What to expect when buying first house.

mangog

I think it depends on the agency too. My experience with the national ones has been similar to yours - William H Brown were especially bad! I cancelled a viewing with them, giving a good 12 hours notice and politely explaining that I'd done some maths and realised the house was more than I could afford so I didn't want to waste the vendor's time. The person I spoke to tried to persuade me I could afford it (with absolutely no knowledge of my situation or budget), and then the agent who made the original booking phoned me back 10 minutes later to tell me off and accused me of intentionally misleading them about my budget! And then hung up on me.

However - for the most part the independent local agencies in my area have been fantastic and really helpful to me as a FTB. Lots of advice, and phoning me with potential properties before they even went on the website if they met my criteria. And not pushy about using their broker either! Several offered us the option but didn't push it when we said we'd found our own.

I know it's hard as the buyer because you really don't have much say in who you deal with - if it's the right house you have to just work with them! But I honestly avoided viewing houses that were marketed through certain agencies, even if they had potential. I decided it wasn't worth it!

jimbo747

We bypassed the EA agent and spoke directly to the vendors (they lived round the corner from old house, invited me in for a drink) as I didn't think EA were passing our offers over. They hadn't.

EA were p*asked off with us for not going through them.

The biggest muppets were the solicitors we chose, but that's for another thread.

hunnibee_2

shortcrust wrote: »

EAs love to sell houses so they must have easier buyers to sell to!

The MIP and deposit are fine, but everyone will have those so they don't make you stand out. Being very limited in when you can view will make you stand out, but not in a good way, as will not having a house in mind. I think at the FTB end of the market EAs no longer do the 'personal shopping' bit.

Everyone may have them, they may also have a chain behind them.

My money is as good as anyones then?

I cannot help when I work, surely 9am isn't out of the ordinary for a viewing? I had one at 9.15 the other day

sheepy21

mangog wrote: »

I think it depends on the agency too. My experience with the national ones has been similar to yours - William H Brown were especially bad! I cancelled a viewing with them, giving a good 12 hours notice and politely explaining that I'd done some maths and realised the house was more than I could afford so I didn't want to waste the vendor's time. The person I spoke to tried to persuade me I could afford it (with absolutely no knowledge of my situation or budget), and then the agent who made the original booking phoned me back 10 minutes later to tell me off and accused me of intentionally misleading them about my budget! And then hung up on me.

However - for the most part the independent local agencies in my area have been fantastic and really helpful to me as a FTB. Lots of advice, and phoning me with potential properties before they even went on the website if they met my criteria. And not pushy about using their broker either! Several offered us the option but didn't push it when we said we'd found our own.

I know it's hard as the buyer because you really don't have much say in who you deal with - if it's the right house you have to just work with them! But I honestly avoided viewing houses that were marketed through certain agencies, even if they had potential. I decided it wasn't worth it!

I also recently experience William H Brown, they were rude, very pressuring and to a degree threatening. I pulled out of the house I was interested in and now buying a house from the same development via their rival agent, who are brilliant!

sugarbabe84

I!!!8217;m not a fan of EA and have generally had a bad experience with them when renting.

I!!!8217;m a first time buyer using help to buy and for that reason I went directly to look on developers websites, e.g Bellway and Taylor Wimpey. I found something I liked through Bellway and currently going through the process of buying. So far Bellway have been great. The conveyancer is a local one and specifically working with one solicitor, but I!!!8217;m finding her unprofessional.

It!!!8217;s in Bellway!!!8217;s interest to make sure all goes smoothly to complete in 8 weeks, so I went with a lawyer from their panel. I also went with their recommended brokers, who so far have been great, apart from one admin assistant who has been lax with processing my Help To Buy documents. The developer emailed her yesterday to follow up, with a high degree of urgency as not yet having Authority To Proceed is delaying things.

It!!!8217;s definitely an interesting experience. I hope when I do it all over again in years time, I will have a good lawyer and also won!!!8217;t need to get a mortgage broker. If I have to work with EA, I will have to make sure they have good reviews.

sugarbabe84

hunnibee wrote: »

Thank you all for the advice and for not treating me like an idiot!

I've been having a real mare trying to get these agents to take me seriously!
I attended one of their brokers - the broker was the person who put me off the property.
I've called and tried to arrange viewings for before my work (start at 10 was asking for 9am) they refused to allow me to view as they don't do viewings at that time. I'm unable to attend later as I work until 8 pm. I'm having to wait 8 days to view a property (my next day off!)

It seems crazy to me. Like I said I work in sales & bend over backwards to get the customer to buy. I don't understand why they would be any different!

All this before I've even found a house !!!55357;!!!56869;

Last year I was looking at a place via an EA, W H Brown to be specific. I was also put off by the broker. A very hard sales approach which I didn!!!8217;t like.

sheepy21

sugarbabe84 wrote: »

Last year I was looking at a place via an EA, W H Brown to be specific. I was also put off by the broker. A very hard sales approach which I didn!!!8217;t like.

Glad it wasn't just us! Was the broker called Jon by any chance?