Problem with estate agents - need advice

SoyaBunny

Hello
First of all forgive me if I'm posting this incorrectly or in the wrong place as this is my first post despite being a fan of this websites forums for quite a while.
Myself and my partner are looking for a property. We are first time cash buyers (very very lucky) and wondered if anyone could give us any advice about the situation we are in.

We had put in an offer on a property which felt like a home and seemed in very good condition, ready to move in. Our offer was accepted and as the owners had not found a place to move into the only thing we could do was wait.

Two months later we were contacted by the estate agents as the owners had decided to rent and we were asked to move quickly as they had a place lined up. Once we had a survey carried out, we found out that there were things that needed attention which we had not expected. Such as the extension on the property was poorly built and needed a fair amount of work to be done to it. We realised that we couldn't afford this property nor even negotiate a lower price (which we were leaning away from due to the dodgy extension) as other factors such as investments losing value and my partner recently lost his job. We really hated the fact we would have to withdraw our offer, and considered all the options that might make the purchase possible. However we did choose to withdraw and let the agents know as soon as we could.

When we withdrew our offer however, the estate agent was very rude and unprofessional with us - accusing us of wasting their time and the vendors time. She was always very nice previous to this, but after withdrawing the offer the agent was really unpleasant and insulting (we could not believe this ourselves) and it definately put us off using their agency again.

The problem now though is that there is another property being marketed by the same agents, which we would like to view - and this is the sole agent.


Does anyone here have any advice or ideas of what we could do, because we were really shocked at howthe agents acted and really don't want anything to do with them - but at the same time, don't want to miss out on a potentially great property.
It seems like we are in a very difficult decision now because of the unprofessional actions of the estate agent.

(I apologise about the length of this post, but I felt some back-story was necessary.)

Thank you

huntersc

Generally EAs tend to hold grudges. You could try that EA again, maybe that person has left, been sacked, made redundant. Alternatively you could approach another local EA to see if they might get the property on with them, my local agent has done this for me in the past. Another option might be to contact the vendor privately.

eco-friendly_2

When we withdrew our offer however, the estate agent was very rude and unprofessional with us - accusing us of wasting their time and the vendors time. She was always very nice previous to this, but after withdrawing the offer the agent was really unpleasant and insulting

Forget that, some people can get a bit rude if they've not eatin for a while.


It's a buyers market! you are KING.

Mutton_Geoff

You can judge any company by how it handles you if something goes wrong or not to plan. The agent demonstrated this. Their amateur behaviour should not put you off them, simply something to bear in mind in future dealings. They need you more than you need them. In this case, I would ring and ask to speak to the boss and explain your experiences as they stand to lose thousands if you purchase through another agent.

poppysarah

Did the house you'd offered on sell? How much for? (Or is it too recent to see.)
(always useful info to know especially if it's in the same area)

Agents are quite often terrible.
Hopefully they have short memories - you are still in a good position and you shouldn't feel bad about not buying a wonky property.

PropertyPro

Disgraceful attitude from that agent and I'm not surprised you want to give her a wide berth.

If you do decide to do things privately, it might not be wise to get too involved with the vendor. You can always ask your solicitor to submit an offer on your behalf and you'll be able to liaise with him or her directly regarding the legal process rather than having to deal with an unprofessional agent.

There are some very good agents out there but people like this tend to give the whole profession a bad name.

And no, I'm not an estate agent.

Mutton_Geoff

There are some very good agents out there

I've bought, sold and let around 10 properties in the last decade and I haven't found one yet. Where are they?

lethal0r

an estate agent is just an unskilled salesperson, ideally ignored. give them your offer, say you are cash buyers with no chain & ignore any advice / opinions / comments they give as they wont be in your interest.

geoffky

drop a note through the letterbox of the house you like and go from there..

boggie40

Write a letter directly to the owners of the house.
Go in to the estate agency with a third party, ask to view property that you wish to see.
if agent refuses go to the house and post through the letter detailing that you are a cash buyer looking for a property like theirs but the agent has refused to deal with you, and give them the third parties details too that was present when you went into agency.
My bet is the agent will just arrange a viewing for you..

ad44downey

Mutton_Geoff wrote: »

There are some very good agents out there

I've bought, sold and let around 10 properties in the last decade and I haven't found one yet. Where are they?

Very true. It's an urban myth that there's a few good ones. They're nothing but oily spivs who'd rob their own granny for a fiver.