TEPILO is here. Estate agents be very afraid

sunshinetours

MissMotivation wrote: »

... The amount of time it takes to qualify the offer, negotiate to offer, check chains, check funding, instruct Solicitors, send HIP's, check the Purchaser has instructed Solicitors, chase the survey/mortgage offer etc is astronomical!

Astronomical!!! Come on I appreciate that agents do have more to do than advertise and show people round but astronomical, really ?!!! I am certainly not in the band of estate agent "knockers" but I do hate it when this so called "profession" is talked up so much. Bottom line is good agents will survive even in the hardest times because they are sensible when times are good and crap ones won't (quite rightly aswell)

If someone is happy and confident enough to do all this then I suppose that websites like Tepilo will suffice, however, the average person will not have the time, inclination or knowledge to do this!

I agree - agents provide a service like many other service providers in the UK and you pay for it. When prices are high then you really pay for it! The problem with not using an agent is that it can be very difficult if not impossible to get on the biggest portal in the country for property (Rightmove). Unless that grip is ever loosened to allow "private" ads then agents will always have a place, due to this and in my opinion mainly to do with this.

MissMotivation

sunshinetours wrote: »

Astronomical!!! Come on I appreciate that agents do have more to do than advertise and show people round but astronomical, really ?!!! I am certainly not in the band of estate agent "knockers" but I do hate it when this so called "profession" is talked up so much. Bottom line is good agents will survive even in the hardest times because they are sensible when times are good and crap ones won't (quite rightly aswell)

I do see it as a profession (insert confused smiley) I have professional qualificiations as do many of the EA's I know.

The sales progressor in my office works a 9 hour day.....purely progressing chains. Before Xmas when we had 10 transactions that needed to complete before the stamp duty holiday ended she was spending hours just on one chain......she definately earnt her money that week!

sunshinetours

Fair enough I am not knocking your qualifications just that estate agency as a profession is pushing the definition IMO. Not sure what your continuous professional development requirements are and what accountability do you actually have to the NAEA. How many years studying after degree level does it actually take to become a "qualified estate agent"? Can you call yourself an estate agent if you haven't qualified and do you legally require PI cover to deal with the public.......

As I said previously I think estate agents provide a service that is required under the current set up of how property is marketed

MissMotivation

I think we are going off topic now so I will bow out of this discussion as whatever I say will be twisted and turned.

Happy to answer any questions by PM.

ETA....I have posted on here before about the qualifications I hold and my views on regulation etc.

sunshinetours

Shame as I think its relevant to the discussion of using or not using an agent. For what its worth I haven't twisted any of your words but I do understand you would rather not continue with a debate as is your right.

I am sure you have discussed it all before but I don't have time or inclination to search right now.

googler

Further to the discussion of Rightmove, you do know why they don't accept private adverts, don't you?

sunshinetours

They used to through a couple of the private house selling networks. I would assume that estate agents effectively blocked this though?

googler

I seem to recall it's because of Properties Misdescriptions Act - agents are aware of it, and the substantial penalties for non-compliance.

The version I heard was that the private sellers were likely to put any old thing in their ads, whether true or not. This left Rightmove vulnerable to prosecution under the act.

I can't find any verifiable sources offhand. Can anyone else confirm?

MissMotivation

googler wrote: »

I seem to recall it's because of Properties Misdescriptions Act - agents are aware of it, and the substantial penalties for non-compliance.

The version I heard was that the private sellers were likely to put any old thing in their ads, whether true or not. This left Rightmove vulnerable to prosecution under the act.

I can't find any verifiable sources offhand. Can anyone else confirm?

Didn't the Countrywide Group have shares in it at some point? I would imagine that had something to do with not accepting private Vendors.

Mrs_Bucket

googler wrote: »

and, given the state of the market at the moment, general financial conditions, etc - would you say it was money well spent or not?

What was the selling price? Was the £5k purely for your sale, or does it include any aspect of your purchase?

No, this is just my estate agency fees and before anyone asks, YES, I did haggle!! The whole thing will cost me about £11,500 - an awful lot of money. It took 6 weeks to sell my home; I did all the viewings myself and knew who would be buying it before the estate agent did! I think you can tell straight away if someone wants your place when they walk through the door. An estate agency is a tool for selling your home; your home will sell itself if it's what viewers want. I have had viewers that have been talked into viewing a property even if it's not what they want!

Is it money well spent? Dunno, ask me in 2 months time when I've moved!