Attention Estate Agents - how do I make friends with you?

fimonkey

Well it's in the question really, but a bit about me first.

I will soon be in a position (in about 3-4 months time) to be a first time buyer with a 25K deposit and a mortgage of 125K. I live in Bournemouth and want to stay in the Bournemouth/Christchurch area. I definately want 2 beds and would ideally like to stretch to a freehold property which would mean moving slightly further out, however I may have to settle for leasehold (cheaper), in which case I definately want a place with a garden and place for outdoor working (my B/F is a carpenter and would move in with me as a tenant and need space outdoors to work).

First I have to see a mortgage broker and get the AIP (however the deposit is coming from inheritance so am waiting for that to be finally in my bank before I make any move).

1. At what point should I start trawling round the gazillion EA's in the area registering my interest? I don't want to be a time waster by registering too early, but I don't want to 'miss the boat' either.

2. I know the EA's first loyalty is to the seller and to get the best price for the property. When I come to look, would any EA indicate an acceptable 'offer' I should make? Or should I not look to them for this kind of information (have seen on these boards 10% less is appropriate, market conditions being as they are in Bournemouth at the moment). - My personal situation is to be able to stratch to a freehold would mean looking at properties proced at 155K whereas my max is 150K. Should I even consider this?


3. How much will an EA be my friend' in terms of making sure I get the best property for the best price (which kinda goes against their ethos for sellers doesn't it)?

4. If an EA can't guide me through this 'game-playing'.. who can??

5. Should I be completely truthful about everything to EA's? (Of course I don't condone lying whatsoever, but I also know that house-buying etc can be like a game of cards, and there are some you should play close to your chest).

6.. Finally, EA's, what makes a good buyer in your eyes??

many thanks in anticipation.

Fi

lynzpower

its not the EAs effectively who work out who is a good buyer, its the seller of the property.

As a seller, Id want to sell to someone who a) has money or the AIP b) has some semblence of understanding of the process ( which you do, and being here of course will help, you are asking questions etc all good) c) doesnt change thier mind.

Sorry feeling slighly bitter today, as Im a seller and its not going well !!!

AndrewSmith

lynzpower wrote:

Sorry feeling slighly bitter today, as Im a seller and its not going well !!!

Sorry to hear that Lynz :grouphug:

What's happened (or not as the case may be)?

lynzpower

AndrewSmith wrote:

Sorry to hear that Lynz :grouphug:

What's happened (or not as the case may be)?

well nutshell

a) buyers solicitor a bit rubbish
b) my solicitor a bit rubbish
c) buyer messing me about- or is it his sol? who knows?
d) the foibles of shared ownership.

Ill say negver again but you know i dont mean it!

AndrewSmith

Blimey.

I know someone who is buying shared ownership, it has been going on for over a year now cos the HA solicitors are !!!!!!. Keep losing docs etc.

It is not helped by the fact that the HA built on land that they didn't actually own!!!

GO FOR IT LYNZ POST YOUR 10,000 th POST. I DARE YOU lololol :beer:

chant1l

If your max is £150k look at houses up to £175k and look at everything to get an idea of what you want, after a few weeks of this you may find that the ones that have stuck around are more flexible as to price. Be vague about finances re the deposit but do get a mortgage in principle and tell them this, you will be taken more seriously. And relax - looking for a house can be fun!

HugoSP

Location, Location, Location gave some good advice about this some time ago. They basically said to get all your ducks in order before you hit the EAs.

Mortgage offer in principle - that is to say that the lender knows that YOU are a good person to lend to and that this will be dependent on the house. Go and see a good IFA and take it from there. I use a guy called Ian Hubbard at Direct Financial Planning 01752 221133. He's based in Plymouth and has sorted all mortgages etc for me over the last few years. If you can get it in writing then that's great!

Have a good idea what you want to look at. Be firm and friendly. Firm helps you not to be swayed by agents trying to pass stuff that is within telescopic sight of your criteria, just because they can't sell it. Friendly keeps them on your side when you remind them politely that this studio flat they want to show you around is NOT the 3 bed semi that YOU are tryng to find!

As a FTB you have nothing to sell, so you'll be at an advantage over other buyers who are trying to sell their other property, especially whilst the market is a bit dead. Impress this upon them - your purchase is not dependent on a sale so you'll be at one end of the chain.

