Are Estate Agents lazy or very clever?

gfplux

I am puzzled by Estate Agents.
We are presently looking to rent a flat in London from September and therefore are doing our research in preparation.
This research is in the form of saved searches on findaproperty.com, and rightmove plus browsing estate agents websites.
So daily I am looking at photographs taken and text written by EA's.
I find that often ONLY 2 or 3 photos are available and many are badly lit or even out of focus!
With modern cheap cameras it is so easy to take good photos and many of them.
Written information often poor grammar but also wrong words, for example high sailings for high ceilings, and Bedroom with widow to the garden.
There are many, many examples of poor work covering many many EA's. These are not isolated instances.
Anyone's initial reaction would suggest that this is all due to being lazy or sloppy or badly educated, but surely even a fool can take and upload photos and surely a quick re-read anyone would spot nonsense words or phrases.
Or is it something else.
Are EA very, very clever and this (at first site) sloppy work is meant to convey something else. Are there hidden codes and meanings that I do not understand.
It would be interesting to hear from an EA about this.

GAH

I think all you have come across is some very poor letting agencies. For a relatively low overhead, pretty much anyone can set up a letting agency if they have a computer, telephone, camera and access to web portals.

You have only got too look at the way some people speak and text these days to notice that basic understanding of spelling and grammar is getting a lot worse, its actually worrying.

THe type of landlords that probably use these types of agencies are probably both as bad as each other.

vectistim

gfplux wrote: »

Written information often poor grammar but also wrong words, for example high sailings for high ceilings, and Bedroom with widow to the garden.

Are you sure you haven't been looking at country estates on the coast with a private mooring for the sailings and a dowager house in the garden for the widow?

hjd

vectistim wrote: »

Are you sure you haven't been looking at country estates on the coast with a private mooring for the sailings and a dowager house in the garden for the widow?

dower house..

Wyndham

Maybe there really is a widow in the house, and you need to take her on as well

Seriously, I've yet to meet an Estate Agent or a Letting Agent that has left me feeling they are competent. I have spent lots of time telling them how to do their jobs. And you're right about how easy it is to get good photos these days, and spell checkers (or proofreading) will sort out much of the text for you.

I'm interested in your 'hidden messages' theory. Do you think there is some kind of conspiracy going on, and someone is going to take over the world based on Rightmove?

dimbo61

Thats the difference between a good estate agent and a poor one.
But its a very different market in London compared to the rest of the country for renters !
massive demand and not enough rental properties
sky high rents and poor quality housing in many areas
If I posted an advert with a LA ( letting agent ) that said modern flat with gas central heating, SKY TV, broadband, ETC then you would expect that when you sign/view the property.
If I tell you nothing ? not even room sizes then you have no come back to the LA

betmunch

gfplux wrote: »

Written information often poor grammar but also wrong words, for example high sailings for high ceilings, and Bedroom with widow to the garden.
There are many, many examples of poor work covering many many EA's. These are not isolated instances.


Are EA very, very clever and this (at first site) sloppy work is meant to convey something else. Are there hidden codes and meanings that I do not understand.
It would be interesting to hear from an EA about this.

At first site!

Brilliant. I think I actually love you!

In answer to your question I think you will find its just laziness/poor knowledge.

James_N

gfplux wrote: »

I am puzzled by Estate Agents.

I have had lots of dealing with EA. They are, usually, not very good at anything. I would balk at paying them when I sell, because I would be paying for things I could do better myself.
I suspect that many older EA got into it because you needed few demonstrable skills.

Taadaa

Wyndham wrote: »

Maybe there really is a widow in the house, and you need to take her on as well

Seriously, I've yet to meet an Estate Agent or a Letting Agent that has left me feeling they are competent. I have spent lots of time telling them how to do their jobs. And you're right about how easy it is to get good photos these days, and spell checkers (or proofreading) will sort out much of the text for you.

I'm interested in your 'hidden messages' theory. Do you think there is some kind of conspiracy going on, and someone is going to take over the world based on Rightmove?

Indeed, they can't exactly be rushed off their feet at the moment so being too busy isn't an excuse for their tardiness.

Interestingly, we have an admin person in our office who was telling us that she used to be a qualified estate agent. I had no idea there was such a thing, and she quite likes people to think she is far more important than she is. I googled it and indeed some of them can have professions such as surveyor etc, but the majority of them attend a two day course then declare themselves qualified. In taking photos of houses and sticking basic descriptions up, using phrases such as 'bijou', 'spacious' and 'front aspect' to make us think they are far more intelligent than they actually are.

namecheck

From experience, I think many (most?) estate agents are lazy - and not very clever.

Although I have come across several who seemed to be on the ball. But the next thing I knew they had left to go into other kinds of employment.

Callie22

It does annoy me when they can't even put the pictures the right way up on adverts. Or when there's only four pictures on the advert and they're all extreme close-ups of really pointless stuff - like a corner of a room, or a lavatory or taps. It really makes me wonder what landlords think - don't they complain when they see the quality of the 'advertising' that they're presumably paying for?