Estate Agent problems

Bily85

Hi all,

I'm a FTB and therefore possibly naive and definitely inexperienced, but i am having more than a few issues with our estate agent and am unsure as to weather these are common problems.

First off, i live in the south east whereby it's a bit of a scramble for available houses in my price range. For every house you bid for, you have at least 5 or 6 fellow bidders. invariably you are then bidding above asking price.

Myself and my wife found a property which seemed to be undervalued, we knew it would be popular and based on other properties we have viewed and the local area, set ourselves a maximum price we would be willing to go to. A bidding war broke out and thankfully we were finally successful, highlighting our lack of chain and flexibility (we are on a monthly rolling rental contract) which secured us the property.

Using "property move for us" we were provided details of a solicitor which we decided to use, we were then informed that due to lack of resource we were being transferred to another solicitor. We were then told that due to a conflict of interest(vendor using second solicitor) we were being transferred back to the original solicitor. Slightly irritating but not the end of the world and we worked with it pretty easily.

We were initially told that the house would be taken off the market by the estate agent. We were then told we had another mortgage manager who told us the house couldn't be taken off until the seller had found a property, because their system doesn't allow it until the chain is complete. I thought at the time this may be !!!!!!!!, but with my naivety shining through, i went along with it. I have requested the Memo of sale, however this has apparently gone to the wrong solicitor, despite telling our EA on several occasions the correct details. 4 weeks later our solicitor still doesn't have it.

Last weekend i phoned the estate agent, spoke to someone purporting to be the manager and demanded it be taken off the market and having explained our position (we have gone in substantially over the asking, offered a large amount of flexibility with timings) didn't think our request was unreasonable. The manager agreed and stated it would be done first thing on Monday and the memo would be sent to us and solicitor.

Subsequently, our case manager has got back to us, claiming that his manager doesn't know how the system works and reiterated that the house cannot be taken off the market, however there is a sold sign outside of it and they are not taking viewings.

My concern is that 4 weeks down the line, the broker is encouraging us to submit our final mortgage application (i am reticent to spend out money with no formal confirmation of acceptance) the Estate agent seems to be disarray and unsure as to who our solicitor is despite telling them on 3 separate occasions. I want to give an ultimatum, but in the current market feel that the estate agent won't really care because the vendor hasn't found anywhere yet and there were several offers very close to ours.

Sorry for the lengthy post, some advice would be appreciated. I don't want to cut off my nose to spite my face, but by the same token, there is a serious lack of action and no one is representing our interests. Is the EA stringing us along, whilst possibly engineering a higher offer for the vendor?

Thrugelmir

The vendors will be asking why you haven't submitted your mortgage application yet. Four weeks after the offer was accepted.

You are demanding of everyone else. However haven't taken the most basic of steps to get the process started. If I was a vendor I would be getting nervous. As you are acting like a buyer playing games. I appreciate that you are not. But you need to see the matter from the other side.

Vendors solicitor will do nothing until they receive confirmation that you have a mortgage offer.

Bily85

At no point has this been stipulated.

My concern is paying 1k for an application fee together with £400 the valuation without our solicitor having had sight of the memorandum of sale? Especially whilst the vendor/estate agent seem to be so non committal about taking the house of the market

Again, i am inexperienced in these matters, but i seem to have nothing to base a mortgage application on(our broker has confirmed offer approved by lender after speaking to underwriter) other than the verbal communication of an estate agent who to be completely blunt, comes across as an 18 year old who thinks he should be on the apprentice.

kingstreet

You should remember the agent works for the vendor, not for you. You have no contractual relationship, so you can tell them what you want, but they will always put their clients' interests first.

Are you using solicitors provided by the agent? Agent's mortgage service? If so, why?

Has the vendor found another property? Has the chain formed up yet? If it hasn't, you should not yet be applying for a mortgage.

The issue of the sales memo should be a formality as all it does is confirms the four parties to the transaction and the agreed price. It enables the purchaser's solicitor to request searches. It takes about five minutes to type one up or amend, so find out why the agent has been unable to issue a correct version.

Thrugelmir

Bily85 wrote: »

Especially whilst the vendor/estate agent seem to be so non committal about taking the house of the market

As per my post. All they have is your word, that of a stranger. So far you've taken no positive steps to start the buying process. You are the one that's acting non committal.

ethank

Most agents leave the ad running on Rightmove saying Sold STC until such time as contracts are exchanged. They don't want the hassle of another fresh ad if the sale falls through.

As a seller - I've always said I will continue to accept viewings until such time as a mortgage valuation is booked. For me this is because when people start spending money on the property, then you know they are committed. As others have said above, you don't appear to be showing any commitment at all. I can understand you probably don't want to risk money, but if you don't want to risk money - don't buy a house........ housebuying process is risky until such time as you have exchanged.

dimbo61

The last time I bought a property in a HOT market we viewed on Sunday, offered full asking price on monday ( accepted )
Had a surveyor out on Thursday to do survey
Bought house about 6/7 weeks later