Lay out all your good cards at the initial discussion. You need to assure thm that you are serious and have the means.
FTB
Have sizeable deposit
Have sourced a good solicitor
Stable employment
Can get finance - show them a letter if you have one
Future plans - settle have family etc
Know the area, facilities etc
If you wish to develop the property and move it on then tell them. The thought of your going beck to them to resell is a plus point. Why not even mention this as a strong possibility even if it isn't?

I always believe that face to face communication is a great foot in the door. Don't phone them, go around and see them. The fact that you have taken the trouble to go to their workplace means that you're serious, explain to them that you've taken time out to go in and see them as it's important for you to buy. If you want to phone them to arrange an appointment that's fine, just don't try to start the relationship over the phone.

If you can get recommendations from friends etc as to which estate agents to go to, use them as an ice breaker. Statements such as "My friend Mr and Mrs Smith, who bought 93 Everglades, were keen that I should discuss buying a property with you" go a long way. They feel that they have developed one good client relationship and may develop another on the back of that. However if you don't get any recommendations for a particular agent, don't let that stop you.

I have bought a number of properties in recent years, mostly through the same agent. So when I tell him I am a serious buyer and have the means, he knows. Other agents have the option of contacting him and asking him what I'm like to do business with. I suspect a lot of that goes on behind the scenes. After all, their salary is largely commission based and the lad or lass in the office doesn't want to be wasting time and resources on too many window shoppers.

If you find somene who you can work with, keep in regular contact with them. After receiving a phone call every week for a few weeks they will take you seriously if they haven't before.

When you're interested in the property take time to consider all the aspect before jumping in with an offer. Estate agents will tell you that there's been a lot of interest in a property etc, experience will teach you which properties go like hot cakes.

I find that when I'm shown around properties with little or no enthusiasm, the agent knows that either I'm not interested in it or it's a dog to sell. A good agent is enthusiastic about every property he or she shows around, whereas most agents are only enthusiastic about the better properties that will sell themselves.

Nenen

In your position I would look at rightmove.co.uk (and no, I do not have any connection/financial interest but am currently looking for a property myself too)
They are the biggest property portal in UK and used by the vast majority of Estate Agents to advertise, so you only have to look/register in one place and not with every individual agent. You can search their data base for properties within your price range and stipulate minimum number of bedrooms, location etc. You can also register to get free emails whenever a new property within your search criteria is uploaded. The minority of estate agents who are not with rightmove are with primelocation.com and you can search their data base and register for regular updates with them as well.

Up until the mass use of the web it was vital as a PP said to go into Estate agents and get to know them etc. I think, with the web much has changed. I have been in person to enquire at a couple of agents (and viewed properties with many more) and they all say... look at the website! It seems to me that they aren't particularly interested in personal communication any more. They will post details snailmail if specifically requested but much prefer you to view details online (much cheaper and easier for them). Maybe I'm too cynical (recently aggrevated by 2 different EAs equally useless when trying to sell our house) but what gets me is that they now seem to do less and less and yet their rates stay the same! In fact, in real terms (given house prices have risen at well above the rate of inflation and their rates are dependent upon the price of the house) they actually earn far more in real terms thean they did 20 years ago! I wouldn't mind so much if I hadn't had such an unprofessional and inefficient service from them!...

sorry rant over! Do try rightmove and primelocation though and there are also lots of sites for people trying to sell their homes privately too. Can't remember the urls but do a search and I'm sure you'll find loads. fish4homes is one I think but not sure.

dexters_mum_2

My husband runs his own estate agency so here's his advice to you...

fimonkey wrote:

1. At what point should I start trawling round the gazillion EA's in the area registering my interest? I don't want to be a time waster by registering too early, but I don't want to 'miss the boat' either.

It's never too early to register your details with an estate agent, do it by phone or e-mail if you can't make it in. Ensure the EA knows your position, FTB, large deposit, mortgage AIP etc etc and the EA knows what you want, where you want and how much you want to spend. Keep in touch with them regularly to ensure that you develop a relationship with them, they rememer you and if any thing comes on to the market that seems to be 100% what you want, ensure the EA can get in contact with you.


