How have Estate Agents misused their positions of trust?

Notlob

housesitter wrote: »

I work in a technical/managerial/purchasing support role and have pretty much always done.

Throughout my career the one over riding type of person who has tried to shaft me is the salesman. EA's are the very same breed.
I have been a salesman in the distant past directly, but found it hard to lie to people as requested by management.

As part of my hobby I buy and sell things and have a good reputation in the online community to which I belong for being overly honest with my descriptions to the point of losing a sale through it.


Because they have a monopoly on the market and stop you from doing so.
It's a vicious circle. People sell through EA's so a seller does the same.
If I'm ever in the position to sell I can assure you that I will be going independant putting my own advert up via rightmove etc.

Why does it cost any more to sell a house for 100K than one for 1million? Yet not all agents are flat fee based. Why?

If houses were advertised in the same way as cars I wouldn't have an issue. I've always bought things privately and done without salesmen or a middleman to do so.
From my 16 odd years of working for customers, I've never needed the use of a salesman and have frequently found them to muddy the waters or indeed leave me in the !!!!!!.
Everytime I cut out the middleman and talk to the end user, you always find you are faced with a completely different story and can actually get the job done and make everyone happy.

I've dealt with 4 letting agents all of whom were frankly scumbags and two EA's to the point of offers, again both of which were cocky, aloof and rude and if I wasn't being forced to talk to them because of the vendor, I wouldn't !!!! on them if they were on fire.
If I could talk directly to the vendor with my current offer I have a feeling (from vast previous dealings) that we'd have agreed a price.



What is your job then?

That goes for chickmug too?

People respond to people. Judging by your post, I would suggest that your initial contact with sales people results in their cockiness, aloofness and being rude to you in return.

Talk to them with a :cheesy: and they will respond with a :cheesy:
Talk to them with a and they will respond with a

Notlob

chickmug

housesitter wrote: »

What is your job then?

That goes for chickmug too?

Thank you for at least answering the question. One I have asked many many times and no one before has - so hat off to you.

I am a retired (this time last year) EA the Senior Partner in a one office operation. We never lied but were often lied to by buyers and sellers. I never once fell out with clients, never once felt the need to go to court and unusually do agree that many ERA's are very poor but NOT all. I used to help people in some detail on this board but became p*****d off with the abuse. Fatpig was always good for sarcasm as with his post today.

By being abused by other posters the board has lost EA's who were able to offer good inside advice but that facility has been lost in many cases including advice I used to give. And there have been many who benefited from me putting myself out by researching the right advice. Before I retired I worked part for several months and so had the time but I can't see the point now!

I never liked the multi office EA's as they were too target driven, I never liked other partners in other firms as they were usually too materialistic.

chickmug

fatpig wrote: »

chickmug's the devil's spawn, an oily estate agent no less. He's had a lot of spare time on his hands recently hence why he's on MSE during working hours.

Abuse reported

Does Fatpig not read the forum etiquette:

Pls be nice to all MoneySavers. There's no such thing as a stupid question, and even if you disagree courtesy helps.

Doozergirl

That is one of the most shocking posts I've read. It says far more about that poster than it ever did about you chickmug. I've never seen a post by you that even remotely deserved vitriol like that.

That poster wouldn't have the gall to talk to someone like that in public; just happy to be a faceless, bitter coward.

geoffky

i would beware of what agents say..i have been caught out by this classic one....

"there is another offer on the table" "you will have to up your offer"
i nearly fell for it but found out there was a offer but it was a lot less than mine......did the estate agent lie??? is that cheating? or is it my fault for thinking the offer was higher?....

googler

"If I'm ever in the position to sell I can assure you that I will be going independant putting my own advert up via rightmove etc."

Good for you. How many houses do you reckon sell privately in this way, compared with those that sell through agents?

"Why does it cost any more to sell a house for 100K than one for 1million? Yet not all agents are flat fee based. Why?"

Why should they be a flat fee? Why isn't VAT a flat rate for all purchases, rather than a percentage? Why isn't income tax a flat rate rather than a percentage? Why isn't interest on bank loans, car loans etc a flat fee rather than a percentage?

To take your example - a 1-bed flat at £100k and an 8-bed mansion with pool, gatehouse, and 3 acres of grounds at £1mill. The EA can take photos, write description, etc etc for the flat in a matter of moments. Takes longer for the mansion. A viewing for the flat can be completed in 15 minutes. You'll be an hour or two at the mansion. The mansion is probably out in the country, the flat close to the EAs office, so takes longer to get to the mansion, and takes more petrol. Time is money for everyone, including EAs.

"If houses were advertised in the same way as cars I wouldn't have an issue. I've always bought things privately and done without salesmen or a middleman to do so."

So .... you buy your groceries direct from the farm, your fish from the skipper at the dockside, and you travelled to Japan to buy your consumer electronics?

If you bought anything last year from Tesco, your local fishmonger, or Comet or Currys, YOU USED A MIDDLEMAN.

chickmug

Doozergirl wrote: »

That is one of the most shocking posts I've read. It says far more about that poster than it ever did about you chickmug. I've never seen a post by you that even remotely deserved vitriol like that.

That poster wouldn't have the gall to talk to someone like that in public; just happy to be a faceless, bitter coward.

There have been worse and the reason why I stopped offering inside help on this board. I never knowingly posted anything other than solid informaion based on my experience as 30 + years in property. I have many posters very grateful as you do for your huge amount of help.

princessamy86

It is annoying how much abuse is flung about at EAs, at the end of the day we're just doing our jobs like everyone else. Chickmug, I've never seen anything but helpful posts from you, people who can't see that are obviously very narrow minded and nasty at heart.

chickmug

princessamy86 wrote: »

It is annoying how much abuse is flung about at EAs, at the end of the day we're just doing our jobs like everyone else. Chickmug, I've never seen anything but helpful posts from you, people who can't see that are obviously very narrow minded and nasty at heart.

Thanks for the support I may start looking on this board again. The truth is I am too thick skinned to be upset by the odd rudeness. I accept that many EA's are very poor but there are some decent ones. Still I reported fatpigs abuse posting and it was taken off.

Thrugelmir

chickmug wrote: »

Thanks for the support I may start looking on this board again. The truth is I am too thick skinned to be upset by the odd rudeness. I accept that many EA's are very poor but there are some decent ones. Still I reported fatpigs abuse posting and it was taken off.

Stay on the board. Words of wisdom will have more positive effects than negative. Unfortunately rudeness is a trait in society in general. Unless the silent majority speak then no change can be effected.