An Example of a Lack of "Good" Buyers

EdInvestor

With repos the bank is required to try and get the best price.But usually these properties go to developers at a cheap price and they are often of course known to the EAs and will provide a suitable fee/commission to an agent who sources a suitable property. This is not new. It has never been very easy for non-professional members of the public to buy repos - perhaps this is perhaps one reason they aren't included in the Land Registry figures.

bubblesmoney

kingkano wrote: »

I thought EAs have to fwd all offers on a repo to the bank? If the EA rejected your offer I'd probably be contacting the bank personally to make sure they received it. It's more likely the bank rejected the offer not the EA. Unfortunately banks don't have emotion and just look at the bottom line. You'd think it's not really in the EA or banks interest to reject offers, the property will just go to auction (probably the EA is then out of the deal and gets nada) - and the bank gets less in all likelyhood.

i hadnt seen this when it was posted and just saw this today, hence the late reply.

the 1st agent didnt even give me a viewing inspite of calling and also complaining about not getting a viewing many times. then they told me it was off the market when it was on the market on rightmove for a few weeks after that. it was on the market for 160k in april 2008 with appliances etc and in good condition as per the photos on that EAs website.

this is the property in question but is presently marketted by another EA for 165k with poor condition, appliances etc literally ripped out, wall damaged in one room etc, carpets and paint ruined in most rooms etc and now after repocession on for 165k later reduced to 149950 http://www.rightmove.co.uk/viewdetails-10613844.rsp?pa_n=1&tr_t=buy this EA atleast gave me a viewing.

luckily for me i have met someone in the same development at work who is an aquaintance of that owner who got ??? repocessed (they apparently told my colleague at work that they sold to builder). i have informed the person i know at work that i didnt get any viewing from EA for many weeks before property was repocessed. hopefully they will inform that friend that i wasnt given any viewing (even after asking many times) when their house for sale before it got repocessed. my colleague at work told me the friend told her house was sold back to 'builder' at less than price it was bought earlier, i think in 2002. nethouse prices shows initial sold price as 94700k on 22 feb 2002. so they apparently sold to 'builder' for ??? cash sale for less than 94700£ ((was on the market for 160k) as they had relationship breakdown and needed to sell, when the EA was not giving me viewings when the EA knew i was willing for offer of 135k!!!! that is what i call rigging the sale process for selected friends of EAs. i could have given a better cash price if i knew it was going for that amount.

hell i had told agent am willing for 135k but was told offer rejected by present owner. being marketted for 149950 now.

the earlier EA who didnt give me viewing is marketting another similar property in the same development but didnt give me viewing for that either inspite of asking many times. maybe this is what they mean by preapproving buyers, maybe they preapprove only their people and rig the process. this was the only 2 properties i ever asked that agent for viewings and never got any viewings via that EA. now i ignore all properties advertised by that EA. this is the EA in question. they can sue me for libel, i have my phone bills to prove i called them many times (for viewings) and now i also have my colleague at work who can give me access to person who sold to builder at less than original price when i was prepared to pay 40k more at that time but was not given viewings by that EA

another property where my offer for 135k was accepted by one agent-not the one in the advert(property being marketted at 145k now, was advertised by 2 EAs) and deal fell thru because i wasnt prepared to go forward unless it was taken off the market. but they took it off the market with the EA i made the offer thru but are still marketting the property via another EA (the one i have given the link for) even after assuring me it wont be marketted when acceptting my conditional offer, so i pulled the plug on the deal as they were fobbing me off saying they had fixed time withdrawal period with other EA etc and couldnt pull it off the market for those reasons. this is the 2nd time they played games with me. intially a month ago agreed for 135k and few days later tried to pull a fast one on me by saying they wanted more, so i asked them to get lost, then they came back to me a few days later and agreed again for same price. but now playing games saying cant take off market as they have a fixed withdrawal period with the other EA!!! so i flushed the deal for good now. there are other properties to buy where the EA / vendor not playing games. if they play games in a falling market and property on sale for a year or more then i wonder what games EAs play when the market is rising.

EAs have more incentive to rig the process in a falling maket and make kickbacks when they cant make money honestly via commissions in a falling market with low transaction rates

bo_drinker

wymondham wrote: »

Visiting houses you have no intention of buying is quite a popular Sunday afternoon pass-time for many I suspect! I know when we were looking to buy our current place, we visited far more than we needed to, and ones which we had no intention, or indeed could afford - you just get nosey I suppose!

As buyers dry up, estate agents won't be vetting buyers circumstances as much as before - they just want to get people in so sellers can see some sort of progress?

