Dodgy estate agents - what to do

PhilE

ReadingTim wrote: »

They're not being funny, they're simply flushing out unpronounceable timewasters, which is what you are until you accept an offer on your place.

This is incorrect, and the sort of misinformation that is allowing the over growing disease of cowboy EA's.

By law the EA have to pass the offer on to the vendors. You'll find this clearly stated on the gov.uk website.
https://www.gov.uk/buy-sell-your-home/estate-agents

To not pass the offer on, is illegal and the EA can be taken to court.

Read carefully; 'Estate agents must also treat buyers fairly. They must show any offers promptly and in writing to the person selling the house.'

The OP has clearly stated that he wishes to sell their home, but with another agent. For the vendors EA to be bullying them into selling their property through them, is inexcusable.

OP, write a mail or letter stating the date of your original offer. Quote the link above, and ask the EA for written confirmation that they have passed the offer on, and what the outcome was. Ask for an answer in writing, and if they make any more threats like this follow the complaints procedure on the link.

I'd drop a note through the vendors door explaining that you are trying to make an offer, but the EA wont pass it on. If I were selling my property and I found this out, I'd drop the agent like a stone.

In my experience, as soon as they see that you are aware of your rights they crawl back into their holes.

googler

PhilE wrote: »

I'd drop a note through the vendors door explaining that you are trying to make an offer, but the EA wont pass it on. If I were selling my property and I found this out, I'd drop the agent like a stone.

Please see post #11

I think this could result in the seller throwing a wobbly and refusing to deal with the OP.

ReadingTim

PhilE wrote: »

This is incorrect, and the sort of misinformation that is allowing the over growing disease of cowboy EA's.

By law the EA have to pass the offer on to the vendors. You'll find this clearly stated on the gov.uk website.
https://www.gov.uk/buy-sell-your-home/estate-agents

To not pass the offer on, is illegal and the EA can be taken to court.

Read carefully; 'Estate agents must also treat buyers fairly. They must show any offers promptly and in writing to the person selling the house.'

The OP has clearly stated that he wishes to sell their home, but with another agent. For the vendors EA to be bullying them into selling their property through them, is inexcusable.

OP, write a mail or letter stating the date of your original offer. Quote the link above, and ask the EA for written confirmation that they have passed the offer on, and what the outcome was. Ask for an answer in writing, and if they make any more threats like this follow the complaints procedure on the link.

I'd drop a note through the vendors door explaining that you are trying to make an offer, but the EA wont pass it on. If I were selling my property and I found this out, I'd drop the agent like a stone.

In my experience, as soon as they see that you are aware of your rights they crawl back into their holes.

Yeah, good luck with that approach - knowing your rights and enforcing your rights are 2 entirely different questions, even if the subtleties are lost on you.

Regardless of the medium by which the OP makes an offer, the fact is that offer is unproceedable until the OP receives an offer on their place, which itself won't happen until they put it on the market. As I and others have stated, the EAs are just trying it on as the OP hasn't bothered to appoint anyone yet. Had they actually been seriously minded to proceed (there's that word again...), they'd have done this already, and the issue wouldn't arise.

But yeah, write away with that offer - see it get forwarded with a covering note saying how it came from an 'awkward' client with no means with which to pay. See also the part of the OP's post where they state how the vendor didn't want to speak to the OP at all and judge for yourself how well the unsolicited note through the door approach would go down with an elderly and emotional vendor.

Suggest you read the thread as closely as you urge others to read the law you so mindlessly quote as to why your post is unhelpful and irrelevant.