Problem with estate agents - need advice

SoyaBunny

Thank you everyone for your replies. It's all great advice and I really appreciate you all making the effort to post. Makes me feel better about the situation just reading your comments!

In reply to Poppysarah, it has happened very recently and the property has not yet sold.

Also Geoffky thank you for your suggestion of posting a letter directly to the house we are interested in, but unfortunately it is empty at the moment.

Mutton_Geoff

suggestion of posting a letter directly to the house we are interested in, but unfortunately it is empty at the moment

Then there is a good chance that there is mail redirection in place. Don't put the letter through the mailbox yourself but post it normally through Royal Mail then there is a good chance it will be redirected into the hands of the people you're trying to reach.

Debras_Angel

Mutton_Geoff wrote: »

suggestion of posting a letter directly to the house we are interested in, but unfortunately it is empty at the moment

Then there is a good chance that there is mail redirection in place. Don't put the letter through the mailbox yourself but post it normally through Royal Mail then there is a good chance it will be redirected into the hands of the people you're trying to reach.

I agree with Mutton Geoff as this is what happened to us. According to the buyers the agent was not getting back to them. So they wrote to us direct via royal mail.

I arranged a viewing with them direct and they did put in an offer although it was too low, so we didn't proceed. If I'm selling my house and someone in your position comes along then I would have no qualms dealing with you direct. Everytime we have sold our houses we have always dealt direct with the buyers once they have been introduced by the EAs as things tend to move along quicker.

The only time we came unstuck was when we used the EA on 1 SSTC and weeks later it turned out they couldn't complete!!

Good Luck.

Little_Otter

Hi firstly, I AM an estate agent..... and I too have been treated awfully by other agents in the past (so I know why people do slag us off) we are not all like that.... some are very helpful and honest (like myself of course)

I would agree with the others, send a letter (by royal mail if poss) or drop it in, i'm sure someone will be checking up on the property at sometime.

DEFINATELY DO NOT go into the estate agents if the letter option is the route you take.... once the agents have your details against the property you are interested in, the vendor of the house is liable to pay their fee (by contract, As they have introduced you to that house/vendor) and you will have no appeal privately to the vendor (he will still have to pay the agent) if you do stay private (not dealing with the agent) you can negotiate an offer that is lower than the asking price, and state that he doesnt have to pay agent fees - usually 1-2% of the property price (thats in the North West, not sure about other areas of UK)
If you would like a brochure or any info, send a friend/family member they wouldnt know in to the agent to ask on your behalf, and DO NOT let them give any personal info, if this doesnt work, all properties are in the internet.

Agents can be sneaky and find out info, from other collegues, other agents they are pally with (I know all the other managers in all the other branches where we live) and if they get a whiff that you are trying to go about it privately they will advise the vendor not to... problems etc and try their upmost to stop it.
Hope this helps x

SoyaBunny

Mutton_Geoff wrote: »

suggestion of posting a letter directly to the house we are interested in, but unfortunately it is empty at the moment

Then there is a good chance that there is mail redirection in place. Don't put the letter through the mailbox yourself but post it normally through Royal Mail then there is a good chance it will be redirected into the hands of the people you're trying to reach.

The house is empty as the previous owner is an elderly lady who now resides at a nursing home. It is her son who is now selling the home but he doesn't live in the same area.

Thank you for your post Little Otter. It's very nice to have advice from someone in the business. Unfortunately we have seen the house quite a while back with the same estate agents. At the time we were put off as it needs a lot of work which we didn't want to do especially with the ridiculously high asking price! (since then, the price has dropped by 20,000 then again by another 20,000 a week or so later). This was all before we had placed an offer on the property which we sadly had to withdraw from. So I guess this means we can not do a direct sale!

It does make me worry that by this estate agent gossiping to other estate agents about this, it might effect how others deal with us especially when we were not in the wrong. Makes me glad that so many people say it's a buyers market!

Little_Otter

Just remember no matter how nice/horrible the estate agents are to you, and they should not be being rude or nasty - I would be telling them not to speak to you/treat you like that, and write to their superior, not just the branch managers, the CEO/Director. Also, ask only to deal with the manager/someone else from now on.

YOU ARE THE CUSTOMER!!!!!!!! You have the right to do what you want when you want without them trying to bully you into anything!!!! Without people like you buying the houses from them, they will not get paid, because no sale no fee...........
Stand your ground, I have learnt to be very outspoken and bolshy working in this environment (not to my clients, but towards other rude and arrogant sales people) x x

We found a house 2 years ago which we fell in love with, we offered on the property at the same time as another person, we both went to full asking price, but the other offer was from another agent (who worked next door to the agents we were dealing with) anyway, long story short, we didnt end up proceeding as they accepted the other offer (even though we were in a better position nothing to sell etc) I loved this house and got very upset when we were told we couldnt have it, we were treated badly by the countrywide agent and not kept in the loop. We ended up buying another house, in a better area, which is far nicer.

So even if this one doesnt work out, there is always other houses for better prices, which in my opinion will drop before they rise.

Gwhiz

The EA NEEDS your money to survive - don't forget that.

chewmylegoff

a similar sort of scenario happened to me - i put an offer in on a place in july only to come to my senses and pull it out. i didn't get any trouble at the time, but a couple of months later went back to the same agent to view a property to rent.

the guy who we had been dealing with to buy a place was really happy to see us when we walked in, and started chatting to us. when we told him we were there to see one of the letting guys he just stopped mid conversation and turned his back on us! the next time we went in he didn't respond at all when we said hello!

i guess he hasn't had much commission lately!

Debras_Angel

Gwhiz wrote: »

The EA NEEDS your money to survive - don't forget that.

Sorry but the EA should REMEMBER that when they are being sooo rude to potential buyers!

LisaLou1982

lethal0r wrote: »

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.

In my opinion this is usually said by someone who is bitter
Yes i am an estate agent, I probably have more qualifications that a lot of people, i do the job i do because i love it. Most sales people do love their jobs!

However - I am never rude to people and it is terrible that that particular person within the agency has behaved like that. Call them up and ask to speak to a different member of the team. A company is only as good as the person you are dealing with.

Good luck!!