People with nothing better to do on a Sunday should find something better to do. If agents send timewasters round it's hardly "progress" :rolleyes:

bubblesmoney

bo_drinker wrote: »

People with nothing better to do on a Sunday should find something better to do. If agents send timewasters round it's hardly "progress" :rolleyes:

i guess timewsters are ALSO those that dont give kickbacks to the EAs. the process of filtering prospective buyers to allow only serious buyers by EAs allows the EA enough ammunition to rig the sale process in favour of their buddies as i have explained in my post above. the process of filtering buyers by EAs should be banned legally to prevent fraud by EAs. even in my short time looking for a house i have found ample examples of such things done by EAs. try getting viewings for repocessions and you will see what i mean by EAs making one run around for weeks and still not give viewings for repocessions and also i have been refused to make offers on repocessions when i made offers on a repocessed property without viewing the property, i was fobbed off saying offers can only be accepted after property was viewed. i wonder where in the laws of the land it says you can only buy a proiperty after viewiing it. bloody EAs making up rules to suit their buddies making a fast buck in return for kick backs.

there should be a national database for repocessed properties and one should be able to book viewings via that data base to avoid fraud by EAs and their buddies. this would be in the interest of the person geting repocessed and also the lendor both of whom get screwed by unscrupulous EAs who take kickbacks and rig sales for their buddies especially where seller is desperate or in repocessions as per my impressions

if i was a seller in the present or any market, i would mention in the advert to send request for viewing by email to my email address(separate email address for the property in question) and also send a copy of all offers made to EA to this email address as well. also ask EA to foward all requests for viewings and offers to this email address, so that there would be proof that all requests for viewings and offers were actually forwarded to the vendor. cant think of any other way one can rule out that the EA is not playing games while supposedly trying to sell your property.

in other countries it is common for vendor to give a direct contact phone number (in advertisement by EA) for potential viewers asking for viewings and buyers to make offers by directly contacting vendor even if property advertised via EA. adverts will carry vendors contact details to avoid EAs playing games. this process works well in other countries and i wonder why this cant work in uk as well. once offer accepted then all other processing can be done by EA / solicitor as usual and EA does get their commission for marketting the property

chickmug

Sorry bubblesmoney but I feel you are well paranoid about the reality apart from the small number of EA's who do any of the things you accuse them of.

Those who ask to view MUST be filtered and one reason why we get repeat business is the sellers want them thoroughly vetted. Most potential buyers have no probelm being asked a few questions but we find the ones that object to giving the details are 95% of the time those who can't afford - and this can be a very significant percentage. So if you were selling would you want viewers who couldn't afford.

As for EA' taking kickbacks in the way you suggest you have a very vivid imagination. If you have evidence report them, report them and report them. Do you have evidence and have you reported them. If not why not if you feel so strongly.

EA's don't have that many 'buddies' who may want to buy somewhere.

bubblesmoney

chickmug wrote: »

Sorry bubblesmoney but I feel you are well paranoid about the reality apart from the small number of EA's who do any of the things you accuse them of.

Those who ask to view MUST be filtered and one reason why we get repeat business is the sellers want them thoroughly vetted. Most potential buyers have no probelm being asked a few questions but we find the ones that object to giving the details are 95% of the time those who can't afford - and this can be a very significant percentage. So if you were selling would you want viewers who couldn't afford.

As for EA' taking kickbacks in the way you suggest you have a very vivid imagination. If you have evidence report them, report them and report them. Do you have evidence and have you reported them. If not why not if you feel so strongly.

EA's don't have that many 'buddies' who may want to buy somewhere.

i fully agree there will be many many honest EAs like in any other profession. it is the few bad ones that give the others a bad name. i was not saying all are bad, i was just pointing out the bad i had experienced.

as for complaining, i have proof of my phone calls. but i wouldnt get anywhere without the previous sellers (distress sale) evidence. but the 2 parties selling didnt get along because atleast 1 of them found new partners from what i heard from colleague at work who knows them. i just met this colleague a few days ago as others at work told me she lives in the same development. she also said that they were trying to sell for a while but later had to sell to builder for less than purchase price(94700), when i was trying to view / buy for 135000. thats a 40k difference, wonder why i didnt get any viewings (i had cash more than the builders purchase price, had mortgage approval in principle for more 3.5 times the purchase price by the builder, cash in easy access accounts, solicitor shortlisted etc, FTB so in a good position to proceed, wonder why the EA filtered me out, job secure as far as i can tell, even if i lose my job can easily get locum jobs and earn a lot more than i get in my salaried job so no worries on job front, am also eligible for discounted staff mortgage without fees from my OH employer, serious to buy as we r expecting a baby so not a time waster, so am really curious as to why i was filtered out by EA, can u tell me with 'your' EA eyes??? just guessing u r an EA) then and was told house off the market by the previous EA when it was sold to builder later for a lot less (40k less than i was offering).

who do u think i should be complaining to? i was not the seller or eventual buyer, do u think any authority would take my complaints seriously???? do u think i should waste my time on a property that i dont own??? or dont have a chance to buy. i have better things to do, i am looking for a house to buy & live in.

