, you can guess that I didn't like this one bit. Who would? Remember that this is on an open ended contract that you have to PAY to get out of.

I sent a fax to Keith Clough The Estate Agents Epworth, listing out our concerns - giving them a chance to offer a different kind of contract or maybe amend the one they gave us. One telephone conversation later we realised this was the only contract on offer, and that it would not be amended. No room for negotiation. We asked for the sale board to be removed from our property and started seeking an alternative estate agent.

READ THE CONTRACT! If you don't understand it then pay for some legal interpretation. It is worth the investment! Don't sign up to something you don't understand! It'll only end in tears, more costs and lots of wasted time.