How to deal with slimy Estate Agent? Can I cut them out?

[Deleted User]

steampowered said:

So, your offer was accepted on Friday afternoon. And the estate agent sorted out the memorandum of sale the following Monday.

That is completely reasonable!

The estate agent is not "playing games". They will need to get the memorandum of sale approved by the seller, and they will need to ask the seller for details - e.g. the details of their conveyancer. 

Its unlikely that the estate agent is "playing games" for the sake of £1k. The average selling agent commission in the UK is 1.18%, so an extra £1k on the purchase price might be worth £11.80 to the agent.

Of which the individual agent might get £2 of

person2

steampowered said:

So, your offer was accepted on Friday afternoon. And the estate agent sorted out the memorandum of sale the following Monday.

That is completely reasonable!

The estate agent is not "playing games". They will need to get the memorandum of sale approved by the seller, and they will need to ask the seller for details - e.g. the details of their conveyancer. 

Firstly, no that's not what I said. The offer was accepted earlier in the week. The EA received the MoS & conveyancer details ready to be given to my solicitor on Friday, but decided not to tell me, despite promising to do so, but did tell me this once I contacted for an update. Monday was simply me asking why it still hasn't been sent over, to which they're avoiding me.

steampowered said:

Its unlikely that the estate agent is "playing games" for the sake of £1k. The average selling agent commission in the UK is 1.18%, so an extra £1k on the purchase price might be worth £11.80 to the agent.

The EA has lied about an offer. Whether common practice or not, it's shady and underhand and removes all credibility on their part. They acted like my offer had been rejected when it hadn't even been passed to the seller. When finally presenting the offer to the seller, the seller accepted, so obviously no issue with my offer. My financial advisor agrees he feels they're trying to take advantage of me being a first-time buyer. If this isn't 'playing games', then I'm not sure what is?

And finally, yes, I understand percentages. This is why I made the post, because it doesn't add up.

It sounds like stamp duty rush + a dual estate agent commission dispute is the most likely issue.

person2

gwynlas said:

Slow down and smell the coffee.

Buying property takes as long as it takes even with being a cash buyer of a vacant property. The only quick route in England and Wales is by buying through a traditional auction.
Sorry but you just have to wait and realise that realistically you are unlikely to be  looking at a completion date before October. There are a tremendous number of FTBs on this site who think the process is simple, whilst individuals can and sometimes do their own conveyancing you are now caught up in a waiting game.
Let your solicitoe know that you wish to proceed asap as well as EA B but remember more than weekly follow ups is lijkely to lead to frustration on your part. Yours is not the only transaction they are dealing with and you are currently last in the queue.

I realise it's not that simple, that's why I'm here asking. I appreciate your point, but as I understand it, they have all the details required from the seller and have the sales memorandum ready, just a matter of emailing it over to my solicitor. It's true they may be slammed with last minute stamp duty sales. I'll wait until Thursday and see if I hear anything back.

kdotdotdotdot

person2 said:

The EA has lied about an offer. Whether common practice or not, it's shady and underhand and removes all credibility on their part. They acted like my offer had been rejected when it hadn't even been passed to the seller. When finally presenting the offer to the seller, the seller accepted, so obviously no issue with my offer. My financial advisor agrees he feels they're trying to take advantage of me being a first-time buyer. If this isn't 'playing games', then I'm not sure what is?

You actually don't know that the EA lied about the offer.  You're just assuming that because of a very slight delay in getting back to you.  

You're going to need a lot more patience if you'd like to still be sane by the end of this process. 

Perhaps the EA is shady, perhaps not, but there isn't anything you can do about it either way.  Decisions take time, paperwork takes even more time, and nobody involved in the process seems to be in any hurry about their job.  It is deeply, deeply frustrating.

Just remember that you're not the only person the EA, solicitor or seller is dealing with.  They may well receive a response at a particular time but not be able to process it because of volume of work (or laziness, or ineptitude or sheer bloody-mindedness - take your pick) until later that week. Or even the following week.

Tiglet2

OP, the sales memorandum is really just a piece of paper with buyer/seller details on, agreed property price and accompanied (usually) by a copy of the sales particulars and EPC.  By the time it reaches the solicitor, the solicitor may already know who the other side solicitor is, because the seller may have already told them.  

This is just the first part of the whole transaction.  If you are stressed about this, then you will be stressed for the next 3-6 months.  Everything works as fast as the slowest link and everything takes longer than you think it will.

If your seller has already instructed a solicitor, then no doubt the solicitor would have already sent the seller various forms for them to complete and return (including their Terms of Business, Fixtures & Contents, Property Information Form, though I don't suppose "the corporate" will know much about the property and may state that property is sold as seen).  The seller's solicitor is most likely already working on preparing the draft contract pack.  Your solicitor cannot start the legal work until they receive the draft contract pack in any case, so there shouldn't be any delay due to the sales memorandum taking a few extra days to be received.

Every party involved in your transaction will have to prioritise their workflow and they will do the work necessary to transfer the ownership of the property to you.  What you can't do is dictate how fast they work and when they do it.  In order to manage your stress levels, you really do need to let them get on with the work and chill out about it.  As a first time buyer, does it really matter if it completes in 2 months or 5 months as long as you finally get to move in?