Offer made - Connells want us to use their services

coffee_fix

I've put an offer on a house which has been on the market since April last year. In January, they decreased the asking price by 8%. It's clear from looking at prices of similar properties in the area that the house was overpriced to begin with.


The vendor wants offers over X amount and I've made an offer at £5000 under that amount, which is the maximum limit I have set myself for any property.


Connells have got back to me saying that the vendor would accept £2000 under the asking price on the condition that I get a mortgage with them and use their conveyancers. Apparently the conveyancing service would be 'free' if we do this.


I am really loathe to agree to £3000 more than my maximum limit. But, I'm even more annoyed that they are forcing me to use their conveyancers and buy their mortgage if I want this house.


Are they allowed to do this? Surely the vendor wouldn't care if we get a mortgage with Connells or not? I can't believe they would have made a counter-offer with this as a condition! Especially since it's been on the market for about a year.


I'm a FTB, so am very new to all of this and any advice would be much appreciated.

Mortgage_Mark_2

Quite a common tactic employed by estate agents, if the Despatches programme broadcast on Channel 4 a couple of months back is anything to go by.


If I recall correctly, they are not legally allowed to do that. Check with the vendor if that's what he/she has insisted, otherwise it's just a Connells thing, and they are categorically not allowed to favour an offer just because they will be earning more money out of it. The only grey area would be if the vendor has explicitly requested this in writing.


Knock on the door and ask - that is what a client of mine did and I'm told the look of surprise on the vendor's face was a bit of a giveaway...


Good luck with it.


Mark

ConfusedofYorkshire

i'd just say no. Connells don't have a good repuation and i really doubt their service is free. They will probably just charge more for searchs etc.

Why are Connells ringing direct anyway? I know that William H Brown sell their "1000 cash back scheme" to sellers by saying that a sale is 69% more likley to go through if you use their in house services. if sellers are conned into believing that then that's their problem.

Stick to your guns- say no. Say your offer still stands. With the house having been on the market a year they'd be stupid to refuse.

coffee_fix

Mark_McBurney_CMME wrote: »

Check with the vendor if that's what he/she has insisted, otherwise it's just a Connells thing, and they are categorically not allowed to favour an offer just because they will be earning more money out of it. The only grey area would be if the vendor has explicitly requested this in writing.


Knock on the door and ask - that is what a client of mine did and I'm told the look of surprise on the vendor's face was a bit of a giveaway...

Thanks, Mark. Problem is, the vendor isn't living in the property. She has moved in with her partner, so there's no chain. As the house is great, it sounds like a perfect situation. I did actually wonder why this property hadn't sold after such a long time on the market when other houses are being snapped up around this area. Now I suspect I know the reason!


Is there anything else I can do short of contacting the vendor, as I don't know where she lives?

coffee_fix

ConfusedofYorkshire wrote: »

Stick to your guns- say no. Say your offer still stands. With the house having been on the market a year they'd be stupid to refuse.

I will, but really hope they communicate this to the vendor! It all feels so underhand and is seriously off-putting.

Mortgage_Mark_2

coffee_fix wrote: »

Thanks, Mark. Problem is, the vendor isn't living in the property. She has moved in with her partner, so there's no chain. As the house is great, it sounds like a perfect situation. I did actually wonder why this property hadn't sold after such a long time on the market when other houses are being snapped up around this area. Now I suspect I know the reason!


Is there anything else I can do short of contacting the vendor, as I don't know where she lives?

The FSA/FCA would probably be quite interested if contacting their head office in Leighton Buzzard proves fruitless...


Firstly you need to be fair and ask the agent though, it may, afterall, be a request of the vendor. If that vendor has a particularly good relationship with Connells and has used them before, it's not out of the question that they would prefer it to be kept in-house; if the service is good then potentially it can be monitored and helped along a little better within the same company/group...?

coffee_fix

Mark_McBurney_CMME wrote: »

If that vendor has a particularly good relationship with Connells and has used them before, it's not out of the question that they would prefer it to be kept in-house; if the service is good then potentially it can be monitored and helped along a little better within the same company/group...?

Thanks, I will ask the EA if this is a specific request of the vendor and take it from there. From looking at other threads in the forum, Connells doesn't seem to have the best reputation, so I'm reluctant to use them. In addition, I just really dislike this tactic. It's very pushy and I almost feel like I'm being bullied into using their services.


If anyone has had a good experience with Connells and would like to chip in, please feel free!

thequant

coffee_fix wrote: »

Connells have got back to me saying that the vendor would accept £2000 under the asking price on the condition that I get a mortgage with them and use their conveyancers. Apparently the conveyancing service would be 'free' if we do this.


.

Seriously it's about time the OFT and FSA did something about this group, they are notorious for doing this.


One of their related companies tried this with me, I told them then if the vendors insist that I use the in house services then the vendor had lost a buyer.


10 mins later they were on the phone telling me the vendor had changed their mind.


for fun, I went through their so called mortgage offers and my repayments would have been 50% more than the mortgage offer I already had. Over the lifetime of the mortgage I would have paid approx. £100k more than I needed to had I used their services.


Don't believe them the vendor has not insisted on it, also do not take out one of their mortgages you will seriously over pay

Davesnave

During the Crash, Connells was one of the first agents to disappear from my city. Go figure...

coffee_fix

thequant wrote: »

One of their related companies tried this with me, I told them then if the vendors insist that I use the in house services then the vendor had lost a buyer.


10 mins later they were on the phone telling me the vendor had changed their mind.

This is going to be my response tomorrow. I'll let you all know what happens!

thequant wrote: »

for fun, I went through their so called mortgage offers and my repayments would have been 50% more than the mortgage offer I already had. Over the lifetime of the mortgage I would have paid approx. £100k more than I needed to had I used their services.

Yeesh, it's awful that they can get away with this.

thequant

coffee_fix wrote: »

This is going to be my response tomorrow. I'll let you all know what happens!





Yeesh, it's awful that they can get away with this.

Probably worth a read of this when you get chance,


http://trinityfinancialgroup.co.uk/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/1232.pdf