Estate Agent Tactics

Keith99

I have started to view a few houses and was just wondering what tactics estate agents use when viewing houses.

The one I have noticed is that they always seem to say they have offers on the house but never indicate what price - they always state they can't tell me what the offer price is. I'm assuming this is a sales tactics?

Anything else to watch out for?

dontfollowme

Shared viewings - viewing a house with another buyer

kinger101

Tell them you don't want to view any houses on which offers have been made.

rosie383

We know our town very well and it has some really horrible areas but the agent always says ' very sought after area' or ' the ever popular...'. There is also one agent who always puts ' the SORT after area'! Arrrggghhh.

jules888

When we moved last year estate agents wouldnt tell us what offers had been made.
On one house we put an offer in for just said they"ve already received an offer higher than that but wouldnt say what that was.
Suspect it"s common practice.

Loopy28

One particular agent I have viewed several houses will always say that they have had offers already yet the house has still been on the market months later. Either it was a lie or the offers weren't acceptable but obviously they won't tell you that.

When making offers, I have had EAs instantly say the offer won't be acceptable and that I need to up the offer before they have even put it to the vendor. I even had this on an asking price offer when they told me to offer 5k above asking price!

Telling you they have to use their mortgage advisor to make an offer, only come across one who did this.

The same dodgy agent as above also said some crazy things while we viewed houses, 'look how private and spacious this garden is' when the garden was tiny and overlooked by houses and a local spar shop. 'There is a lovely integrated dishwasher' on inspection it was a fridge. 'There is allocated parking for 2 cars' when in fact it was a shared parking lot which looked like a free for all with cars parked on the grass.

stator

Yes they will constantly try to make you use their mortgage adviser.
Essentially just ask them to see the house and ignore everything they say

Owlish

I'm in London and we completed in September - the major EA nightmares have been open days and literally 5 minute slots to view houses, when you're queueing at the door waiting for previous viewer to finish. Around here EAs know the demand outstrips supply and behave accordingly.

enthusiasticsaver

An agent in our town has a habit of ringing up buyers almost at the point of exchange to say that another buyer is considering making a higher offer presumably with the intention of getting the sale price upped. They did this with at least three people I know this year who bought houses. I suggested my daughter call their bluff and refuse to increase and book another viewing elsewhere and lo and behold the other offer disappeared! Unscrupulous some of them and do not believe a word some of them say.

dirty_magic

dontfollowme wrote: »

Shared viewings - viewing a house with another buyer

We viewed a repossession house on a shared viewing and I hated it, it was so awkward! There had already been an offer accepted anyway but it fell through.

It does seem to be common practice for agents to say there has already been an offer put in. They told us that they'd had a low offer rejected but wouldn't say how much for. Then the day after our offer was accepted they told us they'd had another! I think they were telling the truth though because they didn't try to make us up ours.

We were warned about them pushing their own mortgage advisors but we didn't have any problems with it! All of the agents we contacted just accepted it when we said we'd already arranged our mortgage.