What to do with my estate agent

tomg35

Our house has been on the market since July last year. We had one prospective buyer, but after six weeks we found out that he hadn't the mortgage offer he said he had and in fact his broker had said as he was furloughed for part of last year, he would need three months of wages payments, not furlough payments, before they would reconsider his application. We are a bit annoyed with the agent as he led us to believe all was OK, and it was only when I [ushed did he go back to the chap and then it all came out.
Back on the market and we have another prospective buyer. They had a buyer's survey, which didn't flag up any showstoppers but suggested to have a more in-depth survey. I have found out that my agent has made a statement to the prospective buyer, that at the time he made it he had no evidence to back up what he had said (he might be right, but my point is that as he had no evidence, he shouldn't have said anything. I believe his statement may have influenced the prospective buyers to take the extra survey). He did repeat his statement to me, which I criticised, but by then the damage was done.
I also get a feeling from him that he has lost interest in our house and is just going through the motions - This is evidenced by his manner with us, and that he hadn't told us anything that was going on, and only said anything when I I chase him.
Hopefully, it won't, but if this sale falls through, what might be our best option?

1. Do we sack him and start again with a new agent? Downside of this is that we must have a cooling off period of a month (I think) before we can start again.
2. Just get another agent in and swallow the dual fees

I know there are poor agents out there, but when it happens to you it's so demoralising.

JGB1955

What does your contract with the EA say?  Hopefully it was only for (perhaps) an initial 12 weeks or so, then cancellation with 14 days notice?  If you change agents, insist on a 'no tie-in' contract, but with 14 days notice..... it worked for me!

greatcrested

Check your contract with the agent.

* is it a 'sole agent' agreement?

* what is the 'minimum term'? (sometimes up to 28 weeks - ideally 6 weeks!). And what was the start date?

* what is the required 'notice period'? (sometimes up to a month - ideally 1 week or 10 days).

As you've lost confidence I suggest serving whatever notice is required and shoopping around.

Choose an agent with a high local profile, and negotiate all the terms:

* fees

* min term

* notice period

Check how they market/which websites they use, how many photos etc. Look at their adverts for other houses - are they well presented?

And reconsider the asking price. Maybe you are simply asking too much? Compare with other local similar properties, both the advertised price and the actual sale prices so you have a realistic idea of the value of your property.

tomg35

I'll check that but we do need to sell the house and don't really want any delay in marketing.
Is there an independent website that rates agents? Pointless looking at the agents sites as they are hardly going to post negative comments.

tomg35

greatcrested said:

Check your contract with the agent.

* is it a 'sole agent' agreement?

* what is the 'minimum term'? (sometimes up to 28 weeks - ideally 6 weeks!). And what was the start date?

* what is the required 'notice period'? (sometimes up to a month - ideally 1 week or 10 days).

As you've lost confidence I suggest serving whatever notice is required and shoopping around.

Choose an agent with a high local profile, and negotiate all the terms:

* fees

* min term

* notice period

Check how they market/which websites they use, how many photos etc. Look at their adverts for other houses - are they well presented?

And reconsider the asking price. Maybe you are simply asking too much? Compare with other local similar properties, both the advertised price and the actual sale prices so you have a realistic idea of the value of your property.

We don't think it's the asking price that is a problem, as we scour websites looking at similar properties in our area and we react to their price drops quickly (a couple of times we alerted the agent before he said anything). We have looked at actual selling price at similar properties and again we think we are competitive 

ElizabethRose

I'd ask on local Facebook page for people's opinions. Also look at rightmove to see which agents properties are selling quickly. One agent local to me sells within a week another ends up with reductions and are a lot slower to sell probably because they over price to start.

FaceHead

What is this statement that the EA made to your prospective buyer? The EA has a duty to ensure that the buyer is not misled, and a good EA will be upfront with a buyer about issues they know or reasonably suspect, as otherwise it'll just unravel later in the sale and waste everyone's time. They sound quite sharp if they've reasonably suspected this thing based on limited evidence over professional intuition. 

All surveys recommend further surveys. Cynically it's part of the !!!!!!-covering process or yet more cynically intended to sell further surveys. 

It doesn't sound like your EA has done a terribly bad job or that anyone else will do better. That said, I think you can probably do just as good a job, and would also propose binning the EA and advertising on purple bricks or similar. 

tomg35

We do have one local agent like that, sets a high price and a couple of weeks later are pushing for a drop. Most around here are also slow to change from under offer back to available.

JGB1955

There are sites such as Compare Estate Agents | Fees & Performance | GetAgent.co.uk but I can't comment on the data they hold.  I DO know that changing agents for selling my father's house resulted in a sudden influx of potential buyers.  The first agent was based in a town to the SE of the house - a bit of a 'trendy' place, popular with holiday home owners.  Moved agents to the NW, on a major route between two cities and suddenly we had professionals from both cities interested.  I wish I had listened to my gut feeling the first time around - our potential (and eventual) buyers weren't second home owners but DINKs in their late 40's/50's - just like my parents had been when they bought!

numbercruncher8

What was so bad about what the agent said?
Why would it be in their interest for them to say something that means it's more likely that the house would remain on their books, thus creating extra work?

On these timescales either its a quiet market or something else is wrong. Houses are meant to be flying?

Dual agency or a new agent is not going to help much if it is a quiet market - most people that are looking would already have browsed it on the portals; either you incur more fees in higher commissions or a lower price overall as the dual listing smells of desperation a bit.

tomg35

numbercruncher8 said:

What was so bad about what the agent said?
Why would it be in their interest for them to say something that means it's more likely that the house would remain on their books, thus creating extra work?

On these timescales either its a quiet market or something else is wrong. Houses are meant to be flying?

Dual agency or a new agent is not going to help much if it is a quiet market - most people that are looking would already have browsed it on the portals; either you incur more fees in higher commissions or a lower price overall as the dual listing smells of desperation a bit.

My complaint is that he said something to the buyer that he doesn’t know is true and has adversely influenced the buyer, which I consider isn’t a case of being open and honest, as you would expect/hope. If he doesn’t know the answer he should come to us. A couple of times, when we were present during viewings we had to correct him on things he has said. 

I agree it’s not in his interest to have my property on his books, but the amount of contact/updates from him has dropped off even though things have happened.
I agree the comment might indicate desperation but to be honest we do need to sell the house