Corrupt estate agent

PasturesNew

Completely immoral. Your mum's house value and offers is NOT linked to the value/price of any other property ....

He's taking the mick.

He's using her, leveraging his advantage; it could even be termed "abuse" as he has a powerful position in this chain.

Niv

Could it be that the EA is trying to put the mother off messing around with the chain? If the EA sets it as no advantage to the mother then she may leave it as it is.


Not taking sides with the EA btw, just trying to understand the reasons why they would do this as many have pointed out in the past the extra 10k will add very litle to their commission so hardly worth it for that.

nrsql

I would stay away from this agent.
Sounds to me like they don't feel a need to honour the purchase agreement so look to the price to increase at some point in the future if they think you can afford it or think you won't pull out.

The amount you are selling for is nothing to do with the purchase. They are just saying they will (recommend or demand) the seller increases the price as they don't think you will back out.

Red-Squirrel_2

jimlfc wrote: »

The higher offer was in first but was from a buyer who had to put their house on the market to fund the offer. This they did,sold it quickly and came back to honour their offer. In the meantime the lower offer was placed by a buyer with funds in place.
The point surely is the EA is insisting Mum makes a higher offer for the bungalow off she accepts the higher offer for hers. It may not be corrupt but it is falsely manipulating the housing prices is it not? They surely are not able to enforce this?

Really your mum shouldn’t have accepted the lower offer, she’s now allowing a gazump which is pretty poor form.

EachPenny

zagubov wrote: »

Tell them this is a conflict of interests. They are not to reveal information about her sale price to her vendor, and your mum will not adjust her offer under any circumstances.

It's a tricky one. The OP's mum is considering accepting a higher offer from a buyer who might pose more of a risk to the chain if it turns out they cannot afford the higher amount after all and drop out later.

If I were the OP's mum's vendor then I would be disappointed if the agent I was paying didn't keep me informed of developments which may affect my sale.

That might not extend to being told the sum of money involved, but then 'anybody' with access to a phone should be able to find out what the current offer level is (in ballpark terms). :whistle:

SmashedAvacado

ask the agent to put his proposal in writing so she can clearly understand it

once she has it, she should decline it. She should also make the point that the position on her sale is nothing to do with what she is prepared to pay for her purchase. She is not duty bound to enrich her seller on the basis that she has managed to get a better deal on her property. The agent is not acting in her best interests.

parkrunner

jimlfc wrote: »

The higher offer was in first but was from a buyer who had to put their house on the market to fund the offer. This they did,sold it quickly and came back to honour their offer. In the meantime the lower offer was placed by a buyer with funds in place.
The point surely is the EA is insisting Mum makes a higher offer for the bungalow off she accepts the higher offer for hers. It may not be corrupt but it is falsely manipulating the housing prices is it not? They surely are not able to enforce this?

Which was accepted, however leaving morals to one side the EA quite simply is wrong.

EachPenny

paranoidandroid31978 wrote: »

Yes the Estate Agent is an greedy chancer who sees your dear mum as a soft touch. Lovely that she's got you and all the clever folk here in her corner!!
Take the higher offer regardless. £10k is a huge amount of money that's 5% of the entire value of the property.

I thought your 'King Solomon' post was better

But I think it should have been applied to G_M instead though.

stator

If the estate agent told the vendor that your mum was in a position to proceed and could only afford X price, then he might feel he has a duty to inform the vendor that what he told them is now not true. Look at it from the other side. If you knew the estate agent selling your house had information and didn't pass it on to you, would you be annoyed?


I certainly think the way it is put across is wrong, ie you have to increase your offer. But the fact that she may have to increase her offer is not entirely unreasonable given the conflict of interest that exists, the estate agent can't favour one client over another and should be honest with both.

martinbuckley

There's a certain irony in someone who is happy to sell to a gazumper calling someone corrupt.