Rude Estate Agents

gingin_2

We've just bought a house and have found this the whole way through the process. We went through 4 agents for 4 different houses and only one actually did their job ( guess who we will use when we eventually sell our house). The agent of the one we've bought we ended up calling at 2pm every day to give us updates, he didn't initiate a single phonecall with us until we were close to exchange and the vendors were getting twitchy. At the end, he sent us a satisfaction survey. OH simply wrote "<his name> is a tool".

It was the same with our solicitors, they were dragging their heels to the point where the sellers threatened to pull out so husband said he would call them every half hour until they had it sorted - and he did and they got it sorted.

it was frustrating and we never would have done this under normal circumstances but buying a house is not "normal".

JQ.

I don't see that the EA is being rude, the OP was made less than 24hrs (business hours) after the offer. They act for the Vendor and this process is a negotiation - people use different tactics in negotiations, some work, some don't.

This action certainly got a reaction from the OP whether that's proves fruitfull for the EA is still to be decided.

SimonMrGreenWard

Agents are crap at negotiating. Always put a timescale on an offer. Call them back and say that you're going to see another property this evening and want to know if your offer has been accepted or not as you'll cancel viewing if it has. They'll move sharpish on that.

Geordie_bear

Update:-

They've rejected my offer again and are saying that it needs to be 3k more as that's the lowest they can afford to let it go for! Now we're not prepared to go that high as it's been on the market for over 3 years and needs work doing! What would you do? We're still mulling it over now

Geordie_bear

Gwhiz wrote: »

I bet they are just making you sweat it a little..... just in case you call them and up your offer

I've put an offer on a plot this morning.... direct with the vendor ..... they said they'd call me right back. That was 5 hours ago

Just be patient..play the game better than them!

that's what I'm doing we hold all the trump cards & they know it

DVardysShadow

Geordie_bear wrote: »

Update:-

They've rejected my offer again and are saying that it needs to be 3k more as that's the lowest they can afford to let it go for! Now we're not prepared to go that high as it's been on the market for over 3 years and needs work doing! What would you do? We're still mulling it over now

No idea what I would do, because I don't know the place. If you would pay 3000 more you would have a deal. How much more are you willing to pay? If you would go 2000 more as best and final offer, you might get it. Now is the time to do best and final offer with the price at which you would walk away if it were £1 more.

Geordie_bear

The problem we have is that we're not 1st buyers & are subject to stamp duty at over £1.5k. We need to factor that in when we consider our next step we're thinking about using it as a bargaining tool. I'm also mindful of property prices going down in the new year, we're fine getting a mortgage as we have a good deposit & excellent credit records so it's a dilema!:o

Doozergirl

You think £3k makes that much of a difference? It doesn't affect your Stamp Duty Bill that much and in reality it isn't going to affect your mortgage repayments by much either. It depends on how much you like the house as to whether you pay that much.

I think you should play them as hard as you can until you find agreement but if this house was right for you five months ago and you've not found anything else in that time then the price of it can't be that bad?

Property prices falling might make the difference between someone deciding to buy or not, or perhaps buying one less bedroom than the one they really wanted; a smaller house instead of a large one to reduce risk. It's not really the difference between paying £3k more or less for one house. You won't get repossessed because you padi £3k more than you offered them at the weekend.

Sorry, I just don't think it's that much of a big deal. I'd go back, offer them an extra £1000 and tell them that you will be flexible with their moving arrangements etc. but you're evidently interested as you offered ages ago and they don't seem to have had much interest at a higher price since then, so is it worth them looking a gift horse in the mouth and waiting another five months for an extra couple of grand that may or mey not come?

Estate Agents do not work for vendors. They work for themselves. Get the EA onside, don't see it as a game between you and the EA - it isn't. They must be desperate for sale on this one, £3k is nothing in commission to them. Just give them the right pointers to try and convince the vendor to take less. They will try for you.

If they vendor genuinely can't take any less then the £3k isn't going to kill you if it's the difference between having the house and not. Honestly. If it will make you happy to live there and you try and keep a grasp on the fact that this is your home, not a money spinner, and that you actually have no idea where house prices will be when you come to sell, then you can get moving!

You're nearly there. Just keep working it.

Geordie_bear

I know what your saying & yes we really do like the house however my natural instinct is to barter! In the grand scheme of things 3k isn't much & 10 years down the line it's nothing at all! However 3k at the minute means a bit more deposit to put down as we're aiming for the 25% as it makes mortgage payments a lot smaller! I've worked out that by getting it for the price I want I will also save £750 deposit which would help towards solicitors fees in the process!

Leory

Tell them that then. If you are at the limit of your spending there is no harm in telling them that.

if you cannot afford the extra 3k then put the offer in again stating that you are flexible with moving dates and as a FTB they will not have any chain issues.

Tell them the offer will stand for 7 days and see what happens.

If you get it, great. If you dont then no worry because you cant afford it.

I was FTB 6 months ago.....they are not going to get much better offers than what you can offer at the minute

keep us updated!