Diary of a House Search

lessonlearned

OK this thread is just a bit of fun.

We've had all the "All EA's are a total waste of space" discussions and as you know I am an ex EA.

Sorry if this first post is a tad long but I think it will be helpful if I give you a bit of background info.

I have recently sold my own house and, as the title of this thread spells out, I am about to start looking for my next property.

So - purely for fun - and in the name of academic research :rotfl:
I thought I would give you my slant on my forthcoming adventure.

But first that little bit of backround info.....

I started out my EA career in 1970 as a humble receptionist/tea girl and general dogsbody - as you do:D - working my way up the greasy pole of corporate life.

After several years in an EA's office - doing both lettings and residential sales, I took time out to have my family and then later went back into property but this time for developers rather an EA's high street office.

I then worked for a series of developers throughout the 80's and 90's before finally setting up my own property company, working freelance both in the UK and abroad.

I retired in 2006 to become a carer for my disabled husband and managed to do a little bit of part time work as a Manager of a Sheltered Housing Complex.

I am now officially "retired" but am about to set up my own property company again with my two sons. They will provide the muscles and I will be the "brains" and the initial capital.

Yep - bank of mum time again.:rotfl:

All in all - over a 40 year period - I think I have gained sufficient knowledge and experience to be in a position to assess the quality of the service of current modern EA's.

I also have a number of professional qualifications, including interior and building design. I've also undertaken a number of restoration projects.

So - for your delectation and my own amusement - I am going to keep a diary of my next foray into house buying.

I put my large 4 bedroomed family house on the market and sold it using the service of an EA. It sold within 3 weeks . I am now in rented accommodation.

Basically I used the EA as just an introducer and did everything else myself. Once I had secured a good offer I then allowed the EA to "progress the sale", although I did monitor them to make sure everything went smoothly.

I did all the viewings myself and most of the negotiating. I felt that given my experience I was perfectly able to do this and by going the diy route I could keep control of the situation as it developed.

So - despite all my experience - I decided to use the EA as an "introducer" for 2 reasons.

1. The current quiet state of the property market.
2. My property was tucked away in a very secluded position and did not enjoy the benefit of "passing trade".

In my particular circumstances - despite all my own experience as a practised EA and skilled negotiator - I did feel the need to employ an EA to do the advertising and marketing and get the viewers through the door.

It worked well - a good sale in double quick time. Their fee was 1.5% and, given the successful outcome, worth every penny.

Anyway I am now starting my search in earnest.

I have done my research and have narrowed down my required area.

I am a cash buyer so I am a "good bet" as far as agents are concerned.

It will be interesting to see what kind of service I receive.

This week has not got off to the best of starts.;)

I have contacted several agents to book viewings.

Some have rang me back and some haven't........

Now as a buyer this is frustrating enough but as a vendor if I found out that my EA was not being very forthcoming with viewings I would be furious.

So far I have managed to secure three viewings. The first went well because the vendor showed me around and was in a position to answer all my questions.

Tomorrow I have two viewings booked - one with the vendor, one with the EA's representative.

I will let you know how things go.

So far - my professional verdict on how I have been treated as a buyer is ........

"Could do better".

A buyer should not be kept waiting, the EA should do everything in their power to secure an appt to view at the earlietst opportunity.

Phone calls must be returned as promised.

Yesterday one EA twice failed to return my calls. This is not acceptable.

When I was an EA I would always return a call. Even if I had nothing to say .........

A simple "I am very sorry but I have been unable to contact the vendor to arrange a viewing but I will keep trying and I will get back to you asap." is just common courtesy.

I always kept my promise.

If I could not contact the vendor between the hours of 9-5 I would make sure I had the contact details of both parties and I would ring from home in the evening if necessary to make the appts.

My verdict so far - not impressed.

EA's you need to up your game.

We live in a 24 hour society, people have jobs and lives. You need to step out of your 9-5 mentality and make those calls. That's what mobiles are for.......

