Can an estate agent force you to lower the price of your house that they valued?

phill99

90% of the post is irrelevant to the question in hand.

star2sparkle

phill99 wrote: »

90% of the post is irrelevant to the question in hand.

Doesn't matter Phill99, merely wanted to outline the situation to get a full picture and I think that always helps. Thank you

star2sparkle

Thank you ethank, I just hope the future is more positive for him :-)

Jenniefour

star2sparkle wrote: »

Hi guys

But can an estate agent force you to lower the price of the house that they actually valued?

No. But it's just plain common sense to reduce the price if a property hasn't sold that's been on the market for a while. Agents do valuations and price a property at what they think it might achieve. But the real worth is determined by what someone is willing to pay for it.

theGrinch

no they cant force you only advise, however, they can either lose interest or deregister you.

cattie

ethank wrote: »

The estate agent has acted unprofessionally. In my view, regardless of who owns the property, they only act for the person who has contracted with them. If your partner was the only person to sign the sales agency contract, he is the only person they should be dealing with. I would be sending a formal complaint to the Estate Agents (If it is a big chain, they will have a compliance dept) regarding the failure to protect confidentiality.

As the house is owned jointly, the ea is entitled to satisfy himself & deal with the other party, especially as without the agreement of the other party, the house could not be sold solely on the ex husbands say so.

Ea's often value at the highest figure they think a property could possibly sell for. Most decent ea's will be advising a vendor to lower price after 4 or so weeks without a sale or an offer. Lot's of people have had to lose money on houses & any solicitor who advises against reducing a house price to achieve a sale in such a case is just being ridiculous.

Op I know you believe all your partner has told you about his 'rotten' ex & how he has worked his hands to the bone to support the lazy so & so who was only interested in spending his money whilst he slaved away, but it's the type of story that probably 90% of ex's tend to spout to new partners.

Funny but It's always the other person in a rocky/broken relationship that was the wrong doer, whilst they themselves never put a foot wrong. There is always another side to any such story, but of course you never get to hear it.

If she has led him such a dogs life, then you think he'd just want to sell the house asap to get her out of his life once & for all, sever all ties completely.

ognum

go for a financial settlement but watch out for his pension!

star2sparkle

Cattie (appropriate name)

I am quoting you: 'As the house is owned jointly, the ea is entitled to satisfy himself & deal with the other party, especially as without the agreement of the other party, the house could not be sold solely on the ex husbands say so.'

Yep, already know that...if you read earlier postings. It wasn't really that in dispute.

'Ea's often value at the highest figure they think a property could possibly sell for. Most decent ea's will be advising a vendor to lower price after 4 or so weeks without a sale or an offer. Lot's of people have had to lose money on houses & any solicitor who advises against reducing a house price to achieve a sale in such a case is just being ridiculous.'

After 4 weeks? Now that's ridiculous! Imagine doing that every month, reducing the price. It would go for nothing in the end. Just because lots of people have lost money, doesn't mean everyone should. If the house is worth the price, it is best to get as close to it as possible, not just reduce it because there has been little interest. It can take time! The solicitor isn't being ridiculous, he is trying to help my partner regain some pride. He would be left with all the debts, having not sorted this out sooner. And the other reason is for her to take him to court, so that she pays out, so that they can have a financial order. If if the judge decides to release her from the mortgage. Don't think that is ridiculous at all.

'Op I know you believe all your partner has told you about his 'rotten' ex & how he has worked his hands to the bone to support the lazy so & so who was only interested in spending his money whilst he slaved away, but it's the type of story that probably 90% of ex's tend to spout to new partners'.

Hmmm....psychologist are you? Well, guess what? I am! So I do know the truth and he has told me all that he did wrong, he has a conscience but further, her own parents have told me how badly she has behaved and how very ashamed they are of her.

'Funny but It's always the other person in a rocky/broken relationship that was the wrong doer, whilst they themselves never put a foot wrong. There is always another side to any such story, but of course you never get to hear it'

See above, he has told me what he did wrong and he has given me the reasons she said that she was leaving which were pitiful...it was just that the grass was greener. If you would like to know how bad she really was, my partner's mother who had loved her daughter-in-law for almost 30 years tried in vain to talk to her, to help her...but she completely blanked her, wanted absolutely nothing to do with her even though her mother-in-law had cancer and shortly afterwards died. I think that is 'rotten', don't you?

'If she has led him such a dogs life, then you think he'd just want to sell the house asap to get her out of his life once & for all, sever all ties completely'

He actually does, he wants to move on and leave this all behind him but he doesn't want to be paying debts for the rest of his life and I don't think that is unreasonable. Although ultimately I think that is what will happen.

Perhaps making swift judgments doesn't always serve you well. They were together almost 30 years...it is far from the 'lets talk about !!!! about the ex' routine. Way too mature for that!

star2sparkle

Thank you Ognum, yes, he is aware of the pension sharing and he has more than one, so that is a concern though the solicitor thinks differently...though I'm not sure.