Estate Agent Woes!

Schaffy

Hi all,
ok I need a bit of advice regarding the best way to approach a situation. I am currently selling the first property I bought and looking to buy another.

So like many people I have been thinking about moving for a while so have been keeping a close eye on the market via rightmove. A few weeks before we started to invite agents around to value our property, I spotted a house for sale that looked ideal for us. It was being marketed by an agent I had not heard of before. He was not local but from a neighbouring town. Out of curiosity, I had a peak at his website and noticed he was offering his services for a commission of 0.75%. I decided because his fee was so competitive, I'd invite him round for a valuation... thinking at the same time I could get a bit of info on the other property he was marketing.

Anyway, after the appointment, I decided pretty much straight away I would not be instructing him. It sounded like he was a one man band... and was struggling to cover his work load. I wasn't confident he would be able to dedicate enough time to the sale of our house. So things moved on and I eventually decided to instruct an internet agent. I still wanted to view the property I had seen on rightmove so I txted the agent who was marketing it (this is how we had been communicating) and told him I had decided to go with a different agent but still wanted to arrange a viewing. He came back to me immediately and said he would match the internet agents price + do all the viewings and after sale chasing. I politely declined and again asked for a convenient time for the house viewing.

Since then it has been radio silence. I have sent him further txt messages, phoned his office and mobile number and left voice messages but havent heard from him. Prior to me telling him I was going with a different agent, he was very prompt to get back to me..... so you probably know where this is going.... is he that petty he is happy to miss out on a sale just because I haven't instructed him? Am I being naive as a first time seller? Does this go on all the time and therefore it was a mistake to get him round to value my property?

I am really tempted to write a note to the people selling the house I'd like to view and pop it through their door. Is this a bad idea?

Money_saving_maniac

No it is a very good idea to do that if you are interested in the house.

hazyjo

Obviously it won't put you in a good light with the EA if you do that, but it sounds like they don't have you in a good light anyway. Nowt to lose. ABSOLUTELY put a note through their door and keep it brief and to the point. Say you have tried to view their house but the agents are being slightly obstructive (I wouldn't elaborate at this point as you might not even like the house), so could they either ring/email you direct, or speak with their agent giving a convenient time/day for you to view.

If it's any consolation, the agents I had to buy my current house were bloody awful. So much so that I ended up in tears after one call. In the end, I blocked their number and said I could only communicate via email (blamed my work and not being able to take calls) and eventually I had an offer accepted. They put me off offering/3rd viewing for a couple of months before I flipped.

Good luck.

Jx

Tracystaffs

Definitely put a note through the door, if the EA is blocking viewings the sellers need to be made aware too....I wouldn't be happy if it wee my house he was trying to sell.

Be interested to hear how this ends up working out. Happy viewing!

csgohan4

To be fair it's their loss and they will lose their commission


Cutting their own nose to spite their face is a bad business model

NicNicP

I would also advise putting a note through the door. Good luck!

Dan-Dan

Be aware though that if it were me i would have instructed my EA not to allow non proceedable viewers through the door

eddddy

You probably need to phone the EA rather than sending text messages, to find out what the issue is (although I'm slightly surprised that the EA hasn't phoned you).

As Dan-Dan says, it may simply be that you are a long way short of being proceedable.

And be careful how you approach any note through the door. If the seller mentions it to the EA, the response might be "they're non proceedable time-wasters".


So the best approach is probably to talk to the EA.