EA Moan - In-house Finance!

retepetsir

Just need a quick rant :mad:

We've accepted an offer on our flat so are now in the position to move once we've seen a suitable house. The offer is from a BTL investor with no chain.

Having been badgered by Sequence Homes (Fox & Sons) constantly since we first marketed our property with another EA, I finally gave into them when they left yet another message about properties they have for sale.

We'd like to see just one property as the others are not suitable for us, but can we get an appointment for one viewing? Can we hell! Having spoken to two different people today they both insist that we first spend an hour with their in-house FA, which of course will be linked in with them for more commission.

We have no need for this time wasting exercise as we already have a good IFA with an agreement in principle.

The second person then finished this conversation off (at this point I was getting agitated) by saying "you won't be able to put an offer in for the property until you see our financial advisor".

Is that not illegal?

We basically don't want to waste an hour+ of our time going through facts and figures yet again when we've already done that.

Apologies for the rant :rotfl:. Maybe I should speak to the vendors directly!

casperlarue

retepetsir wrote: »

...... Maybe I should speak to the vendors directly!

Yes, I would do this, pop a note through their door explaining that you are having problems booking a viewing as the agent is refusing to make an appointment with you. Perhaps add your phone number for them to contact you directly.

dgtazzman

I'm pretty sure they're breaking EU fair competition regulations there somewhere, insisting you use their in-house FA before letting you proceed with anything else.

I'd just politely tell them, in writing, to go fly a kite and if they still won't budge, walk away and put a note through the seller's letterbox to inform them what's going on.

retepetsir

Just take a look at the reviews here, wow: http://www.allagents.co.uk/fox-and-sons/1-3/undefined/

Lots of similar stories, not good. Particularly about being pushy with their in-house financial services.

I received this reply to my email where I had cancelled the appointment (I'd had enough of using the phone) which is certainly not true:

I heard the conversation that xxx had with yourself and he did not say that if you were to put in an offer on the property that it would not be forwarded what he said was we need to qualify the offer before we could take it of the market or recommend it, plus we would also need to take copies of ID from you if you were to go ahead with a purchase as this is part of the anti-money laundering act.

Incorrect, as none of that was mentioned. Some horrendous reviews on that website along with the Review Centre so I think I'll just ignore them from now on.

kingstreet

Qualifying an offer is reasonable. A few questions to confirm you are proceedable are fine. Insisting you see an adviser is too much IMHO.

retepetsir

I agree it's reasonable, although I had already stated that we had a mortgage agreement, etc. They just wouldn't let it go through without being booked in to see their advisor. We've not had that issue with any other EA

chappers

Unfortunatley it's becoming more common, but stand your ground, if they want to sell the property they will back down also, word soon gets round and these people will lose business when vendors realise that their antics are putting off potential buyers. Not passing on offers to a vendor is illeagle unless the vendor has given specific instructions about which offers to pass on.

pinkshoes

I'd just go and see their financial advisor, but refuse to give any information about your finances! Just sit and waste their time.

They no doubt just want to know how high they can push your offer up too!!

I'd also contact the vendor directly if possible, letting them know the dirty tactic their EA is using, which is probably putting buyers off!

Senior_Paper_Monitor

This nonsense really makes my blood boil (here is an excerpt from a publication I]A Guide to Buying from Estate Agents[/I we give our clients - feel free to force feed it to the reptilian halfwits) ...


We regularly haveclients advise us that the estate agents for the property are ‘pressurising’that “unless you use their broker you may not be able to get the property”- we have no problem with you seeing anyoneyou wish, BUT it is not legal to ‘make you do so’, nor to indicate that it will ‘impact on your ability to buy the property if you do not’.



Additionally, extra‘credit checks’ / ‘Decisions in Principal’ may adversely affect your credit rating …..



You may find the following extract useful:



Extract from The Property Ombudsman Code of Practicefor Residential Sales (as of 22.02.10)



· as recognized by the National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA)



· as approved by the Office of Fair Trading under its Consumer Codes and Approval Scheme



6.Submission of Offers



6a By law, you must tell sellers as soon as itis reasonably possible about all offers that you receive at any time until contracts have been exchanged (in Scotland, missives have been concluded)unless the offer is an amount or type which the seller has specificallyinstructed you, in writing, not to pass on. You must confirm each offer inwriting to the seller, and to the buyer who made it, within two working days.



6b You must keep written or computerised record of all offers your receive – including the date and time of such offers – and the seller’s response. Such records should be made promptly.



Discrimination



6c By law you must not discriminate, orthreaten to discriminate, against a prospective buyer of the seller’s property because that person declines to accept that you will (directly or indirectly) provide services to them. Discrimination includes – but is not limited to – thefollowing:



· Failing to tell the seller of an offer to buy the property.



· Telling the seller of an offerless quickly than other offers you have received.



· Misrepresenting the nature of the offer or that of rival offers.



· Giving details of properties for sale first to those who have indicated they are prepared to let you provide services to them.



· Making it a condition that the person wanting to buy the property must use any other service provided by you or anyone else.

ValHaller

casperlarue wrote: »

Yes, I would do this, pop a note through their door explaining that you are having problems booking a viewing as the agent is refusing to make an appointment with you. Perhaps add your phone number for them to contact you directly.

^^^^ This

pinkshoes wrote: »

I'd just go and see their financial advisor, but refuse to give any information about your finances! Just sit and waste their time.

They no doubt just want to know how high they can push your offer up too!!

I'd also contact the vendor directly if possible, letting them know the dirty tactic their EA is using, which is probably putting buyers off!

Or ^^^^^ this.

Have the appointment with their advisor. sit at their desk and read a newspaper and ignore the advisor. Demand your viewing and drop a note to the vendor if this is refused.

chappers

pinkshoes wrote: »

They no doubt just want to know how high they can push your offer up too!!

That is a very good point