Conflict of interest

kat_holly

Hi , I am new to this so excuse me if ive posted on the wrong place . I have just put my deceased fathers house on the market . It has been on for a couple of days and have just heard from the estate agent im with, that someone from their office has been to view it ( before anyone else ) and already wants to put an offer in . It is five thousand pounds less than the guide price . The propery does need things doing to it eg bathroom , central heating . Isnt this a conflict of interest? Is there any problems i should look out for in this situation ? Appriciate any help as I've never sold a house before .

moneyistooshorttomention

I'd be waiting before I said "yea or nay" to that offer in the circumstances - ie for an impartial would-be buyer to come along personally.

I would certainly regard it as "If they've offered £5k less than the price - then what someone else would offer me would probably be higher than that."

I would be wondering if they might try and put off other would-be buyers though. Can you also register with a 2nd agent without risk of a second set of fees? That way they cant "deflect" other would-be buyers and make sure their bid is the only one on the table.

Guest101

There's certainly pros and cons.


A good test would be to get a friend to ring up and ask for a viewing.

Okydoky25

Did you get it valued by more then one agent before going with the one you chose. My 1st thought would be that they may have undervalued it with the intention of getting a better price for it themselves.

If you didn't then I would seek another valuation before going forward with this offer or any others through that agent.

Bonfire_Bride

How much is the property on for? Is 5k a lot to lose?


I would also seek a further valuation and see what they come up with. Hold back on accepting at the moment.

ReadingTim

It's a potential conflict, but the firm should have policies and procedures in place to deal with this, otherwise estate agents would never be homeowners.

I'd ask for a copy of the firm's procedures relating to staff purchases then make it clear that you want it marketed as usual, noting the current offer of whatever it is. I'd also ask them to pass on all offers they receive regardless of the guide price and do minimal investigation as to the proceedability of the potential buyer - basically be aware of them making sure their man's offer is the only one on the table, as mentioned above.

You could go multi-agent (unless you've signed up to a sole agency agreement) - alternatively get a mate to mystery shop them (viewing, maybe even make an offer) and see what the EA tells both them and you!

spadoosh

Every piece of advice on this forum seems to be valuations are a load of rubbish and a house is worth what someone is willing to pay for it.

I would assume the op was quite happy to market at the price it was valued at, ie happy to accept that amount of money.

I would doubt the person doing the valuation would be the person wanting to put the offer in and due to a potential conflict of interest you would think most people would make sure everything is above board because of it. It would be silly to risk the reputation of the business for the sake of £5k potnetially a bit more if your thinking along the lines of undervalued.

I wouldnt bother with other agents or valuations. I would research local similar properties and see how much theyve sold for recently. If it seems in line and your happy with the amount accept the offer, or ask for an improved offer.

I know estate agents have a bad rep but the majority of the time the process is complicated by the seller or buyer, this could be one of those times.

If your happy with the offer take it, if not, refuse and take the chance.

G_M

As above.

1) clear written instruction to the EA that
* property to continue to be fully marketed
* the offer is noted and will be onsidered in due course
* ALL future offers to ba passed on without any checks first on proceedability

2) wait a few days / a week an then get a friend to ring and ask to view - see if he's put off. You could even get him to make an offer and see if it's passed on to you.......

3) any doubts, I would consider requesting your contract is terminated, without penalty, so that you can move to an EA where there is no conflict of interest.

Okydoky25

spadoosh wrote: »

Every piece of advice on this forum seems to be valuations are a load of rubbish and a house is worth what someone is willing to pay for it.

I would assume the op was quite happy to market at the price it was valued at, ie happy to accept that amount of money.

The OP states they are selling their Deceased relatives house and not their own personal house so in this case they may not be aware of the local market or even in the right frame of mind to think to get 2 valuations which would be standard if you were selling your own property.

davidmcn

I hope they don't plan to charge you a fee for marketing the property to themselves.

Guest101

davidmcn wrote: »

I hope they don't plan to charge you a fee for marketing the property to themselves.

They're not doing that....