Estate agents behaviour

Green3

Has anyone ever got literally told off by an estate agent after putting an offer? When we put in an offer about 10% below asking price based on what similar properties on the same road had got sold for recently, the estate agent had a fit! He shouted whether we were even interested in buying the property and didn't we see how many people there were in the viewings? When I tried to explain why we had put in that offer, he screamed that their properties were not over valued and that he did not owe me an explanation about the value of the property! And this after they had priced the property £80,000 more than a similar one on the same road sold recently. Do estate agents have any sense when they value a property? On what basis are the asking prices fixed if there is no comparison to even similar properties on the same road? Someone needs to teach these estate agents a lesson. They are just fixing any exorbitant price they like without any backing to their logic. And idiots go and pay above the asking price for such over valued properties. And are estate agents allowed to shout at their customers like this? Their job is to just pass on the offer and say whether it was accepted or not. They have no right to go screaming like this and saying they don't owe any explanation to anyone. They are nothing short of criminals and rogues. And this was Gibbs gillespie. Has anyone else experienced such behaviour from them?

anselld

It is just a negotiating tactic. Ignore all the theatrics, make your offer in writing and insist they put it to the vendors. They must do so unless they have been instructed by the vendors in writing to exclude offers below a certain limit.

Jenniefour

Unacceptable behaviour. Go ahead and put your offer in writing.

I take it you're buying in London - so, yes, it is possible that they will get 80k more than nearby properties have sold for recently. When the actual sold prices can be seen (it takes about three months) then, for the purposes of the London property market, they are out of date.

ACG

Put your offer in and sit there whilst they run it by the vendor - even better if you can have a 6ft bloke who looks like a bit of a character stood behind you. Then when he loses his attitude, question why he has no attitude this time... make him squirm!

I f'in hate estate agents. I dont trust them, i dont like them and the sooner they realise they are replaceable the better.

Blue264

ACG wrote: »

I f'in hate estate agents. I dont trust them, i dont like them and the sooner they realise they are replaceable the better.

:T:T:T

Many moons ago, when I was joint executor for my grandma's estate, my mum sent me to estate agents office that were supposed to be selling the house for us, and asked me to pose as a interested prospective buyer. I was told by three agents that the property had been sold and was "off their books". I asked if I could still view it in case the sale fell through and was given the keys to the house and told to let myself in as they were too busy to escort me.

I phoned my mum and brother (who was a solicitor) and gave them the news. On theirn instruction, I went back to the estate agents and told them I was one of the executors of the estate and was formally removing the property from their business.

The best bit... The manager came out and locked the shop doors behind me, then said he was calling to police to take the keys of the house from me. I told him to "Bring it on!" then waited a few mins until I heard their fax machine come to life. It was a fax from our family solicitor instructing the removal of the house from their sales and advising that they would be facing court action.

For a good 10mins I was locked in the shop with he manager screaming at me. I shocked myself with how calm I was. Just kept telling him this was fraud, false imprisonment, etc... etc...

I have precious little time for estate agents!

Green3

Who exactly are these unscrupulous so called valuation experts who work for estate agents and fix exorbitant and overvalued asking prices randomly? Even Mouseprice and Zoopla don't estimate them so high. So on what basis are these asking prices fixed? Exactly similar properties on the same road have more than £90,000/- price difference. How are these con men allowed to fix prices like this? And those people who are putting in offers of 2% or more than the asking price of an already over valued property, do they never consult Mouseprice or Zoopla to get an estimate? When all estate agents have united and turned into con men, then why can't buyers unite and stop paying over asking prices for over valued properties? How on earth do buyers think that they will ever break even after paying so much more for an over valued property? Does no-one forsee how many families can get destroyed by going so much over their budgets. There needs to be some immediate legal action against estate agents and valuers to stop conning people. Buyers please unite and wake up.

anselld

Green3 wrote: »

Who exactly are these unscrupulous so called valuation experts who work for estate agents and fix exorbitant and overvalued asking prices randomly? Even Mouseprice and Zoopla don't estimate them so high. So on what basis are these asking prices fixed? Exactly similar properties on the same road have more than £90,000/- price difference. How are these con men allowed to fix prices like this? And those people who are putting in offers of 2% or more than the asking price of an already over valued property, do they never consult Mouseprice or Zoopla to get an estimate? When all estate agents have united and turned into con men, then why can't buyers unite and stop paying over asking prices for over valued properties? How on earth do buyers think that they will ever break even after paying so much more for an over valued property? Does no-one forsee how many families can get destroyed by going so much over their budgets. There needs to be some immediate legal action against estate agents and valuers to stop conning people. Buyers please unite and wake up.