this problem happens more often (not always) in distress sales / repocessions / vacant properties i feel. i have been trying the lower end of the market and for viewing repocessions etc as there are more bargains in that segment of the market. i have previously on this forum (very recently) said that some EAs are very good when others said they were not good. i do say when people are good to me. what i have said are 'my experiences' and not what the general state of affairs is for EAs as a whole. by my experiences i mean in my area, at the lower end of the market, for vacant properties, preferably for repocessions etc as i want to buy and move in quick and spend time on other things rather than house hunting. it would be foolish for me to say all EAs are like that. EAs are just doing work like any of us in other professions and there will always be good ones and also there will always be bad apples.

ps: who do i report the bad agents to??? especially like the ones who i think played dirty in the repocession i reffered to in my earlier post

ps: i have already reported my experience to my colleague who is a friend/aquaintance of the original distress seller, so that the seller is aware of the fact that i was not given viewings when i was prepared for 135k and later they sold for less than original purchase price (nethouse prices website shows original purchase price as 94700 in feb 2002) as per my colleague at work. hope my colleague at work passes on what i said, but am not sure they will do that as they were embarassed their friend was repocessed / had to make distress sale

ps: i dont have a problem being vetted as well. i have given the EA info about me being FTB in rented accomodation and able to move out of rented accomodation with 1m notice for rent purposes, not in a hurry to move as have rented accomodation for more than 6m from now, gave info about discounted staff mortgage(copy given and shown original), plus another mortgage approval in principle(copy given and shown original), , etc. and even one EA wanted details about my ability to pay deposit on mortgage, showed EA original salary slip and certificate from employer about salary, also because EA insisted on ability to pay deposit showed original cash ISA certificates for more than 29k, plus that had other savings, but drew the line at humouring the EA when they wanted copies of my ability to pay as in wanting copies of my bank statements etc. sounded very fishy and i refused to provide them the copies of all my finances, they said a letter from my solicitor wouldnt be enough to verify my ability to buy house when i gave them original and copy of mortgage approval in principle for 3.5 times the price the other similar house was apparently sold at, plus number of my mortgage advisor at my bank who was willing to say that i was valued customer if the EA had doubts about my ability to buy property. but guess all that was not enough to satisfy some EAs. tough luck. no wonder people like me think that some EAs like these are up to no good when they ask for copies of finances of potential buyers. !!!!!! do they use these for other than ID fraud. i told the EA that on their face as to the reason why i wasnt prepared to give them my finances original documents for them to make copies. sod them i have other properties to buy rather than humour them and become an ID fraud victim

neverdespairgirl

chickmug wrote: »

Those who ask to view MUST be filtered and one reason why we get repeat business is the sellers want them thoroughly vetted. Most potential buyers have no probelm being asked a few questions but we find the ones that object to giving the details are 95% of the time those who can't afford

What sort of vetting do you do?

chickmug

neverdespairgirl wrote: »

What sort of vetting do you do?

We get a feel of them perhaps by stealth!!!!!!

With a casual chat we can soon establish their motives and find out how much they will need to borrow and if it makes sense for the house they wish to view based on their jobs, etc. I know many agents don't even check out the borrowing side but our view is there is no point in people viewing something they can't afford.

It makes me laugh, when we come to a mutual aggreemnt with potential buyers, that they really can't afford and they say can we go and have a look anyway.

Sometimes the party feels so upset they try and knock on the properties door and introduce themselves to the seller but 99% of the time the sellers refuse to let them in unless they pass our vetting.

chickmug

Bubblesmoney
I will reply to your long post from 9.25 am but no time until later.

chickmug

chickmug wrote: »

Bubblesmoney
I will reply to your long post from 9.25 am but no time until later.

BubblesMoney

Just read your post from this morning and been looking at some of your other posts. Please, please, please don't take this the wrong way but your posts are very hard to read easily due to the length and way they are written. If you made shorter and spaced out more I for one would find them easier on the eye and I would be more inlclined to reply.

You know it is odd because whilst I am a a MNEA and MICBA I have only ever had one complaint about me to them. The NAEA were very short with me until I gave my side and they realised it was someone with time on their hands making mischief. Incidently it was a retried Solicitor who went on to complain about our sales details and again I spent several hundreds of £'s with my solicitor who advised he (the retired solicitor) did not have a claim.

Why the above paragraph - because now you ask who to complain to I guess it s from NAEA, OFT, TS and see wherever else each will suggest to you. From what others say it seems prudent to always ensure the sellers get a note from those putting in offers to make sure they are being informed.

On the filtering/vetting I am astounded to hear your comments. It seems like some EA's are being totally unreasonable and again I would call the NAEA to ask what they feel is reasonable.It is only when more make these calls and complaints will the professional bodies take more note. All else fails I would go and see my MP as I have done many times over the years but mostly to support the more timid people I have known.

Again sorry about my comment in the my 1st paragraph.