Are Estate Agents supposed to sell houses?

VickyA_2

I ask this because we've looked round a house this morning, with a view to buying (as you do ). We're FTBs, so not looking at the more extensive and expensive houses, but nevertheless we're looking to spend MONEY.

This EA in question didn't try to sell the house, she was particularly disinterested and just walked round the house in front of us, not really saying anything. I was busy opening cupboards etc, as she wasn't going to display the "magnificent built-in wardrobe" etc.

However, outside she had a flashy Audi convertible.

What are the EAs generally like? Have I just watched a few too many property programmes?

Jorgan_2

Vicky, there a couple of trains of thought with EA's 'selling' houses on viewings.
1) You can't sell a property, only the appointment to view, the viewer will like the house or not, nothing you can say to make them buy it.
2) Over the top, going thru everything in the property with the viewer. Stating the obvious, like 'this is the bathroom', really, I thought the bath & loo were in the living room.
3) Consultative type of sale, asking the viewer can you see yourself living in this property, will your furniture fit in the rooms etc.

Personally I always try to establish the buyers needs on the first couple of viewings to establish what they are looking for, they may have said two bedrooms, only cosmetic work, close to the motorway or railway line, but what do they really want from a property? Only by going out on viewings with them & asking the right questions will I get those answers. Then I am in a position to show them more suitable properties, hopefully resulting in a sale.

Seems like you got No.1 on a bad day.

bylromarha

VickyA-know exactly what you mean. When an EA rarely did an accompanied viewing they ranged between complete silence to over the top blah blah blah...but like Jorgan said, none of it made a difference to me as I was looking at the house, not listening to their chat.

What did annoy me about EAs I came into contact with is that they did NOTHING to sell me the houses on their books. I remember ending the conversation with one agent saying "so of these 10 houses you've shown me details of, none of them fit the specific requirements I gave you just now?" Response? "well no, not really, but we get new properties on the market all the time"

Another EA sent me off into a corner to look through their details book, in which the details consisted of 1 photo and a list of rooms in the house (no sizes). One agent I had to ring 3 times over 3 days to make an appointment to view.

And we were SSTC to FTBs, so in quite a strong position, but the EAs couldn't be bothered to sell to us. It's certainly made the decision for us as to who we recommend friends sell their houses with and who we will sell our new house with when it comes to that time.

Miss_Penny_Pincher_2

I was not impressed with the estate agents I dealt with either. Quite a few time it was the first time they had seen the house! Understandably they couldn't answer any questions and did just stood around looking a bit bored! We were shown round the house we eventually bought by an estate agent - he just pointed out the obvious like this is the kitchen, couldn't answer questions, hadn't seen the house before. The elderly lady who owned the house asked us to sit down and I think it was her who sold me the house! Saying what a nice neighbourhood it is and how happy her and her husband were... she just seemed so genuine and it turned out my instincts have been right so far!

terrierlady

on a viewing MAKE them work!!!
ASK questions, how many viewings have you done on this property , Where are the local schools etc, Agents should try to build up a repore as not many people buy on the first viewing and your agent will be after the sales commission, the only way they get your money is by introducing you to the place you want to call home, only by qualifying you will they find out what your REALLY looking for, often we don't really know till we see it!
Iv been told not near a school, close to a school both brought the exact opposite, everyone is different and the art of the job is communication BOTH ways,if you don't like the way the viewing is going ring up and speak to the manager explain how you felt and what you were hoping to see and be told etc. Don't you forget FTByrs are walking Gold Dust to any sales rep.
you deserve Respect, put it down to her ignorance and bad sales training plus just maybe an off day?
Have you tried a new homes development?

alared

When will folk realise that EA`s want to do the least possible for the most amount of money.

I have recently viewed two properties with two different agents and they both stood like a couple of dummies.
When asked some very basic questions about the properties they were unable to give an answer except for "I could find out for you,if you want"

Of course I *********** well want

---

that`s why I`m asking.
Needless to say I never heard from them again.
They never bothered to ring me, chase up the sale,ask me what I thought,if I wanted to make an offer,etc.
All they want is easy money and for YOU to do all the running about.
I felt sorry for the owners of the properties for employing such useless people.

VickyA_2

Thanks for your replies.

When we had the viewing, we were asking as many questions as possible - how long has it been on the market, has there been much interest etc.

In addition, we know that there is a long term expansion plan (because it's been in the local free rag) for the town and one of the most likely sites for this expansion is the field very close to the house that we saw yesterday.... The EA claimed not to know anything about it, even though these expansion plans have been shown around the town, in the newspaper etc. We've been here since September and she said that she's been living and working here since 2000. She also didn't know how old the house was, but we know that the rest of the development was built in 1999/2000.

It all seemed very bizarre...... Evidently this is one thing we'll have to get past!

clutton_2

some agents employ "viewing agents" who are just key holders and who know nothing about any of the houses !!

VickyA_2

clutton wrote:

some agents employ "viewing agents" who are just key holders and who know nothing about any of the houses !!

The woman that showed us around was the woman that I spoke to and dealt with in the EA.

alared

VickyA wrote:

Thanks for your replies.

When we had the viewing, we were asking as many questions as possible - how long has it been on the market, has there been much interest etc.

In addition, we know that there is a long term expansion plan (because it's been in the local free rag) for the town and one of the most likely sites for this expansion is the field very close to the house that we saw yesterday.... The EA claimed not to know anything about it, even though these expansion plans have been shown around the town, in the newspaper etc. We've been here since September and she said that she's been living and working here since 2000. She also didn't know how old the house was, but we know that the rest of the development was built in 1999/2000.

It all seemed very bizarre...... Evidently this is one thing we'll have to get past!

VickyA
Thanks very much for proving what I said in my earlier post.
You have done more research and know more what is happening than a local EA.
All they want is easy money and no hassle.
No doubt one of their breed will be soon be replying about how hard they work and what great service they give.
Bal*****,sorry I mean poppyc o c k.
Have you ever heard poeple sprout "the house sold the same day it was put on the market".
They don`t then go on to say "I then got a bill from the EA for £4k".
How on earth can ANY EA charge that sort of money for what they (don`t) do?
I`m talking about average,modest houses now.
The reason house prices have stayed so high,so long is because there`s too many greedy fingers in the pie making a lot of money from gullible Joe Public.
Think about it,EA`s,the Gov,(stamp duty),solicitors,banks,building societies,surveyors,insurance companies,house builders,etc.,the list goes on and on.
The answers to your question is no,EA`s don`t sell houses they just rip you off.

david29dpo

our new agent offered to show viewers round which they did at first. i thought they used there own staff but they farm it out to a bimbo who knows nothing! i show the viewers round myself now even though i hate it!