Unfortunately in a buyers market you are in the minority. A one-man crusade against estate agents and asking prices will be frustrating and futile and will probably get you banned or ignored by more agents.

m0bov

Pop a note through the door of the vendor explaining how agressive the agent is. Offer to deal with them directly.

bouicca21

Depends on where you are and how the market is as to whether 80k over previous sale prices is realistic or not. Earlier in the price bubble that has affected London I saw a house that I loved in what for me was the perfect location. No house on that street had ever sold for more than 290k, and even that seemed higher than the neighbours. I thought the EA was playing games when they said I'd been outbid. Guess what? Land registry prices show that it sold for 375k.

googler

Green3 wrote: »

Who exactly are these unscrupulous so called valuation experts who work for estate agents and fix exorbitant and overvalued asking prices randomly? Even Mouseprice and Zoopla don't estimate them so high. So on what basis are these asking prices fixed?

On the basis that the EA is paid to get the best price for the seller, and the seller wants to get the best price.

Exactly similar properties on the same road have more than £90,000/- price difference. How are these con men allowed to fix prices like this?

Setting an asking price is not 'fixing' a selling price

And those people who are putting in offers of 2% or more than the asking price of an already over valued property, do they never consult Mouseprice or Zoopla to get an estimate? When all estate agents have united and turned into con men, then why can't buyers unite and stop paying over asking prices for over valued properties? How on earth do buyers think that they will ever break even after paying so much more for an over valued property?

That's up to the buyers themselves, wouldn't you say? And if there's a ready supply of (in London at least) foreign, cash-rich buyers who are prepared to pay handsomely for their indulgences, then the only way you'll change the situation is by lobbying the Govt for regulation on foreign buyers.

Does no-one forsee how many families can get destroyed by going so much over their budgets. There needs to be some immediate legal action against estate agents and valuers to stop conning people. Buyers please unite and wake up.

Setting an asking price is not 'conning' anyone, especially when any buyer who is getting a mortgage on one of these properties will have a valuation survey, and if the surveyor thinks the price is grossly over the odds, he will down-value it, and the buyers won't get the level of mortgage they expected. At that point they either renegotiate for a lower price or put more cash into the deal. And how would you legislate over buyers who actually WANT to put more cash into their house purchase?

dominoman

Green3 wrote: »

Who exactly are these unscrupulous so called valuation experts who work for estate agents and fix exorbitant and overvalued asking prices randomly? Even Mouseprice and Zoopla don't estimate them so high. So on what basis are these asking prices fixed? Exactly similar properties on the same road have more than £90,000/- price difference. How are these con men allowed to fix prices like this? And those people who are putting in offers of 2% or more than the asking price of an already over valued property, do they never consult Mouseprice or Zoopla to get an estimate? When all estate agents have united and turned into con men, then why can't buyers unite and stop paying over asking prices for over valued properties? How on earth do buyers think that they will ever break even after paying so much more for an over valued property? Does no-one forsee how many families can get destroyed by going so much over their budgets. There needs to be some immediate legal action against estate agents and valuers to stop conning people. Buyers please unite and wake up.

There's no excuse for the estate agent being impolite, but if you want to buy you are best off swallowing your pride and trying to get on with them. Sounds like that is the last thing you are willing to do.

Put the offer forward, in writing. It will have to be put to the vendor.

If the property is massively overpriced it won't sell and will end up being reduced. I've seen a few of those recently in London. However, chances are it isn't overpriced relative to what people are paying now and instead it is Zoopla that is playing catchup.

If similar houses on the street are priced at 90k less why don't you offer on one of them?

Estate agents are there to get the maximum price for the vendor. That is their job. They will price at whatever they feel they can achieve. Like it or not that is the free market. Give me that over some kind of state-controlled pricing set by bureaucrats.