Estate agents who don't actually do their job?!

egyptiangirl

Now I know that EAs have a reputation for being pushy but I have found the opposite in our house search.

I phone an agent to ask for a viewing. They say they will contact the vendor and they never get back to me!!!! This has happened twice now.

We have nothing to sell, a big deposit and a mortgage in principle so why the hell don't they actually do their job?!:mad:

Now my other half says I should phone them and chase them up but I kind of feel that I shouldn't have to do this. Surely their job is to sell houses and the only to do that is to get the viewers in?

Oh and whilst I'm here....

You visit a property. The EA calls for feedback leaving a message on the voicemail. You phone back and although it's not the same person, you give feedback on said property. The orinigal EA then proceeds to call for the rest of the week asking for feedback. Now, unless the estate agents I've been in are unusual, they usual comprise of one large room, which one assumes can even have a 'shouting' conversation across the room saying 'BTW Ms EGirl has called and given feedback on X property'. I actually refuse to call back to tell them that I've already called and given feedback. What a waste of my time!

None of this has impressed me but hey I'm after a house and they are the people who supposedly manage house selling.

Am I being grumpy? Is this common? Or do I just have rubbish agents around me?!

MissMotivation

There is a separate board for Rants......probably best you post it there.

delmar39

From a person currently selling our first EA was very poor. They never answered our calls and we were their client, so gosh only knows how they treated potential buyers or how many slipped through the net. Hence we moved to another and they've been excellent.

However, it is strange that they haven't called back as selling is how they make their money. No viewings = no offers = no commission. So, not sure what's going on here. If they're a big EA with lots of properties often they are simply too busy. Shouldn't be the case, but it is. If you really like the houses then it's within your best interest to chase up. If you get the answer machine suggest to them that if they don't call back you'll go direct to the seller - then sit back and wait for the phone to ring...! Alternatively ask to speak to the branch manager, but he / she may also be a waste of time (as our original one was).

skegglies

I'm a property solicitor, so probably best not to get me started on EAs but..........
In my experience they always seem to get in the way of a smooth transaction. Years ago I nearly lost my first house because the EAs didn't pass on my offer, it was only by chance that I met the seller seeing her in the front garden as I was passing. If the EA isn't co-operating then contact the seller direct (any serious seller won't mind you doing this). Remember most EAs are from a sales rather than a professonal background. I always ask clients how they've got on with the EA and the feedback I get is terrible, calls not returned, offers not passed on, trying to get people to use their (expensive) solicitors, trying to sell people a HIP for £450 when you can buy one on the web for £160 etc. etc.

Best of luck!

picklepick

haha you sound just like me! I've had to chase estate agents for viewings, to be sent hips, had about 3 calls from the same person about feedback on the same house id already spoken to her about. they've even moved or cancelled appointments and somehow forgotten to tell us, then lied to us that they had when we've called to see where they are!
i had to call them 3 times in one day just to make sure that theyd passed on the offer we made.

The way i see it is, when we come to move and sell on, they've all just shown how good or bad they are and we'll know which ones to choose when we come to move next.

id keep calling them and chasing them. i may have sounded like a harassing mad woman but it is, after all, their job!

PasturesNew

They can be very sexist. Maybe if you phone and say something different. e.g. "Hello, my husband would like to view....", or "My husband and I want to view ... HE .... HE ...."

They do LOVE it when a man's involved...

PasturesNew

I will substantiate my previous posting: I had trouble with one estate agent in particular, I couldn't get viewings at all on most houses. Then one of the partners actually sneered at me "How are you going to afford it ..?" and when I replied "savings and a mortgage" he said "You do realise lenders don't like lending to single women..."

Utter 4rses.

Another one, a few years later, wouldn't even add me to their list!

mqandy

In a superbly complicated way, I currently rent two properties, and own and rent out a third (which I am looking to sell), through three different letting agencies.

I can safely say - with some authority - that these are the least professional breed of people you will ever deal with!

The LA of the place I actually live in ATM has quite a large office, and absolutely no form of CRM or note taking, and have never once read one of my emails. Getting any kind of response to them takes around 6 weeks of banging heads together!

Cissi

OP: we had exactly the same experience. We were cash buyers with nothing to sell and no mortgage needed, yet found that we had to chase EAs for appointments (that they then didn't even bother turning up to). Go figure *shrug*