Your experiences (good & bad) with estate agents

lauralla

I have of course been phoning both vendor and buyer following a viewing for feedback and passing this on to the vendor (from the buyer) but do now realise just how important accompanied viewings are - otherwise you are right - why are they paying me to sell their house?!
Its not something that is particularly common round here I don't think, to do accompanied viewings, but I think maybe its time for a change!
Thanks lynzpower for your comments, they have been very interesting.

A_Nice_Englishman

Thanks for that lynzpower.... if only all estate agents were like you! Would it be too nosey to ask why you left after a few months?

JoJoArmani

where are you based Lauralla? Just out of interest....

lauralla

We are in Shropshire JoJoArmani.

Nicki

As a seller, I want an EA who has made a token attempt to verify that what a purchaser has said is true, rather than just puts them forward as an unencumbered cash buyer, then leaves you to find out weeks down the line that they need a mortgage and are in a chain!

An EA who recalls who their client is! I got very frustrated with mine recently when they mistakenly said (to me!) three times that the buyer was their client, whilst trying to persuade me to take a huge drop in the agreed price and an extension of the agreed timescale to complete.

An EA who has a good back office, and who is genuinely pushing the transaction through, rather than just waiting for things to happen.

An EA who takes good marketing photos and values the property appropriately with reference to other properties which have sold in the area recently.

Feedback, accompanied viewings and sticking to agreed viewing hours are also important to me. With 2 young children, I got fed up with EA phoning and asking to arrange viewings for 8pm on a weeknight when my kids were tucked up in bed.

As a buyer, good details, decent photos and a fair valuation are important, plus notifying me of relevant properties on the market rather than just your whole list. In this day and age of IT, I just could not understand why I was regularly being sent details of one bed, ex local authority flats, when I had made clear I was looking for a minimum 4 bed house with garden and had a healthy budget to spend. This made me more likely to just delete the whole email rather than wade through it for a hidden gem.

Also someone good in the back office to keep the seller up to speed.

A degree of honesty and transparency. We lost a house in April just when we were ready to exchange, and were told vendor had changed their mind about selling. Turns out we were in fact gazumped. Had we been told this was the case, we would however have grudgingly paid the extra (and even if we hadn't it would have been nice to have been given the option)

Also - don't gossip about other clients! My EA has a habit of telling me about other clients whose houses are he tells me either vastly overpriced, or not anywhere nearly as nice as mine. Makes me wonder what he's saying about mine to the neighbours! And don't dis the opposition - it makes you like you have something to fear from them. Far more dignified just to say they are good at what they do, but you are better/cheaper whatever!

A_Nice_Englishman

Nicki wrote: »

As a seller, I want an EA who has made a token attempt to verify that what a purchaser has said is true, rather than just puts them forward as an unencumbered cash buyer, then leaves you to find out weeks down the line that they need a mortgage and are in a chain!

This happened to me twice (with the same property and same agent) and has just happened to the owner of the flat I rented until recently. It's actually illegal to misrepresent the details of an offer and the Ombudsman for Esate Agent's office tell me that an estate agent should see a copy of the potential buyer's offer letter (if using a mortgage) or bank statements (if a cash buyer).

lynzpower

A_Nice_Englishman wrote: »

Thanks for that lynzpower.... if only all estate agents were like you! Would it be too nosey to ask why you left after a few months?

because, the money was utterly crap!

Another myth that kicks around about estate agents, they are all on megabucks and only driven by the money.

I was on 10k a year in london, plus "bonus" the bonus only ever materialised on exchange, so if you have buyers pulling out ( as i did , in a jittery market, of course this is natural people have 2nd thoughts) I was staring poverty in the face. On top of leaving the house at 7am and not getting home till 9pm and barely having time for lunch most days :rolleyes:

So I left. Gutted, I loved that job.

A_Nice_Englishman

lynzpower wrote: »

because, the money was utterly crap!

Another myth that kicks around about estate agents, they are all on megabucks and only driven by the money.

I was on 10k a year in london, plus "bonus" the bonus only ever materialised on exchange, so if you have buyers pulling out ( as i did , in a jittery market, of course this is natural people have 2nd thoughts) I was staring poverty in the face. On top of leaving the house at 7am and not getting home till 9pm and barely having time for lunch most days :rolleyes:

So I left. Gutted, I loved that job.

A cynical person might suggest that your employer paid his staff a very low basic salary to encourage them to, shall we, say, be a little less scrupulous than perhaps you might be.

You were able to walk away and find another job. Other estate agents may not have been so lucky and may have had to indulge in some of the practices they are criticised for in order to keep a roof over their heads and feed their children.

BrixMorta

I think you've got it spot on Nicey. You can usually spot this style of company from miles but to the untrained eye their bright shiney offices attract sellers & buyers like lambs to the slaughter!

lauralla

Thanks for your comments Nicki, I appreciate your thoughts.