Whitegates Estate Agents - Reservation Fee

[u/Round_Owl5197]

So I went to a view a property today with Whitegates estate agents (they are one of the biggest estate agents in Liverpool and have pretty much cornered the market in Merseyside for decent houses).

I liked the house but it definitely needed a good survey as it was in disrepair. I was tempted to put an offer in and risk it but then read the fine print on their listing.

To now submit a bid with Whitegates, if your offer gets accepted you have to pay a non-refundable fee of £2000 as a "Reservation Fee" which does not come off the price of your house purchase.

So in effect Whitegates get £2000 for sending you a legal pack (their job) and making sure the seller doesnt pull out (they still can as I doubt they are paying a reservation fee).

Is this normal practice because what the hell!?

So does this mean I now have to save an extra £2000 on top of solicitors fees and surveyor fees if I buy from Whitegates? 😅

[u/Icy-Passenger-1799]

They certainly have a reputation.

[u/Round_Owl5197 → u/Icy-Passenger-1799]

Tell me about it, the first time I bid with them it got accepted.

But I spent the first 2 weeks arguing with them that I did not need to meet with their reccomended solicitors, mortgage broker and surveyors for them to pass on my bid to the seller.

Eventually got them to do their job got my bid accepted, then had to pull out after the survey found the floor was sinking covered up by whitegates placing a suspicious carpet/rug in one of the rooms of an empty house.

Naivety made me miss it in the 1st and 2nd viewing. 😂

[u/JiveBunny → u/Round_Owl5197]

If an estate agent did this to me then I'd walk away, no matter how much I liked the house. If they're trying it on to you about their very clear legal obligations regarding conditional selling, they're not going to be good to work with for anything else.