What happens if I change agents mid campaign?

Ending the first agreement

Start with the agreement itself. If it is a sole agency for residential property and you are still within a day of receiving your copy, section 130 of the Real Estate Agents Act 2008 lets you cancel by 5pm on the first working day after the day the copy was given to you, in writing.

If the term runs longer than 90 days and 90 days have passed since signing, section 131 lets either party cancel. Otherwise, ending it early is a matter of asking the agency and agreeing a release, confirmed in writing with the date it takes effect.

Marketing already spent is separate from the fee and is normally payable whichever way you go. Ask for an up to date invoice at the point you cancel so there are no surprises later.

The list of names

Under rule 9.11 of the Client Care Rules the outgoing agency must give you, on cancellation, the name of each customer it would claim commission on if that person went on to buy, and a fee can still be payable on those buyers for a period after the agency ends, which is set out in cancelling a listing agreement.

Get the list in writing on the day you cancel rather than a month afterwards. The exposure to avoid is paying twice, a fee to the new agency on the sale and a claim from the old one on the introduction, so if a name on that list reappears as a buyer, raise it with your lawyer before you sign anything.

Bringing in the new agency

Give the new agency a copy of the previous agency agreement and the rule 9.11 list at the outset, so everyone is working from the same facts about who has already seen the property.

Then treat it as a fresh listing. A written appraisal, a fee in writing, a marketing schedule agreed before anything is booked, and a decision about whether the campaign restarts or continues with the material that already exists. Photography, floor plans and video you have already paid for can often be used again, so ask who holds the files and whether they can be handed over.

Decide what to do about the campaign itself rather than letting it happen by default. The same photographs and the same wording going back up read as a continuation of the first campaign, while new photography, a new written approach and a different method of sale read as a new one. Work through that with the incoming agency before anything goes live, along with who is contacting the buyers who had already been through the property.