2. I know the EA's first loyalty is to the seller and to get the best price for the property. When I come to look, would any EA indicate an acceptable 'offer' I should make? Or should I not look to them for this kind of information (have seen on these boards 10% less is appropriate, market conditions being as they are in Bournemouth at the moment). - My personal situation is to be able to stratch to a freehold would mean looking at properties proced at 155K whereas my max is 150K. Should I even consider this?

Always consider looking at properties between £5-10k more, you never know what offers a seller will take and and EA has a legal obligation to pass on any offers to a seller. It also helps give you an idea of what you get for your money. It's up to you whether you do actually go and look at them but you can and make an offer and who knows? it might be your offer they accept!


3. How much will an EA be my friend' in terms of making sure I get the best property for the best price (which kinda goes against their ethos for sellers doesn't it)?

The EA acts and is paid by the seller, however the EA may 'guide' you as to what the seller will accept, eg, You offer £100k, asking price is £110k, first offer rejected, EA may say ' If you come in at XXX, your offer is likely to be considered favourably' but their loyalty will always be first to their client.

4. If an EA can't guide me through this 'game-playing'.. who can??

Any good EA should and will but also your conveyancer and mortgage co.

5. Should I be completely truthful about everything to EA's? (Of course I don't condone lying whatsoever, but I also know that house-buying etc can be like a game of cards, and there are some you should play close to your chest).

Be as honest as you can, don't say 'I can afford £175k' when you can't, always be truthful with your EA, otherwise you run the risk of being branded a timewaster/liar by the EA and you may not be at the top of their favourites list. However, when you register if you want to keep details like your deposit sum or how you are acquiring that deposit or if you have already had mortgage advice to yourself, just tell your agent that at this stage, you'd rather not disclose, then thats fine. As long as, when you make an offer you can give them facts to support your offer, such as you have a sizeable deposit and an AIP, they can forward this to the vendor to support your offer.

6.. Finally, EA's, what makes a good buyer in your eyes??

An honest one, one who knows what they want or at least has some idea, someone who has secure finances in place when they put in their offer, one who knows which solicitor they will use (getting conveyancing quotes is as important as registering with an EA) and being able to provide their documents quickly too.
EA want buyers who are keen, who won't pull out because the garden chair isn't included in the sale and one they can get hold of easily too.

Hope that helps a bit, this only goes for my hubby and not all EA's.

Best of luck!

fimonkey

WOW thanks guys, I AM learning heaps!.. Should I really be looking at properties up to 175K?? (I thought I was being cheeky by looking on the web at propetires valued at 160K). .. I am a regular on the property websites, just trying to get an idea of which propeties shift quickly and which ones hang around for a while.

The bit about finances is interesting, as someone who is rubbish at 'game playing' (I always loose at poker) why is it advantageous to keep the size of my deposit to myself? And will the EA not need to see my AIP (and therefore work out the size of my deposit from the difference in that and the prices of property I'm looking at)?

Finally, NEVER knew it was important to get a solicitor on board in the first instance, I really thought that was something the EA recommended and it was best to go with their recommendations. Is this not the case?? - If not, then a) how do I find a solicitor, and b) what'sthe difference between a solicitor and a conveyencer?

You guys are the font of all knowledge! I thank you.

dexters_mum_2

You don't have to disclose to the EA what size deposit you have, you can just say 'sizeable' or around 10%, all they will do is pass that info over to the vendor, basically the higher your deposit, the less likely your mortgage is to fall through in theory, but the EA has no vested interest in what deposit you have!

Yes, you are right the EA will need to see your AIP but ONLY when you put in a successful offer and they should also ask you for proof of identity (Passport, driving licence) and proof of address for money laundering purposes, your conveyanceer will also need this too.

All EA's will recommend solicitors, they usually get a fee from them if you use them, but it is orth getting a quote from them. A conveyancer can be a solicitor or a legal executive who has relevant qualifications and experience to carry out conveyancy for you, they may be overseen by a solicitor. You can find one in yellow pages or on the internet and well as through recommendations from friends and your EA.

We had our conveyancey done by a legal exec conveyancer, she was fabulous and really talked in layman's terms rather than legal speak.

Also, ensure whatever quote you get for conveyancing is clear whether or not it includes disbursements (searches etc) and VAT so you can compare prices accurately.

Good luck