How have Estate Agents misused their positions of trust?

housesitter

Whilst I appreciate your comments in another thread re the misdescription, it's fairly obvious to me that should I make such a compliant I will suffer the fall out from it re any chance of getting the house.
Perhaps I'll take a snapshot and save it for later however.

Despite various laws and regulation, not everyone is aware of them and abuses will still go on as largely EA's are unregulated in so far as price setting.
Who checks every advert to see that it is compliant?
Which independant agency is employed to do that, or is it done in house?


Never mind the limitless comedy which is a property description. Severe artistic license bordering on the boundary of being economical with the truth.

I've personally been lied to about the state of a house. Time scales of what happened. Been accused of lying about that myself, and the neighbours who have witnessed the goings on.
I'd love for the slimey little s&$^ to get his P45 handed to him, but unfortunatly s&$^ sticks together, so fully expect they will close ranks because he brings in good comission and breaking a few laws is ok in the pursuit of money isn't it?

princessamy86

housesitter wrote: »

Whilst I appreciate your comments in another thread re the misdescription, it's fairly obvious to me that should I make such a compliant I will suffer the fall out from it re any chance of getting the house.
Perhaps I'll take a snapshot and save it for later however.

Despite various laws and regulation, not everyone is aware of them and abuses will still go on as largely EA's are unregulated in so far as price setting.
Who checks every advert to see that it is compliant?
Which independant agency is employed to do that, or is it done in house?


Never mind the limitless comedy which is a property description. Severe artistic license bordering on the boundary of being economical with the truth.

I've personally been lied to about the state of a house. Time scales of what happened. Been accused of lying about that myself, and the neighbours who have witnessed the goings on.
I'd love for the slimey little s&$^ to get his P45 handed to him, but unfortunatly s&$^ sticks together, so fully expect they will close ranks because he brings in good comission and breaking a few laws is ok in the pursuit of money isn't it?

Complaints go through ombudsman or trading standards, so can be anonymous and shouldn't affect your chances of getting your house. I'm sorry you've been lied to, was just making the point that not all EAs are bad! Re the compliance, I had to sign a form saying that if I wrote a description then I would be held liable. Also all our brochures get checked by vendors and branch managers (managers also liable if we get prosecuted under Misdescriptions Act). You can't really regulate price setting, it does after all come down to individual knowledge of the market and that individual's opinion of market value. I know silly pricing goes on, we're up against another agent in our area who will price at anything just to get the business. I hope you have better luck next time :rolleyes:

Thrugelmir

housesitter wrote: »

Whilst I appreciate your comments in another thread re the misdescription, it's fairly obvious to me that should I make such a compliant I will suffer the fall out from it re any chance of getting the house.
Perhaps I'll take a snapshot and save it for later however.

Despite various laws and regulation, not everyone is aware of them and abuses will still go on as largely EA's are unregulated in so far as price setting.
Who checks every advert to see that it is compliant?
Which independant agency is employed to do that, or is it done in house?


Never mind the limitless comedy which is a property description. Severe artistic license bordering on the boundary of being economical with the truth.

I've personally been lied to about the state of a house. Time scales of what happened. Been accused of lying about that myself, and the neighbours who have witnessed the goings on.
I'd love for the slimey little s&$^ to get his P45 handed to him, but unfortunatly s&$^ sticks together, so fully expect they will close ranks because he brings in good comission and breaking a few laws is ok in the pursuit of money isn't it?

House prices are determined by the market. Not by EA's.

There are proper channels to report misconduct through.

The property market will now shake out are the worse EA's as service will become paramount for survival.

Wickedkitten

housesitter wrote: »

Whilst I appreciate your comments in another thread re the misdescription, it's fairly obvious to me that should I make such a compliant I will suffer the fall out from it re any chance of getting the house.
Perhaps I'll take a snapshot and save it for later however.

Despite various laws and regulation, not everyone is aware of them and abuses will still go on as largely EA's are unregulated in so far as price setting.
Who checks every advert to see that it is compliant?
Which independant agency is employed to do that, or is it done in house?


Never mind the limitless comedy which is a property description. Severe artistic license bordering on the boundary of being economical with the truth.

I've personally been lied to about the state of a house. Time scales of what happened. Been accused of lying about that myself, and the neighbours who have witnessed the goings on.
I'd love for the slimey little s&$^ to get his P45 handed to him, but unfortunatly s&$^ sticks together, so fully expect they will close ranks because he brings in good comission and breaking a few laws is ok in the pursuit of money isn't it?

I've actually been lied to directly by an EA. Not on the basis of the description of houses, but about my partner actually wanting me to go view a house after he had already phoned them up to tell them we had an offer accepted so they can take us off their mailing list :rotfl:
.

housesitter

Thrugelmir wrote: »

House prices are determined by the market. Not by EA's.

Who controls the market ?

If all vendors say something is worth y then why would another one come along and say it's worth x ?

If you've ever watched a property !!!!!! programme and seen the valuers come round and be 20% out from each others quotes, the vendors go with greed and for the top price (in a HPI environment) and that become the market price.
Other vendors see people selling similar houses for more and instruct their agents to put up prices.

It really doesn't work that way in a fall.

Yes, the vendors greed is a factor, but poor valuation is what started it all.
If the EA hadn't suggested such a figure was achiveable to get the business in the first place...

Then vendors get duped into thinking that's actually what it's worth becasue everyone is putting up prices.


I'm not saying it's everyone and all people who do it or fall for it, but find me a better reason to explain the rampant HPI we've seen ?

PasturesNew

Mini_Bear wrote: »

The area they would buy in is Stock in Essex. I think she said one house has sold in the last yr in the area, and 3 in last 3 yrs so its very difficult to price properties (as none have been sold post-boom).
Im not exactly thrilled at their "investment" as they plan to flip it (buy it, do up, sell it - beenie style). i told them there may be a reason no1 buys in the area (ie its location - its miles from anywhere!) I also advised that there simply cant be much profit in it anymore and its a huge risk (they already have a 100% mortgage on a house!)
Im hoping for their sakeone of these imaginary buyers pops up and offers more.

If they have a 100% mortgage on their house, presumably they have no money for a deposit on the second one to flip... so stay quiet because they won't be able to do it anyway.

bryanb

My MIL made an offer on a property which the EA failed to pass on to the vendor. She was a cash buyer, so when asked if her house was sold said no(she had no intention of selling it, just wanted to buy what she offered on) The vendor subsequently said he had instructed EA to pass on all offers, He was very annoyed as he sold for £10k less than MIL offered.

Notlob

Wickedkitten wrote: »

Position of trust?

Rule 1 is never trust an estate agent when you are buying, doubly so if he looks like a pop idol reject. They are working for the vendor, not you.

NO NO NO.
Rule 1, do not trust the vendor
Rule 2 do not trust the purchaser
Rule 3 blame the estate agent

There are lots of hidden agendas perpetrated by both vendors and purchasers resulting in the estate agent passing on lots of false/incorrect information.

Just to balance the view!

Notlob

Wickedkitten

Notlob wrote: »

NO NO NO.
Rule 1, do not trust the vendor
Rule 2 do not trust the purchaser
Rule 3 blame the estate agent

There are lots of hidden agendas perpetrated by both vendors and purchasers resulting in the estate agent passing on lots of false/incorrect information.

Just to balance the view!

Notlob

Pretty much don't trust anyone

Notlob

Wickedkitten wrote: »

Pretty much don't trust anyone

Correct! The whole selling/buying process is tainted by emotion. As a result, people will say what they want to ensure success. As such, always be on your guard and ensure words are followed by action.

Notlob