The EA watchdog thread.

MidTwentySomthing

I thought it would be a good idea to judge EA's in your area for buyers sellers and renters so people know what they are letting themelves in for. As a potential FTB and certified renter I've been through a few EA's some very good other's shall we say not so good. A thread like this may be useful for others in similar situations. Let us all know of your EA experiences, good, bad and mediocre!

Here are mine:

Renting:

Borthwicks (chiswick) : Seemed pleasent enough to begin with when they wanted our money. However - returning the deposit to us took them 5 months and a couple of calls to the landlady, as well as acuusations of harrasment, letters having to be posted BY hand, and having the phone hung up on us many times before we got the full deposit back. Very Strong Avoid.

Foxtons (general): Really expensive (apparently cos it's soooooo good) contract fees, always show you stuff above your budget, rubbish. Very Strong Avoid.

Bradley Beazley (ealing): very good, very freindly, listen and act on your needs, will let you know if rental price is overvalued/can be made offers on. Strong Reccommend.

FTBs Buying (havn't actually bought through any, so just on looking around):

Mann Countrywide (rochester): Seems freindly enough, keep you updated, property values seem about right, a bit pushy with seeing their mortgage broker, use a few tricks such as booking viewings consecutivley to give the appearance of high demand. Generally OK, Reccommend.

Sweet Property (rochester): Properties seem overvalued, seem to employ a load of thick chavs who only want to show you properties on the top end of your budget even if it is not withing your criteria. On first appearences will not be going back. Seems to be run like a cowboy outfit. Best Avioded.

Spicer McColl (rochester): Foxtons wannabe's comlete with annoying branded Minis. Showed us properties that needed about £20,000 worth of renovation doing to it (damp, subsidence, mould, the lot) on the whim that "it will make you a profit of £15,000. As FTB's we wern't impressed. Our young EA had the "spiel" and was obviously very inexperienced and annoying to boot, played every EA card. Properties seemed far too overvalued. Strong Avoid.

clutton_2

dawsons swansea - sold a house for me - fantastic service - sold within 10 days.

lynzpower

Renting

Londons People , Bethnal Green.

Did not issue me with an AST copy for myself when I moved into a house share. Said there was no need. Advised me I could move out on a months notice anytime.Gave 1 months notice, they kept my deposit. 800 quid loss. I was very naive then, it was some years ago, however, other people I know of have been stitched by them in the same way. office is dirty & scruffy , walked in once to find a member of staff having a full on slanging match with one customer. Avoid.

Keatons Bow,

I had a very positive experience with these guys on sign in. All above board, recipts given, all paperwork completed, no problem. However, the LL of the property was a bit of a nightmare and she used to let herself in on a whim whenever she felt like it, would never give 24 hours notice. Keatons were completely unable to reason with her and tell her no. Generally, tho, I would recommend. Good properties, slightly toppy, clearly a proper presence in Bow, recommended.

Property Liasions - E1
I was interviewed by these guys ( phone interview) the manager, actually said to me " I think other agents are the professionals, i see us as more wheeler dealer" He sounded like he had done a large amount of cocaine. He simply went on and on about how they sabotage competitors deals to secure business. however, they do seem to vaue on the low side so there might be bargains. Be aware.
Housenetwork ( selling)

Does what it says on the tin. Recommended all over this board. Thumbs up

HugoSP

Selling in Plymouth:

Connells First Time Buyers centre. Seem to want to get sellers to put their property with them cheap just to shift them. They are into box shifting at the moment and just want the sellers to make their lives easier for them by wanting diddly squat for their houses. I decided not to play that game, especially when the surveyor was uninspiring and down right offhand. It seemed to me that they wanted my flat to add fat to their selection, rather than try to sell it for me.

Fulfords - Much better initial contact who got me signed up but then he moved to manage another branch. The service started to fall to pieces after that. It took two weeks to get the particulars sorted out, which aggrevated me, they couldn't even get the rightmove listing sorted first time and had the wrong measurements on the details. They were over 3 feet out on the measurement of the living room, which is quite significant for a flat.

However I do think they did everything they could to try to sell it. No sale.

Strapped

MidTwentySomthing wrote: »

FTBs Buying (havn't actually bought through any, so just on looking around):

Mann Countrywide (rochester): Seems freindly enough, keep you updated, property values seem about right, a bit pushy with seeing their mortgage broker, use a few tricks such as booking viewings consecutivley to give the appearance of high demand. Generally OK, Reccommend.

Sweet Property (rochester): Properties seem overvalued, seem to employ a load of thick chavs who only want to show you properties on the top end of your budget even if it is not withing your criteria. On first appearences will not be going back. Seems to be run like a cowboy outfit. Best Avioded.

Spicer McColl (rochester): Foxtons wannabe's comlete with annoying branded Minis. Showed us properties that needed about £20,000 worth of renovation doing to it (damp, subsidence, mould, the lot) on the whim that "it will make you a profit of £15,000. As FTB's we wern't impressed. Our young EA had the "spiel" and was obviously very inexperienced and annoying to boot, played every EA card. Properties seemed far too overvalued. Strong Avoid.

OR - they are being efficient, block booking back-to-back viewings to (a) save on their time/travel and (b) save on the vendor's time & effort (1 tidy up). (Normally easiest to arrange for something new to the market)