Estate Agents

GJUK_2

Can someone please advise me if I have something I can work to my advantage.

I'm going through the process of sellign and buying a house with an estate agent.

The house I am looking at is being sold by a couple and the couples daughter is also an estate agent.

When I enquired about the property I was not told she was an estate agent for a good 3-4 days, and even the paperwork they sent me with the 'offer' I had made never mentioned this on it.

A few days later (3-4) they sent me revised paperwork which in the 'additional comments' box said "sellers daughter estate agent".

Have they broken any rules by not making it clear to me in the first instance that she was an estate agent?

I even had a viewing with the daughter not knowing this.

All in all they have been utter crap at their jobs and I want to see if I can use this againt them once I complete.

Thanks,

Jon

princessamy86

Does the sellers daughter work for the company you are buying through?

Cannon_Fodder

Only going to matter if employed by the same Estate Agents, aiui. And if a member of NAEA or similar;

Not sure exactly what advantage it would confer. You can whinge. They get slapped wrists from the NAEA.

http://www.naea.co.uk/uploads/COP/OEACodeSales%20Part%202.pdf

9h If you are selling a property that is owned by you, an employee or an associate (or an associate of an employee) – or in
which you, an employee (or an associate of an employee) has an interest – you must by law, before negotiations begin,

immediately make this known, in writing.

GJUK_2

princessamy86 wrote: »

Does the sellers daughter work for the company you are buying through?

No, it was listed with two estate agents.

I am sellign through estate agents A

It was listed with estate agents A (the same as mine) and estate agent B

The daughter of the family works for estate agents B

I chose to deal with estate agents A, so they could deal with the case and have a 'better idea of what was happening'.

Yeah right, the morons.

chezzers

Why would you want to use this against them...to get out of paying/negotiate a reduction in fees. My wife works for an estate agent and it didn't stop us from selling our flat through them, as we believed that they were they best agents in the area to sell our house.

The fact that they sent out a revised letter suggests to me that the daughter doesn't work for the agent you are purchasing through (I may be wrong), but that shouldn't put you off buying a property that you believe is right for you.

GJUK_2

chezzers wrote: »

Why would you want to use this against them...to get out of paying/negotiate a reduction in fees.

Probably this, they have been less than useless throughout the entire time we've used them. They have also lied a lot.

The fact that they sent out a revised letter suggests to me that the daughter doesn't work for the agent you are purchasing through (I may be wrong), but that shouldn't put you off buying a property that you believe is right for you.

I'm not put off, I'm jsut trying to find out if:

>Talking about the property
>Viewing the proerty
>making an offer ont he property

...all without knowing the daugheter (who was dealign with the proeprty) was a hardend estate agent (as we all know they have no souls) was legal or not.

Thanks

Jon

Cannon_Fodder

Did EA B disclose? aiui, they were the only ones who had to, unless the two agents are subsidiaries of a larger conglomerate, perhaps...

But even then the NAEA code says "before negotiations begin"...not marketing.

googler

GJUK wrote: »

Can someone please advise me if I have something I can work to my advantage.

I'm going through the process of sellign and buying a house with an estate agent.

The house I am looking at is being sold by a couple and the couples daughter is also an estate agent.

When I enquired about the property I was not told she was an estate agent for a good 3-4 days, and even the paperwork they sent me with the 'offer' I had made never mentioned this on it.

A few days later (3-4) they sent me revised paperwork which in the 'additional comments' box said "sellers daughter estate agent".

Have they broken any rules by not making it clear to me in the first instance that she was an estate agent?

I even had a viewing with the daughter not knowing this.

All in all they have been utter crap at their jobs and I want to see if I can use this againt them once I complete.

OK, so they corrected the paperwork within 4 days; if they'd sent you the correct paperwork immediately, would you have done anything differently? Would you have withdrawn from the purchase? If so, why haven't you done so now?

It sounds to me like the daughter doesn't have any title to the property. If she doesn't have any title, then all that's going on here is that someone related to your seller is working for the same agency that's selling it. I don't really see any need to declare an interest here.

Would you want to know if their son who moved out of the property 2 years ago worked for the agency? Or the owner's brother, who's never lived at the property - should he declare if he works for the same agency?

Clear it up for me - how far does it go before folks don't have to declare?

new_home_owner_3

id love to know how you can get it to work in your advantage, why dont you just threaten them with pulling out of the sale, because they missed this small detail off.

they will probably tell you to do one, and end up getting a different buyer.

how will that be a advantage to you?

most estate agents are lying sneaky aressholeess anyway, but i think you wont get anywhere with this one.

googler

The relevant para of the TPO code of practice appears to be 9h

"If you are selling a property that is owned by you, an employee or an associate (or an associate of an employee) – or in which you, an employee (or an associate of an employee) has an interest – you must by law, before negotiations begin, immediately make this known, in writing."

...but the daughter, who works at agency B, doesn't OWN the property, rendering this requirement invalid. No?

Also, you made your offer to Agency A, and the daughter doesn't work there, does she? She works for the other agency, who presumably, had a joint agency agreement along with agent A....

chezzers

Estate Agent A have done nothing wrong. As far as I can see they have only sent out the revised paperwork as a failsafe, as the daughter works for another agent. Unless both agents are part of a larger company, then there was probably no need to let you know.

Lets be fair, the agent probably didn't know the family history of the house, given that the daughter works for another company.

And it's comforting to know i am married to a souless esate agent, she must work for one of the few estate agents (in Scotland) that actually do what they say!