Leaflet through door from EA saying they have buyer waiting for a house like mine

danielley

Bit of a hypothetical question for you...

Im sure you have all been cold leafleted by Estate Agents before now, with the usual schpiel of;

'We have a buyer Miss M who is looking for a property matching your description' etc.

At the end of the letter it says (in bold font) that this is a genuine request.

Now, I am currently thinking of moving, so if this indeed is genuine and this Miss M did want to buy my house , what kind of bargaining power would I have with the estate agents?

I mean, sure, they have found me a buyer, but on the other hand they have not had to go to the effort of 'trying' to sell my property.

Does anyone think that I could ask for a discount on EA fees? (assuming that this is a genuine leafleting campaign - which I am not certain it is)

Thanks

BitterAndTwisted

Ask anything you like! If it's genuine, they appear to have gone to rather a lot of effort on the behalf of their "buyer".

timmyt

avoid, as that is desparate

Incyder

It's a con of sorts.

You will never meet Mrs M, or Mr P, or Miss K.

It's just an ad that tempts you to make contact with the EA who will then know you are thinking of selling and will worm his way into your brain/heart with a ££££ glint in his eye.


(I bet every similar house in your street got the same leaflet)

g_attrill

They did leaflet so they deserve a certain %, but perhaps less than usual. If you don't want to be tied in make sure you sign a contract which only ties you to that buyer, not some multi-week thing.

If you wanted to totally escape it then put up your own sign "for sale by owner" and hope the buyer drives past sometime.

mlz1413

Incyder wrote: »

You will never meet Mrs M. ..

You probably won't meet MRS M, as MISS M is likely to marry into a different surname!


Ring the EA and say that you are willing to allow Miss M to do a viewing and if she is interested you will expect a discounted rate from them. If they can't give you a straight 'when can she view' then its a con to get more houses on the books in a popular area of town.

maninthestreet

If Miss M was looking for a house like yours, she would be contacting your EA asking to view your property.

googler

Let's assume that Ms M is genuine, and has (presumably) been into the agent's office, and asked them to let her know if anything in your street/area comes up meeting her requirements. Possible outcomes, should you agree to place your house with this EA;

Ms M buys straight away
Ms M has, in the meantime, found another house and not told the EA
Ms M comes to see your house, but finds something she doesn't like and doesn't go any further

In the first instance, you're arguing for a lower fee; but surely the agent has excelled in finding Ms M a seller, and finding you a willing buyer quicker than normal, and with the minimum of effort on your part. You haven't had to have more than one viewing, no sale board up, and you've sold. By any measure of performance-related pay, this should warrant a higher fee rather than a lower one, surely? You do want to sell your house quickly, don't you?

In the second or third instances, you need to have agreed with the EA whether or not you continue to go to market on their standard T&Cs after Ms M has been ruled out.

LandyAndy

maninthestreet wrote: »

If Miss M was looking for a house like yours, she would be contacting your EA asking to view your property.

The OP doesn't have an EA. That is rather the point of the post.

DataWraith

We were trying to sell our flat last year and the EA didn't get anyone in to view, even though they said " There's ALWAYS someone interested" in the block we live in.
3 months later we took it off the market, but we get letters like these, ' Someone has shown an interest in buying your property' kind of nonsense, it's a tactic used by EA's to see if they can get your place on their books so they can hopefully sell it.
If you are wanting to sell, arrange for an EA to come and do their thing, don't fall for the flyer, it's just them being LAZY.

danielley

The plot thickens....

We are currently in talks with Morris Homes over a part ex scheme on a new build. Guess who is coming to appraise my house tomorrow to give Morris Homes their valuation.... the very same agent.

I will confront them with the letter