Property listed with two agents

LydiaJ

I've seen a property that I might be interested in buying. It's on Rightmove with two agents. One agent gives more photos, but the other gives a floor plan. So far, I've sent emails asking for more details from both agents.

But what do I do if the details look promising and I want to view the place? Just pick one agent and deal solely through them? How do I pick which agent to go through?

I feel as though this is a really dim question, but I could do with someone telling me how things are supposed to work in this situation!

Thanks.

Ivana_B_Rich

LydiaJ wrote: »

I've seen a property that I might be interested in buying. It's on Rightmove with two agents. One agent gives more photos, but the other gives a floor plan. So far, I've sent emails asking for more details from both agents.

But what do I do if the details look promising and I want to view the place? Just pick one agent and deal solely through them? How do I pick which agent to go through?

I feel as though this is a really dim question, but I could do with someone telling me how things are supposed to work in this situation!

Thanks.

I'm no expert, but I would pick the agent I'd prefer to deal with. There are both good and bad in my area and I know which I prefer.

Hippychick

I had this same issue when I bought our house in July, one agent supplied me with the Hip and responded quickly, the other didn't. I made an offer through the agent who was more helpful.

property.advert

Where would your deposit be going ? Who will negotiate more ? why not view through both if vacant possession ?

LydiaJ

Thanks. It isn't vacant posession, so I don't think it would be fair to the vendors to view through both.

If I view this property, it'll be the first I've ever viewed as a nervous FTB, so at the moment I've no idea which agent to pick. But I do have plenty of friends who've bought houses in the area, so I think perhaps I'd better ask them for their opinions.

GDB2222

I think you should go visit say 20 houses before even thinking of making an offer.

LydiaJ

Oh yes, GDB, I agree. I won't put an offer on anything until I've seen quite a few. (Although I haven't bought before, I've got quite a lot of experience viewing & choosing rental properties. I know there are a whole lot of extra considerations when buying, but I do have quite a good idea of what I like and what I'm looking for.)

I just wanted to know what the deal was with this two agent set-up before even viewing anything.

TighterThanTwoCoatsOfPain

not your problem, but either of the agents find out, you could have stitched up the seller with two lots of agents fees to pay! (or negotiate) as technically both agents can claim they "introduced" you to the property.

Like i say, not your problem i guess...

Out of interest, have the agents sent you any more info than is available on Rightmove?

LydiaJ

TighterThanTwoCoatsOfPain wrote: »

not your problem, but either of the agents find out, you could have stitched up the seller with two lots of agents fees to pay! (or negotiate) as technically both agents can claim they "introduced" you to the property.

Like i say, not your problem i guess...

Out of interest, have the agents sent you any more info than is available on Rightmove?

Thanks TTTCOP. This was the sort of info I was after. It may be technically not my problem, but I wouldn't want to do that to the seller if it was avoidable.

If it came to that, would it help for me to prove I was "introduced" by Agent A - I emailed for further details from them several hours before emailing Agent B. Since my friend reckons Agent A is pretty good, I'll view with them.

But it seems odd. Rightmove is set up so that you can view a list of properties and then email all the agents in one go. If you do that, and a property is on with two agents, that inevitably means you'll be introduced by both agents simultaneously.

The details haven't arrived yet. I sent the emails on Saturday, so they won't reply until they're back at work tomorrow. Agents round here vary a lot in how much info they put online. One agent puts everything online and if you ask for further details they tell you that you've already got it all. Another puts the bare minimum - no floor plan, no room sizes, nothing - but if you ask for further details you get everything, including what sort of radiator is in each room and where the TV aerial points are. The rest of the agents are somewhere in between those two extremes.

The issue is probably academic - I probably won't end up buying the first house I view. But obviously I'm not 100% certain I won't buy it, or I wouldn't be viewing it, would I?

GDB2222

Agents get paid for introducing a buyer, not just for sending out info. 'Introducing' is usually taken as sending someone along to view the property. The agents keep a detailed appointments register with dates and times so they can prove they made the viewing appointment. If you view through two different agents that's a bit of a closer call, but it's pretty obvious that the agent who made the first viewing appointment is the one who 'introduced'.

Not sure what happens if you make an appointment but don't turn up, then book another appointment through a different agent and do turn up that time,

In your case, one agent was efficient, so I would make the appointment through them. My point above about lots of viewings - I really meant that this would give you a feel for which agents you were happiest dealing with.