Failure to do so will mean lost opportunities - unless the buyer is really motivated they will give up and go elsewhere.

If you are a buyer and you find yourself in this position then my advice is to contact the vendor yourself. Pop a note through the letterbox and ask for a viewing, explaining your difficulties with the EA. Of course this will only work if the vendor is in residence or visits the property regularly.

Send the EA a copy of the letter. That should galvanize them into action. :rotfl::rotfl:

My next instalment will follow after tomorrow's viewings.

phoebe1989seb

Following your progress with interest Lesson. Hope it all works out for you

moneyistooshorttomention

I shall follow with interest too.

I've read a lot of people complaining that estate agents often don't seem to pass on their request for a viewing to a vendor - which surprised me, as I would take it as read that literally the second someone said "I want to view Mr/Mrs X's place" they would be hotfoot on the phone to Mr/Mrs X asking when they could come round.

Do you think many estate agents ring up outside their office hours to make viewing appointments? I'm not expecting that myself - so am just keeping my mobile phone surgically attached to me during their stated hours.

lessonlearned

phoebe1989seb wrote: »

Following your progress with interest Lesson. Hope it all works out for you

Oh it will. :rotfl:

It won't be done, till it's done.

I'll be like a heat seeking missile - searching for "the one".

No rock shall remain unturned, no avenue (or street);) shall remain untravelled. No territory shall remain unchartered.

I will boldly go.........

There will be no final frontieres in my quest.:rotfl::rotfl:

moneyistooshorttomention

...and have you got a Dr Spock in tow to help the process?:rotfl:

lessonlearned

moneyistooshorttomention wrote: »

I shall follow with interest too.


Do you think many estate agents ring up outside their office hours to make viewing appointments? I'm not expecting that myself - so am just keeping my mobile phone surgically attached to me during their stated hours.

I've no idea whether or not other EA's do this. I guess I'm about to find out.;)

I just know it was something I always did.

Perhaps that's why I got more sales than anybody else;)

When I worked on site for developers I just treated the job as if it were my own business. I did what I thought needed to be done.

I used to visit clients in their office if they couldn't come to the site to see me. I have been known to do this on my day off as well as before or after my normal office hours.

I have been known to keep my office open until 8 o'clock at night to accommodate a purchaser who was driving up from London to see me.

In all cases I would cheekily tell the purchasers to make sure they had their cheque books with them. And yes, they usually would make sure they did and yes they would generally sign a cheque for their reservation deposits there and then. I never travelled anywhere without a reservation form in my car.:rotfl:

My customers would soon realise I had put myself out for them and that I was working in their best interests. They liked the properties I was offering but, just as importantly, they loved the service I was giving them so they gave me their business.

Now I appreciate that the service I was giving was exceptional but I really don't believe it should be. I think it should be the norm.

My employers were a little bemused by my tactics at first - they had never seen anything like it before. However, they soon came to love me when they saw the sales figures. Eventually they just gave me carte blanche and allowed me to run my sales office as I saw fit.

"It's your business" - they would say, run it how you like.

After a couple of years of this I became the Trouble Shooter. I would be parachuted into ailing sites with a brief to turn them round.

I would agree if they would agree to pay me double commission and a healthy bonus. They always did.........

My reputation grew and I began to get site agents asking especially for me.

I tell you this not just to blow my own trumpet - but to say that in jobs like being an EA - you are only successful if you make that extra effort. That success is only sustainable in the long term if you work hard to protect your reputation.

It's the same in any business - if you please and delight your clients and customers by meeting and exceeding their needs and expectations then your business will thrive.

If not.......well you can guess.

Whilst I would never defend lazy incompetent EA's I do have to say that I think it grossly unfair that they are often all tarred with the same brush. There are some good ones.

Many of them are not trained properly and are left to flounder. They struggle and get disheartened and then they just "coast" along.

