Estate agent preventing viewings - what can I do?

ACG

gnybm wrote: »

I do have some of the exchange in writing - particularly the point about being added to the hot list if i meet with their adviser as the phone call moved to an email exchange.

The agent is Edward Mellor

Ah. I tried buying a house through them in 2012/13 I think it was. I did not find them very helpful then.

Get in touch with trading standards.
I am also not sure their mortgage website is compliant with the FCA.

Smodlet

ACG wrote: »

Page 8 - http://www.cimaglobal.com/Documents/ImportedDocuments/The_estate_agency_guide_jan06.pdf - What they are doing is illegal. Do you have it in writing from them? I am guessing not.



Out of curiosity, who is the agent? I am in Manchester myself and have not really come across this practice much around here.

A whole bunch of things EAs do is illegal; it does not stop them from doing them. Failing to disclose material facts they must be aware of unless they are registered blind, for instance...

I have been told over the phone (wish it had been in writing) by an EA that they would not voluntarily disclose things like subsidence unless directly asked, same with non-standard construction; the list goes on. "Well, they can't prove we knew about x, y or z."

They are ticks in human form.

csgohan4

Smodlet wrote: »

A whole bunch of things EAs do is illegal; it does not stop them from doing them. Failing to disclose material facts they must be aware of unless they are registered blind, for instance...

I have been told over the phone (wish it had been in writing) by an EA that they would not voluntarily disclose things like subsidence unless directly asked, same with non-standard construction; the list goes on. "Well, they can't prove we knew about x, y or z."

They are ticks in human form.

One thing is to record phone calls and get them to confirm who they are and what company subtly, whether that holds up from a legal point of view is another matter

bouicca21

csgohan4 wrote: »

One thing is to record phone calls and get them to confirm who they are and what company subtly, whether that holds up from a legal point of view is another matter

I think it only admissible if they know they are being recorded.

getmore4less

gnybm wrote: »

I do have some of the exchange in writing - particularly the point about being added to the hot list if i meet with their adviser as the phone call moved to an email exchange.

The agent is Edward Mellor

Just keep the emails going they will drop their guard and say more than they should.

Advertised Open days could just turn up.

wesleyad

bouicca21 wrote: »

I think it only admissible if they know they are being recorded.

True... without their permission it's not admissible. So you ask for permission. They either say yes and you have the recording, or they say no and the court asks "what's so bad in the recording you dont want us to hear it". Either way it's useful to have just in case (even if its just to put pressure on them)

Chandler85

We have sold our property through Mellor's and you are right they do have a lot of the properties in the local particular suburb.

I don't know what they are like with potential buyers but all the staff I have dealt with are fine. As a seller they would ring me to arrange viewing, there was regularly times when they didn't have slots to do viewings with the buyer. They also reccomend you let them do the viewings, so I could see it being an issue if the vendor has said only viewing with the estate agent.

However, as a seller, I just did the viewings myself when they were out of Mellor's working times or when they didn't have time.

I think each branch operates semi independent, so if you are buying from a particularly busy branch then you might really struggle.

I guess your choices are:
Jump through the hoop to get on the "hot" list,
Pop to a seller's house directly, some people might not like that, but for me as a seller someone came to my house and said they were struggling to get a viewing then I would have been concerned unless I was snowed under already!
Try ringing the wrong branch to get a viewing booked in a different area.

Our buyers aren't using Mellor's in house people either.

hazyjo

Trouble is, they spin it when discussing with (sometimes naïve) vendors and say things like 'other agents don't screen buyers, but we do to weed out the timewasters and reduce the no-shows' (etc blah blah blah).

Basically what they really mean is 'we want the commission so will refer them to our financial adviser before viewing'.

Just be careful when you speak with the vendors as they may have been somewhat brainwashed.

[Deleted User]

I think most people are generally fine to confirm their ability to proceed with a purchase once an offer has been made. Anyone that refuses to confirm they can back their offer up in any way should be avoided.

With my clients I usually tell them to tell me where they are trying to buy and I call the agents to ask if they need to confirm any of their financial details. I dont do it in a confrontational way, more like im trying to help them. And eventually most agents around here stop playing games with my clients.

'Hi, my clients are trying to view a property through yourselves and I assume you want to check they can proceed. Do you want me to send anything over to you or speak to your broker to confirm?'

As soon as they realise they arent going to get any mortgage commission from you they will soon back off and treat you properly

steampowered

The reason why they push this is because the EA will get a kick-back from their mortgage broker if you use their broker for your mortgage.

It's not really about getting to know your finances. The price the house sells for has very little impact on the commission the EA gets. The broker probably doesn't pass on details of your finances to the EA.

Personally, I would play along. Once you have had an offer accepted, simply get rid of the EA's broker.