Estate Agents: How involved?

lee111s

EA rang me on Monday asking if I'd heard from the solicitors about the survey that was done last week (I didn't even know the survey had went ahead but obviously they had to let the surveyor into the property so knew it was being done). I told them I'd not heard, she then said she'd spoke to the solicitor that morning and she was waiting for them to call her back, I've not heard anything so I assume they've not called her back?

Being a FTB I don't really know what happens next...I guess I'm just waiting for the survey report and subsequently the mortgage offer providing all is OK with the survey? The property being only 3 years old I doubt anything will come up in the survey!

Dukesy

When we were buying our current house, the EA selling it rang the EA who was handling the sale of our old house to check whether we had actually sold a house and what the status of our buyer was (she was a first time buyer, so no chain, and the house we were buying was not in a chain either - deceased estate so they wanted it gone quickly). I assume this was key in the vendors accepting our offer, which was about 25% less than they had initially advertised the house for.

We weren't asked to provide any other information to the EA though - I wouldn't be happy with that at all.

hazyjo

lee111s wrote: »

EA rang me on Monday asking if I'd heard from the solicitors about the survey that was done last week (I didn't even know the survey had went ahead but obviously they had to let the surveyor into the property so knew it was being done). I told them I'd not heard, she then said she'd spoke to the solicitor that morning and she was waiting for them to call her back, I've not heard anything so I assume they've not called her back?

Being a FTB I don't really know what happens next...I guess I'm just waiting for the survey report and subsequently the mortgage offer providing all is OK with the survey? The property being only 3 years old I doubt anything will come up in the survey!

Did you opt for a homebuyer's report, or was it just the valuation they did? What have you paid for?

Jx

ValHaller

lee111s wrote: »

EA rang me on Monday asking if I'd heard from the solicitors about the survey that was done last week (I didn't even know the survey had went ahead but obviously they had to let the surveyor into the property so knew it was being done). I told them I'd not heard, she then said she'd spoke to the solicitor that morning and she was waiting for them to call her back, I've not heard anything so I assume they've not called her back?

Being a FTB I don't really know what happens next...I guess I'm just waiting for the survey report and subsequently the mortgage offer providing all is OK with the survey? The property being only 3 years old I doubt anything will come up in the survey!

Lee. this is RoxieW's thread. You should start your own thread for your problem.

lessonlearned

mischiefmaker wrote: »

Love this, I work in an estate agents (don't shoot me) love my job and it's very rewarding but may people don't realise what happens behind the scenes.

Ex EA here.

There are so many misconceptions and misinformation regarding what an EA's job actually entails.

So many people seem to think it's just about finding a purchaser and then sitting back and waiting for the solicitors to get on with it, taking the sale through to exchange and completion.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

There is a great deal of back-room work to be done to keep the sale on track . It's called "Sales Progressing".

Some of the larger chains will have separate sales progress depts. In a smaller office the EA will be Jack of All Trades and have responsibility for everything from valuations, preparing sales particulars, marketing, viewings, negotiating, progressing the sale, being a courier ie hand delivering important documents, and yes making the tea and hovering the office:rotfl:

I've done the lot.

There is no need to furnish the EA with bank statements but there is every need for EA's to liase with other EA's and to keep in close contact with solicitors, surveyors, lenders, local councils etc.

It's their job.

And no your solicitor will not divulge sensitive personal information to your EA against your wishes or even with your expressed consent for that matter.

If an EA overstepped the mark the solicitor would soon give them short shrift.

Similarly I've given a few solicitors short shrift in my time when I have felt that they have not been giving my clients a good service.

It works both ways.

budgetdiyer

lessonlearned wrote: »

Ex EA here.

There are so many misconceptions and misinformation regarding what an EA's job actually entails.

So many people seem to think it's just about finding a purchaser and then sitting back and waiting for the solicitors to get on with it, taking the sale through to exchange and completion.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

There is a great deal of back-room work to be done to keep the sale on track . It's called "Sales Progressing".

Some of the larger chains will have separate sales progress depts. In a smaller office the EA will be Jack of All Trades and have responsibility for everything from valuations, preparing sales particulars, marketing, viewings, negotiating, progressing the sale, being a courier ie hand delivering important documents, and yes making the tea and hovering the office:rotfl:

I've done the lot.

There is no need to furnish the EA with bank statements but there is every need for EA's to liase with other EA's and to keep in close contact with solicitors, surveyors, lenders, local councils etc.

It's their job.

And no your solicitor will not divulge sensitive personal information to your EA against your wishes or even with your expressed consent for that matter.

If an EA overstepped the mark the solicitor would soon give them short shrift.

Similarly I've given a few solicitors short shrift in my time when I have felt that they have not been giving my clients a good service.

It works both ways.

Quite agree, an agents job does not stop once an offer has been accepted, we want to ensure that the sale proceeds as smoothly as possible, help solve any problems that might crop up etc.

Its very common to have to nudge / kick slow parties in the transaction, vendors, buyers, mortgage brokers, surveyors, solicitors everything runs far from smoothly once an offer has been accepted.

I've held sales together by the skin of my teeth before, probably the worst was when a buyer further down chain was given incorrect information by the corporate agency (and the solicitor the seller was using, an offshoot of the corporate agency) - I managed to persuade the purchaser further down the chain to proceed, which she did on the understanding that she did not have any communication or contact from the agency she was buying through again!

To my amazement instead of the corporate agents being grateful to me for rescuing their sale (of course it saved mine too!) they actually got quite snooty about it.

Then to top it all off on the day of completion their solicitors decided they could not complete because the solicitor dealing with the case was on a half day. After a very curt and frank conversation with several members of their staff they found another solicitor to handle the completion!

lessonlearned

lee111s wrote: »

The estate agent I'm buying through has also been calling my solicitor for updates and then relaying them to me!

It's their job to keep you informed......

lessonlearned

C_Mababejive wrote: »

EAs are parasites. They have no right to inspect your personal papers and finances. Your solicitor can contact them to re-assure them as to your status.

EA's will not inspect your finances.......

Before you go around calling EA's parasites you really ought to acquaint yourself with what they actually do.

I'm not saying that all EA's are paragons of virtue, but then again show me a profession in which everyone is honest, noble, diligent etc.

Doctors, solicitors, nurses, social workers,shop-keepers, IT consultants, teachers, clergy, police, bankers - you name it.

Not one profession can boast a 100% perfect track record. Every profession has its share of rogues and charlatans.