has anyone here reported an estate agent for misconduct?

theGrinch

Eldery man at the end of the road has been taken into care. His house was advertised for the first and only time yesterday at a price 30% below the average for the street - about £150k less than I would expect.

I call this morning to make an enquiry (by the way, Im not buying - just curious) only to be told its under offer.

So I play along a little saying I'm looking to move back to the area asap with my family. I'm chain and mortgage free and my budget is £50k more the property expecting the agent to say he needs to talk to vendor and come back, but at every turn they say no more viewings its gone.

I strongly suspect an estate agent of dubious conduct here and not achieving the best price for the vendor. Of selling to a member of staff or connected party before mealy mouth advertising. However, the agent is not part of any professional body.

If you are like me and hate to see a bond of trust broken and an estate agent proper wildly directly or indirectly at the expense of someone else then any suggestions of how this can be investigated would be welcomed.

ILW

The seller would be the one to complain, who has instigated the sale?

theGrinch

ILW wrote: »

The seller would be the one to complain, who has instigated the sale?

thanks. might be difficult in this case. he is in 90s and in care now. I know he had a distant relative that would visit him once a month but he lives about 3 hours away so may not be familiar with the area.

Trollfever

Not many appear here:

The Estate Agents Public Register provides details of estate agents who are currently prohibited from engaging in estate agency work or who have received a formal warning under the Estate Agents Act 1979.

http://www.oft.gov.uk/OFTwork/estate-agents/register/

RuthnJasper

theGrinch wrote: »

thanks. might be difficult in this case. he is in 90s and in care now. I know he had a distant relative that would visit him once a month but he lives about 3 hours away so may not be familiar with the area.

Hi Grinch, I can't add anything in the way of advice I'm afraid. But I do think that you are lovely to be concerned about this frail and elderly gentleman.

Maybe you could corral some mates into also 'phoning the EAs as potential "buyers" and see what they get told? Just a thought...

Good luck to you - and to the older gent and his family. xx

kingstreet

If he's been placed in care, local Social Services may be involved. Rather than the estate agent story, there may be an attempt by a relative to sell the property quickly.

I would suggest writing to the local Social Services office which deals with Older People outlining your concerns and that this may be an attempt at deprivation of assets or financial abuse of a vulnerable adult.

hazyjo

Someone must have been authorised to accept that price - family? Can't believe the EA would have had authority to accept an offer and get on with the legal side. The EAs don't own it, someone must be dealing with the sale.

If I agreed to sell my house to someone, I would not entertain higher offers from anyone. It's 'gazumping' and, on principle, I'd stick with my current buyer. If you think the EA has undervalued the house, fair enough, I see your point. What I don't get is who accepted that price. Surely the elderly gent wouldn't have if he's been taken into care... I think before you get too 'involved', you need to try and establish more facts. Was it advertised as 'offers over'? Unless it's a repo, I don't see why the EA should continue marketing it once someone has accepted an offer.

Jx

hcb42

how much do you think it is worth?

I had my house valued fairly recently and three agents gave me a variance of £125K!

As to agents, I strongly suspected an agent of dodgy practices on my parents house about a year before the banking collapse, thnakfully I talked them out of selling and it didnt go any further than that..

Egg_custard_2

I agree with the OP that this sounds fishy. EAs are not usually shy of encouraging gazumping. Do you have any way of contacting the family of the elderly neighbour? If possible, the best thing to do would be to make them aware of what happened because they will know whether this would have been in accordance with their instructions. I would imagine any complaint would need to be made by an interested party.

I read that under HIP legislation, all EAs who handle HIPs must be registered by law with the Ombudsman for Estate Agents scheme. Perhaps that might be a starting point.

dopester

My thoughts are your concern might stem from the lower price dragging down market values of your own house and neighbouring houses.

Values change. They go up when houses sell at ever higher prices each month/year... not just for the house being bought/sold, but the higher price paid pushes up values rise for all comparable properties on the road/area.. even though those existing owners did nothing whatsoever.

Same thing works in reverse, with lower prices being paid over time dragging down values for other houses which aren't even up for sale. If last transaction you think is an "average price" was something like 4 months ago.... that's ancient history in markets.

HOWEVER, rest of your story does sound a little bit suspicious I must admit. Nevertheless, perhaps the elderly man priced for a quick sale to help with fees/other costs of his care, and EA and owner honouring first offer towards that end. £150K is a lot... but at the price you're thinking off... +£150,000 more... it might sit on the market with no interest whatsoever.... perhaps forcing seller to reduce even further than £150K in 2/3 years time. Maybe seller is ahead of the downwards curve?

Things can rapidly change in markets... if you haven't noticed we're still very deep in trouble in the economy... with recovery perhaps much longer off than some people expect... if not much deeper trouble to come. And values aren't determined by what asking prices are. Only sales transactions over time, including single one from this seller, help to determine values for all other houses - even ones not up for sale.

dopester

theGrinch wrote: »

Eldery man at the end of the road has been taken into care. His house was advertised for the first and only time yesterday at a price 30% below the average for the street - about £150k less than I would expect.

So, you really suspect the house is worth around £520K, but are concerned it's been put on market for around £370K, and is under offer with your enquiry suggesting you'd be willing to pay more meeting short shrift from the EA.

Are you also accounting for items like internal condition... did the 90 year old kept it modernised like perhaps other houses sold on the road, or in the nearby area, at around the £520K mark during the past 4-12 months? Or you expecting buyer to pay top whack and then all costs to remodernise it?

Also that price range.. £520K, in some areas, might be coming under heavy pressure. It is after-all, a lot of money, and overall the trend is for people downsizing to smaller less expensive homes, rather than upsizing, unless finding good value - or lucky to acquire a buyer without the burdens of needing value for money.