Shame really.

sandsni

I suspect that during the housing frenzy of the 90's and early 00's a lot of EA's didn't have to try that hard, so they became a bit complacent and their trainees took on their bad habits. It's nice to know someone out there still has something of a work ethic and gives their best for their customers and clients. Look forward to hearing more of your insights as time goes on. Good luck :-)

teddypinkskin

Good Luck

Will be following with interest as I am in the process of preparing our house for sale and hope to glean a few pointers from you.

lessonlearned

sandsni wrote: »

I suspect that during the housing frenzy of the 90's and early 00's a lot of EA's didn't have to try that hard, so they became a bit complacent and their trainees took on their bad habits. It's nice to know someone out there still has something of a work ethic and gives their best for their customers and clients. Look forward to hearing more of your insights as time goes on. Good luck :-)

During that time I was on site with developers, not in an EA's office - so couldn't possibly comment.;)

If you recall, the early 90's were a time of deep recession with soaring interest rates - does anyone remember Black Wednesday:eek:.

I had to fight very hard for sales.

One day a young couple came in to see my show-house. They adored it. They told me they would buy one but couldn't afford it.

I sat them down, asked them to tell me their story. Where were they living, were they paying rent etc. They told me how much rent they were paying. I calmly told them that they were paying far more in rent than they would pay for a mortgage.

(Just like now in fact - although then interest rates were around 12%).

We sat and chatted, they asked if they could come back next day. They were very young so I said "Why not bring your parents with you then you can all have a good look round and they can see what they think of it all".

Next day they came back with both sets of parents. We sat and drank tea and munched our way through a pack of choccie biscuits.

I went through the figures, talked about mortgages etc, how much it would cost them to run a house, what their likely expenses would be regarding gas, leccie etc.

All the time the two sets of parents were giving each other knowing looks.

I told them they didn't need to make any snap decisions that day - why not mull it over for a few days. In the meantime I would put the plot they fancied "on hold" whilst they had a family conflab.

The parents piped up. No they said that wouldn't be necessary - they wanted to do the deal there and then. So we got on with it. By this time it was way past my going home time.

After we had finished both sets of parents couldn't thank me enough and they told me the full story.

Apparently the young couple had visited every development in the area and every EA's office, always to be met with the same response. A luke warm reception to say the least.

The girl's mother said to me "Do you know what, you are the only person who has taken the time to sit down with us and go through everything. Everyone else has treated us like we were dirt on their shoes".

In the past when the young couple had said "Oh we can't afford it", all the other EA's and negotiators had more or less ignored them.

This was at a time of deep recession when you struggled to get viewers through the door never mind being able to sell them a property.

Apparently the young couple would be made to feel small and worthless and they would go home with the girl in tears.

Is that any way to treat someone.

It's certainly no way to make sales:rotfl::rotfl:

That little tea party that afternoon paid dividends, for the couple who got their first home, for the parents who felt confident and happy for their kids - so much so that both sets of parents chipped in a small amount of cash to help their offspring, for me because I got my commission and for my employers because I had sold another property for them. Smiles all round.

Actually during the "housing frenzy" my job was harder than ever.

I was run off my feet. I often didn't get to have anything to eat until around 4-pm. I have been known to say to customers "I'm so sorry you will have to excuse me for a moment - I am desperate for the loo". Luckily they saw the funny side.

I never had time to do my admin and paperwork during the day. I had to take it home with me. I would get home play with my kids, and have some family time.

Then when they were in bed, I would have to sit down at about 9pm and spend 2 or 3 hours on my admin. During those heady hectic days I yearned for the slow times and a bit of peace and quiet. :rotfl:

Yes the commission was great but by golly I earned it. I regularly put in 12 hour days.

To borrow from Gilbert & Sullivan

"when there is a selling of houses to be done, to be done
an EA's lot is not a happy one":rotfl:

Davesnave

moneyistooshorttomention wrote: »

...and have you got a Dr Spock in tow to help the process?:rotfl:

Why would she want an expert in baby care?

lessonlearned

Davesnave wrote: »

Why would she want an expert in baby care?

:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl: