Just been told off by Estate Agent

googler

Walcott wrote: »

Good EA's already have experience of what the potential pitfalls of a property are.

How do you think they built up that experience, other than from feedback from, and dialogue with, buyers and viewers? Is there a college course on the subject? Or do you think they all gathered this experience from the House Doctor programmes?

tyler80

I'm surprised at the attitude that sellers are doing buyers some sort of favour by letting them in their house for viewings.

I'll give feedback if an estate agent rings and I can answer the phone, but I won't ring back, it costs me 25p a minute from my mobile. I've told them my preferred method of communication is email, if they choose not to take notice of that it's their problem.

If they don't want to treat me as their special friend and ring up as soon as they get a new property on their books regardless of suitability that's fine by me. I'll keep looking on rightmove, in this market I'm not worried about missing out on first dibs on anything. They could refuse to arrange a viewing in which case I'd just knock on the owners door.

evoke

Honest_EA wrote: »

I have had many viewers who never return my calls once they have viewed a property

That'll be the tyre-kickers of the property world.

System

googler wrote: »

After how long? After a week, say, the EA and seller hear nothing. Should they assume that you've lost interest, or that you're still 'thinking about it'?

Why are you so keen to leave them in limbo without any firm indication of your inclination to proceed or not? Why don't you want to give them closure on your viewing?

I would have thought if they hear nothing back within 48 hours then it is reasonable to assume the buyer is not interested.

googler wrote: »

How do you think they built up that experience, other than from feedback from, and dialogue with, buyers and viewers? Is there a college course on the subject? Or do you think they all gathered this experience from the House Doctor programmes?

Quite simple really. New EA's are trained by a responsible member of staff within their firm. Buyers shouldn't have to educate EA's.

Nicki

Crikey, some people are very social-phobic by the sound of things! I live in London which is not renowned for being the friendliest of places, but when I've bought properties I've always built a relationship with the local estate agents. So it's just second nature to discuss with them what I've liked or not liked about the properties they've shown me, and I'd never dream of not telling them whether or not I was considering an offer.

When we sold our last house, which was in a sought after area, one woman viewed who seemed very enthusiastic but didn't return the estate agent's calls for feedback. She eventually phoned 3 weeks later to arrange a second viewing and was surprised to discover it was already under offer for more than the asking price and had been for a couple of weeks since she'd viewed :rotfl:

A little courtesy goes a long way, and makes both the buying and selling experience easier in the long run. I still greet the estate agents we dealt with when I see them in the street, and exchange a few words with them, even though we moved 3 years ago!

stokesley

superbabe612 wrote: »

Another had a water meter, which would mean expensive bills for our family of 4, and another had a steep narrow driveway that I thought would

Unless I've been misled, all property transactions now trigger the water board (or whatever they're called this week) arriving to dig a hole and fit a meter.

On the subject of being told off by EAs, feedback is good manners if asked, but not obligatory. As we're a little older than most of you, no EA would have had the nerve to tell us off; our daughter, however, has been thoroughly chastised twice by a two-year-old EA for minor crimes. Who the hell do they think they are?

kford224

tyler80 wrote: »

I'll give feedback if an estate agent rings and I can answer the phone, but I won't ring back, it costs me 25p a minute from my mobile. I've told them my preferred method of communication is email, if they choose not to take notice of that it's their problem.

I too in the past have ticked the 'Email' box for communication and then in the message box put "please contact via email" and have STILL had them ringing me up. It is very frustrating - I don't want to be pestered by EA's when I am at work!! That's why I gave them my email address!!

billricardi

In a nutshell, your estate agent needs to know details about what you like and don't like, so that they know what to show you next time.

Let's say your feedback is: Bedrooms are too small, we would have to gut the kitchen and we don't want to.

That takes 10 seconds to pop into an Email, but saves BOTH you and your agent HOURS of touring properties that you will reject for the exact same reasons.

Please, please, PLEASE give your estate agent at least a few words of feedback on each property you see! Don't waste your time, and don't waste theirs, by leaving them in the dark.

Running_Horse

Honest_EA wrote: »

I have never heard such a pile of rubbish from some people on these boards. Feedback is not an interrogation, it is a way for us EAs to find out if you are still interested in a property and if not we will move on and try to find you something else that suits your needs. It is a little bit of courtesy to tell the EA that you wont be making an offer and you dont need to go into the full details of why not unless you really want to. I can then tell the vendor that x wont be making an offer because the garden was smaller than they expected for example. Some of you who said you wouldnt want feedback from a viewer are clearly living in the dark and don't want to hear why someone has decided not to buy your wonderful property. Feedback benefits all parties and is essential in a market where there are so few buyers for each property. I have had many viewers who never return my calls once they have viewed a property (I dont hound them, only leave 1 message asking them politely if they were interested in the house). These people are always contactable when you are setting up the viewing but never afterwards and then they have the cheek to ring up 2 days later to book a viewing of a different property. I have never told anyone off like the OP has experienced but don't expect the EA to go out of their way to do you any favours if you blatantly treat them like dirt and give them the run around.

You need to learn to use paragraphs.

Sounds from your tone that you don't much like these people whose money pays your wages.

At least you're "honest" about your disdain.

botchjob

Common courtesy innit. Sounds like a good agent to me.

Buying a property involves a close and regular working relationship with an estate agent (whether you like it or not) that may go on for 6 months or more and which may get very stressful at times. So it makes sense to be professional about it from the get go. In my business a person who doesn't return calls isn't someone I want to do business with.

And if that's not self-interested enough for you, think of it like this: when you finally see the property of your dreams that you want to make an offer on (and which others will no doubt be offering on too), who do you think the agent will recommend to their client as good prospects, all things being equal? The ones who return their calls, or the ones who don't?