Home » Agent – CHAIN FREE® Questions

Agent – CHAIN FREE® Questions

Questions the agent might ask.

  1. Catch 22 – any price you offer will be lower than we can recommend they sell for?
    • In no circumstances will your clients have to sell for less than a price you recommend they accept (MV)
    • The home owner never has to sell for less than MV
  2. What is CHAIN FREE®?
    • Chain-avoiding protection (available through the Home Owners Plan™) for 20 weeks from joining the Plan.
    • Protects your client against the financial risk of selling their house for less than Our Offer of Finance (Fall Back Price®)
    • IMPORTANT POINT: Your clients can use CHAIN FREE® to say they are a Proceedable Buyer to secure the house they want to buy at the best price (recouping our Fee/1% of the Fall Back Price®) and will not need to take the Fall Back Price® (because your firm will have sold their house for more)
    • If your client decides to take the Fall Back Price® (because they can’t wait for your firm to sell their house for their Asking Price) the Drawdown Documents include a Sale Contract (our Legal Department will add the buyers name) and Transfer for your client to sign so we can sell their house.
  3. How does it work?
  4. Sellers won’t want it until they desperately need it, when a sale goes wrong or if they can’t sell for more and then will be offered a knockdown price?
    • That is what happens with old hat schemes promoted by vulture funds praying on desperate sellers e.g. we’ll buy any house fast and for cash.
    • The Conundrum
    • CHAIN FREE® is a chain-avoiding insurance type arrangement enabling the seller to secure their next house with no legal commitment to sell their own and no legal commitment to take our finance.
  5. Telling the seller at the earliest opportunity about CHAIN FREE® is a defeatist message when they want my firm to provide a positive outlook?
    • The purpose of CHAIN FREE® is to helps your customer quickly secure their next home against competition.
  6. An example of CHAIN FREE®?
  7. Your 90% LTV will be too low to interest my clients?
    • It is a Fall Back Price® for 20 weeks while your firm is selling their house for their Asking Price
    • Your client never has to sell for less than MV
    • Because your client knows they can take 90% LTV in 5 days they can say they are a cash buyer with no legal commitment to sell their house
  8. What advantage is CHAIN FREE® to my firm?
  9. Variations on a theme?
    • Insurance type arrangement
    • Makes sellers Proceedable Buyers for a 1% Fee (which they can recoup)
  10. We have seen many chain-mending schemes?
    • CHAIN FREE® is a chain-avoiding solution not a chain-mending one
    • Other Schemes
  11. What is the difference between CHAIN FREE® and CHAIN MENDER®? 
  12. If the seller can’t sell won’t they switch agents?
    • You have time to sell for their Asking Price
  13. Home owners will be most interested when you are least willing to make an offer and vice versa?
    • Our Valuations are current and accurate
  14. How does CHAIN FREE® differ from Part Exchange/Assisted Move?
    • Your clients do not have to sell within a restricted period and can decide not to sell at all (just using CHAIN FREE® to buy at a discount)
    • We do not buy your clients house and do not take fees or commissions
    • Your clients do not subjugate buying/selling decisions to third parties
  15. Disconnect between valuations?
    • We do not require your Opinion of Valuation
    • No reputational risk
  16. Our agency achieves fast sales?
    • Clients living in houses up to £500,000 are particularly vulnerable to chains
    • Those selling houses over £500,000 also want to secure before selling
  17. Tell me about the DataSource Valuation?
    • An AVM from Rightmove
    • Set at a high confidence level
    • Within RICS guidelines for financial purposes
  18. If the seller takes the Fall Back Price® there will be a mortgage on their house when they make a mortgage application for the next property?

    • IMPORTANT POINT: The new lender will ask the seller if they already have a mortgage.
    • Your seller must answer “Yes” because a lender will ask them on completion “if there are other loans secured against another property?”
    • Because the seller has said “Yes” the lender will ask for details.
    • the seller should say that they “have non-recourse finance from Albani and therefore no mortgage commitment”.
  19.  Are there mortgages for buyers?
    • You can tell applicants buying where they can get VAL FREE® mortgages from selected  lenders.
  20. Will sellers who buy their next house before you have sold theirs have to pay a higher rate of SDLT on the second property?
    • Sellers will only pay (if applicable) the Standard Rate of SDLT
    • We undertake to pay any Additional Rate of SDLT on the second property the seller buys
  21.  What happens if our client is in a chain that has broken?
  22. If the home owner makes their own Application how do if and when they have chosen our firm to sell their house?
    • The home owner can only make an application when their house is on Rightmove for sale.
    • The Offer Documents require the home owner to provide their Estate Agents (and solicitors) contact details.
  23. What are the time constraints?
  24. Do we need to train our staff?
    • Product training available at our cost (to increase footfall and to earn additional fees).
  25. Suggestions for improving the estate agent and customer proposition?

Useful link