Decided to pull out after survey - awful time with Estate Agent

jdavtz

We've just had a barrage of criticism from the EA after deciding to pull out of a purchase. Probably going to put in a written complaint to them (Swetenhams) but just posting here to see what people's opinions are.

House advertised at 275k after drop from 290k (on market for 9m). Offer accepted at 267k. Purchase price new in 2008, £270k.

Arranged Home Buyer Report by independent chartered surveyor (local) - suggested by solicitor (also local) as one of the best surveyors in Chester, director of his company for years.

Got report today, no major issues with house itself but advised that 267k not totally unrealistic but absolutely at upper end of value for house.

Phoned him up, asking about what he'd value the house at if he hadn't known our offer, was told "around 250k, 240k would be a good price, but obviously there's a reasonable margin of error around any subjective valuation."

We aren't willing to go ahead paying the extra 17k on top of that value, so phoned Estate Agent to explain that we're not happy with that level of risk as we will need to sell in 3 years and if this surveyor is suggesting 250k, when we pay the HSBC surveyor to give a mortgage valuation that's likely to be perhaps even more conservative -- obviously affecting whether we'll even be able to obtain the mortgage.

Phone call 1 has Estate Agent stating that the surveyor probably doesn't know the local area, doesn't realise the value of houses in that area, is perhaps working with vested interests in giving a low value for us, or is our friend. Suggests we take the home buyer report to her to talk through the problems in it (only minor things really, nothing that's a major value changer). I say I'll speak with my wife and get back to her.

Phone call 2 made by my wife saying we've thought about it and can't continue with a purchase at that price so are pulling out results in EA saying that they thought from the beginning we weren't serious about the purchase, they always knew we were going to pull out, and "some people live boring lives and won't take any risk but I'm not saying that's you."

That to me (especially the comments about a chartered surveyor) seems completely unprofessional, and my wife was hurt by the comments made to her.

All part of the normal course of house buying? We can't afford to risk 17k+ over three years (and if we could we probably wouldn't risk it on UK property).

princeofpounds

Your decision is totally understandable. Prices everywhere except London are noticeably below the 08 peak, and you offered close to it. Maybe the buyers got a good deal from new, maybe not.

Your surveyor is likely to have a little less familiarity with local quirks but their estimate is probably reasonable. They also have less vested interest than the estate agent!

As for the agent, the behaviour was over the line but it is wasted energy to a point.

If you had wanted to challenge them, you could have said that you clearly were a committed buyer otherwise you would not have spent money on a survey, and that it is irrelevant what they think about the surveyor's interests because it is your opinion that counts as the person coming up with the cash.

As for the personal insult, I would have asked for an apology for such insinuations right there and then.

Now you can consider a written complaint to the owner or manager of the chain. They might not do much because they consider you a lost cause as a buyer, but you might want to point out the reputational damage should anyone you know in the area ever transact a house again.

Or you can just forget about them; losing the commission says more than words (which is doubtless what the agent was angry about).

I would also consider a very brief note to the vendor outlining your experience in case the EA misrepresents you.

david29dpo

Remember, Being an estate agent requires no qualifications so being unprofessional is normal!
The agent is just miffed about his big fat selling fee. Don't sink to there level and forget it.

pacific4130

If you put an offer on my house below asking, had it agreed subject to survey etc, only to decide it's not want you want to pay after a survey that picked nothing serious up (and presumably withheld viewing for a week or two), you'd get more colourful language than that out of me!

WebGuru

What can you expect of an industry which is based on commission?

Estate agents
Bankers
etc

Thrugelmir

jdavtz wrote: »

All part of the normal course of house buying? We can't afford to risk 17k+ over three years (and if we could we probably wouldn't risk it on UK property).

Then buy a cheaper property. That's less than £250k and save yourselves the stamp duty. Buying and selling property is very costly. 3 years is no time to recoup the costs given that prices are at best stagnant.

There's no guarantee you will sell any property very quickly at a price you find acceptable in 3 years time either.

Reading between the lines you are not committed to this particular property. Next time make an offer make sure that the property is for you.

MAFERGAL

I would be annoyed at that. I had a similar issue however the 'independent valuation' came back stating the house was overpriced (by 45k).
We notified the estate agent, the first 'girl' we spoke to advised us to pay for another, "he probably doesn't know the area". I understand there can be a margin of error but to me 45K is not a margin.
My partner was annoyed with this response and phoned, offering 30k less than our original offer based on this, understanding that we would still be paying 15K more but we could justify this by the saving in stamp duty (3% down to 1%) and we would be in the house 10 yrs minimum. She wouldn't put that offer over.
We paid for a surveyor they recommended who came back that the house was worth 45-50K less, plus a mortgage valuation that said the same. My partner next demanded to speak to the manager, he totally understood where we were coming from and he said he would put our revised offer forward.
Basically the sellers wouldn't budge, as from the offer stage they wanted the asking price, totally unrealistic about the market. The EA ended up pulling it from the market.
Did you put forward a revised offer and state your reasons? Think I'm right in saying all offers are subject to survey etc. and that includes valuations. Still to this day we are baffled why the vendor didn't bite our hands off with the revised offer considering 3 surveyors stated the same value.

Thrugelmir

pacific4130 wrote: »

If you put an offer on my house below asking, had it agreed subject to survey etc, only to decide it's not want you want to pay after a survey that picked nothing serious up (and presumably withheld viewing for a week or two), you'd get more colourful language than that out of me!

I'm sure the vendor is fuming. As no doubt they're progressing their onward purchase as well. In the belief that they had a serious buyer themselves.

Better_Days

I can totally understand your position. You have paid for a survey your surveyor has saved you £17k. One of the reasons that the property has been on the market so long may be that the AP is within the range that many buyers may try to knock down to the SDLT threshold at £250K.

Unfortunately some EA's are unprofessional, and seem to take it personally if you disagree with them. It maybe that the negotiator was in line for a nice bonus and this has been frustrated by your withdrawal from the sale.

As a vendor I would like to know if my EA behaved in this manner, so as suggested you may wish to drop them a short note. If you complain - think about what you want the outcome to be. Upsetting as all this is it may be better in the long run to let it go and move on.

I hope you find a wonderful property at the right price :)

SG27

Estat agents being un professional?? God forbid!

Rate them on allagents.co.uk

Thrugelmir

Better_Days wrote: »

I can totally understand your position. You have paid for a survey your surveyor has saved you £17k.

The surveyor agreed the value for mortgage purposes. Any opinion given verbally was therefore a personal view. Not really the grounds of making a revised offer.

Even EA's differ in opinion when marketing houses. As the price someone will pay is subjective.

The question perhaps for the OP is why they offered the amount they did initially.