A private sales site advertising overseas homes on Rightmove, Zoopla and PrimeLocation touted an agent for one of his properties.

2nd Home Overseas is offering private sellers the opportunity to get their property listed on all three portals for £99 for three months. It says on its site that it is for private sellers only and does not deal in agents’ properties.

However, it wrote to estate agent Trevor Kent in Gerrards Cross, Bucks, who currently has a property in France on his books.

In its email, 2nd Home Overseas describes itself as offering “worldwide private property sales” and on its site it says it enables “sellers and buyers of overseas property to deal directly with each other, cutting out any unseen commissions or fees”.

The site adds: “Many overseas properties currently on the market are priced at the owner’s value plus a substantial commission that their agent adds to this price. This makes properties overpriced and they can sit on the market for many months as buyers realise that their price is inflated.

“Agents generally take between 5% and 15% of the selling price of a property as commission. You can advertise your property on 2ndhomeoverseas.com and reduce the price accordingly (as there is no commission to be paid) to achieve a quick sale, whilst the buyer obtains his property directly from you and saves money in the process.”

We contacted Christine Grace of 2nd Home Overseas, but she declined to be drawn on her offering.

A Rightmove spokesperson said: “We have always allowed private sellers on Rightmove Overseas.

“Rightmove does not allow private sellers or private landlords to advertise directly on the site. All sellers and landlords who want their properties to appear on the site have to use a sales or lettings agent.”