Estate Agents - experiences of a cash buyer

ReadingTim

While you sound like the perfect buyer to someone who’s selling a house (chain free no mortgage required cash buyer, with solicitor in place), you’re not a very lucrative prospect for the EA, who will only get their percentage from the final sale of the property.

Compare your situation with a buyer with a property to sell, finance and legal arrangements not yet in place, and think of all the additional fees an agent could make from that person – suddenly you’re not as good a prospect as you think you are, are you?

I appreciate the agent should act in the best interests of the vendor, but there’s always going to be a conflict of interest, irrespective of EA industry codes of practise – this is the real world after all!

You sound like you’ve received some pretty poor customer service, and you’re quite rightly irritated. But you also come across in your post (possibly as a result of the above) as having a slightly inflated sense of your own self-worth and importance, and this might have come across in a negative way to the people you were dealing with.

My experience with EAs, even as a buyer, is that you have to cultivate a relationship with them – you often get a rather cool reception at first, but things tend to improve after you’ve seen a couple of their places, and they get an idea of what you’re looking for, how much you want to spend, and whether you’re serious, or a timewaster / Saturday afternoon tyre kicker… At present, you’re (essentially) a random who’s come in off the street that they don’t know from Adam! Furthermore, hassling them relentlessly on the phone, marching in, demanding to see someone, reeling off “12 word requirements” etc won’t win you many friends either – they’ve probably got you marked down as a nightmare buyer already!

I suggest you get in touch with a few agents that you haven’t used before – either via their websites, or the generic forms on Rightmove. View lots places that are of vague interest, not necessarily with a view to buy, but as part of the ‘getting to know you’ bit of the relationship. Be polite, pleasant, rather than snappy or demanding – even see if you can out-schmooze them! Just don’t go around aggressively bellowing to the EA how you’re the perfect buyer (save that for when you’re speaking to the vendor!). put up with that for a bit, and I think you’ll then be in a better position as and when you find somewhere you are genuinely interested in.

Best of luck!