Estate Agent sold prices

someadvicereq

Are estate agents allowed to tell you what price a house sold for?

If there is a house for sale on a street with estate agent A. And a similar house that sold 6-8 months ago with Estate Agent B - if you ring Estate Agent B, are they allowed to tell you how much it sold for?

Is there some sort of rule or something?

I'm just trying to gauge what a reasonable offer would be.

Also - if you do find out the price it sold for, what has the overall trend in house prices been in the last 6-8 months?

Obviously this is much harder to answer as it is geographic specific, but the house is 4 bedroom detached outside of Belfast.

FUNKYDADDIO

I have often wondered this too, in the UK sites such as zoopla etc.. will give you this detail, but not sure if any such site exists for NI..

someadvicereq

I think you can pay the Land Registry £6 to get such details. But I was just wondering if there was any such law.

If an Estate Agent sold a house in a street 6-8 months ago, and they currently do not have any other properties for sale in that area, they have no reason not to tell you - unless there is some specific law or something?

Data protection?

sill

Have found saying you are thinking of putting your house on the market but would like an idea of what price houses are going for on your street usually overides any concerns estate agents have with the data protection act. Sill

Mistral001

I do not think it is a case of being "allowed" to tell you, it is a case of them committing commercial suicide if they did. Would you sell a house through an estate agent, who gave the price your house was sold at to just anybody who wanted it?

someadvicereq

Well the estate agent did tell me what they sold the house for.

And I'm extremely grateful.

Because the estate agent currently selling the house on the same street told me that previous house sold for 20k more than it actually did. He basically lied to me (either he didnt know and lied, or he did know.. and lied).

To answer your question, I would be more likely to sell my house with an honest and upfront estate agent.

Mistral001

Apart from those estate agents that have chartered surveyors working for them, estate agents are totally unregulated and some will do what they get away with, but basic breaking of confidentiality on a wholesale scale will lose any business trade and in my view is commercial suicide.

DesG

Confidentiality? It is public information we are talking about. All house sale values are available at the Land Registry.

Mistral001

DesG wrote: »

Confidentiality? It is public information we are talking about. All house sale values are available at the Land Registry.

I am discussing the price a house actually sells at. The agent, vendor and buyer will know this. if there is a mortgage lender involved they might know it as well.

DesG

Yes, the actual price it sold for is what is available at land registry.

What did you think they kept?

saverbuyer

DesG wrote: »

Yes, the actual price it sold for is what is available at land registry.

What did you think they kept?

Not in Northern Ireland it isn't. There's no obligation to record the price.