Dealing with a vendor through facebook

ScorpiondeRooftrouser

You know all the BS you get from the EA trying to get as much money as he can out of you? He's not doing that for his own benefit, you know. He's being paid to do that by the person you want to talk to to "cut the BS".
Given that they are paying him to do this for them, why on earth would they want you to bypass it? You might be able to get the house more cheaply if you talk to them directly. They know this. They don't want you to.

eddddy

So to paraphrase...

You made an offer on a property for 10% over asking price, and it wasn't accepted.

You suspect that the EA didn't put your offer to the vendor, and so the property sold to the EA's mate for less than you offered.

To be clear, that would mean the EA was breaking the law.

Did you make it clear that you were making a formal offer? To remove any doubt, send a formal email to the EA stating your offer, and insisting that it is passed on to the vendor (even though the property is under offer).

If you still doubt that your offer has been passed to the vendor, I guess you can consider contacting the vendor directly (by Facebook or otherwise).

kilby_007

eddddy wrote: »

So to paraphrase...

You made an offer on a property for 10% over asking price, and it wasn't accepted.

You suspect that the EA didn't put your offer to the vendor, and so the property sold to the EA's mate for less than you offered.

To be clear, that would mean the EA was breaking the law.

Did you make it clear that you were making a formal offer? To remove any doubt, send a formal email to the EA stating your offer, and insisting that it is passed on to the vendor (even though the property is under offer).

If you still doubt that your offer has been passed to the vendor, I guess you can consider contacting the vendor directly (by Facebook or otherwise).

We made an offer, the EA advised me they already had another offer on the table but did not say if it was higher. I asked her to put our offer forward anyway (we don't have a chain behind us). Our offer was rejected about an hour later so I said I would need to speak to my wife. Rang back the following day to increase our offer but the EA dealing with that property was "on her way to another office" and although I asked for a message to be passed on she didn't return my call. The next day the EA had "a problem with their phones" (we found out next day) and then when the phone finally did ring in the afternoon nobody answered it. I emailed our increased offer through but there was no response. Later that day (the third day) I called from a different number and the EA finally answered and told me it was now sold. I can't say for sure whether or not the whole thing was a setup for somebody to buy the property at a cheap price, or if the vendor just wanted a quick sale to a cash buyer (this is the story the EA used) but my dad has used these EAs as my dad buys property to renovate and he also thinks they use this tactic quite often to sell houses below market value to friends/relatives/themselves. How do you prove it?

In hindsight, I wouldn't have mentioned to the EA about the suspicious nature of the sale as it has made dealing with them further down the line (now) very tricky. Also, if I was wrong, perhaps when I'd got through to a different agent on that same day I would have just insisted that my offer was put forward there and then. Who knows.

moneyistooshorttomention

Put like that - I'd seek to bypass the EA.

It is a valid point re the Facebook "message" thing. I only just clicked to that aspect very recently and I've had a Facebook account about....oooh....must be 5 years or so....:o

Ozzuk

I've negotiated directly with vendors on several occasions - if they have been happy to. It was always followed up by formal offer via EA though. Just saves time if I've made my mind up.

As for the medium, I've just done it in person on a second viewing. Saying I'd like to make an offer, would you prefer me to talk to the EA never upsets anyone.

glasgowdan

It's always worth putting a typed note of the formal offer through the letterbox yourself to avoid any doubt that it's been received.

SuzieSue

We communicated directly with the vendor too. We had a viewing on Sunday without the EA and made an offer to the vendor who accepted it (the property had been on the market a while).

We told the EA on the Monday and then just dealt directly with the vendor by phone. The only time we spoke to the EA again was when we went to collect the keys on completion.

Fortunately our solicitor was very proactive and did a lot of chasing of the other two solicitors in the chain so there was no need for the EA to be involved at all.

Lord_Baltimore

SuzieSue wrote: »

We communicated directly with the vendor too. We had a viewing on Sunday without the EA and made an offer to the vendor who accepted it (the property had been on the market a while).

We told the EA on the Monday and then just dealt directly with the vendor by phone. The only time we spoke to the EA again was when we went to collect the keys on completion.

Fortunately our solicitor was very proactive and did a lot of chasing of the other two solicitors in the chain so there was no need for the EA to be involved at all.

Well done. It's a shame the redundant EA still gets a pay out. They've been fleecing people for long enough. An online intermediary is the best option; much less expense than the cost of paying to refurbish EA offices and for them to run around in their branded cars. Bah

SuzieSue

Lord_Baltimore wrote: »

Well done. It's a shame the redundant EA still gets a pay out. They've been fleecing people for long enough. An online intermediary is the best option; much less expense than the cost of paying to refurbish EA offices and for them to run around in their branded cars. Bah

Yes, the vendor was very upset that he did not use an online agent as he had done all the viewings himself.