Do estate agents lie on their boards?

nollag2006

HAMISH_MCTAVISH wrote: »

Pretty sure they can still afford beds, even with the downturn.

Boom ! Boom !!

DSM

There was a converted mill near to where I used to work which had a sign outside saying "last few remaining". This sign was there for as long as I remember (I worked there 3 years but left just before xmas) so either they haven't sold many in the last three years or they were telling porkies from the outset...me thinks its probably both!

Cleaver

nollag2006 wrote: »

Not very big? For a 2 bed 2 bath flat, these seem like a good size.

In the Finchley / Hampstead area, your money isn't going to get far.

Even in that area nearly a million pounds will buy you a four or five bedroom house. We all know that you have to be uber-positive about every single aspect of property to keep up your image on here, but even you must see that nearly a million quid for a two bed flat in that area is stupid?

Davesnave

I think there are few people who might question dubious statistics, like '85% Sold,' unless they are those who have bought and then suffered many months of living on an unfinished site. Even then, many would not kick-off in the press, as they'd look like plonkers for buying something few others wanted.

One agent I used was so paranoid about the estate Agents Act, he'd not allow anything that could be construed as an opinion into the details. We didn't see eye to eye on that.

In my experience, Welsh EAs tend more towards honesty in their dealings than their English counterparts, but may use 'poetic language' with cheerful abandon in their blurb. They also just get things wrong. For example, in two cases they managed to mis-identify rivers running through properties, and neither was happy when this Englishman pointed out their errors. One refused to accept correction, saying that the owner had told him personally of the river's identity, till I pointed out that the names sounded similar, and 40 miles of mountain lay between the two.

That wasn't so bad as the Devon agent who claimed a view at one house that could only exist with the removal of a fair portion of Dartmoor, a clear day and a pair of high power binoculars. His problem was not so much lying as terrible geographical knowledge, but these guys move around, so I suppose realising that Devon has two coastlines was 'local knowledge' he just needed time to acquire.

Davesnave

Graham_Devon wrote: »

Was just wondering hwo far they can bend the truth?

Oh about this far:

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By the way, I think he's gone......Ralph Bending, that is:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/blog/2009/may/06/estate-agents-honesty


Edit: No, I'm wrong. Found him. He's still around.
http://www.ralphbending.com/buying.html

Jonbvn

Davesnave wrote: »

Oh about this far:
By the way, I think he's gone......Ralph Bending, that is:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/blog/2009/may/06/estate-agents-honesty

Edit: No, I'm wrong. Found him. He's still around.
http://www.ralphbending.com/buying.html

I'd use this guy if I lived in the area.

Characterful as a vegetarian's fart, this Victorian beauty hums to the rhythm of a well soaked mung bean.

HammerSmashedFace

Lying is second nature to EA's, you see it all the time especially if you have used PB, one example among many I could mention.

A house that was up for sale for four years was advertised for £215k with the same agent, it never sold or went under offer (I wonder why, answers on the back of stamp with a one inch marker pen:D), next time I see the house, it has a new picture at a slightly different angle, different EA marketing it, with the headline 'New on the market' for £199k.

Purely done to dupe the hard of thinking. (By the way, that was a year ago, and it still hasn't sold lol).

silvercar

The EA also has the ability to doctor photos. Picture 9 is either stretched or that bath is designed for a 10 foot giant!

Really2

Graham_Devon wrote: »

Talking of this...

Anyone know if a bedroom has to clasify as a certain size?

I believe to be classed as a bed room it has to be able to take a single bed. It does not have to be currently used as bedroom to qualify as a bedroom.

I have been to houses with small 3rd bedrooms (my old house) but have never seen one too small to not take a single bed. We had an 8'6 X 4'6 room box room and it looked to small but come selling time it easily fitted a single bed.
The width being close to the wall hight distorts you perception some times.

princeofpounds

The normal trick is to do something like this:

90% SOLD!!!!! LAST FEW REMAINING!!!!!*

*[in tiny writing on huge poster] of Phase 1.

Yes, agents do lie a lot - I have lots of examples from my own area - but some are worse than others, not all are bad, and often it's not outright lies but misrepresentations like those above.