Estate agent gone spookily quiet

Helenochka

I'm reallly just asking this out of curiosity because the same thing has now happened to me twice.

A couple of years ago I had an offer accepted on a house and, following a bad survey report, I pulled out.  I notified the estate agent immediately. I think I was very polite. I pointed out the main defects, as listed in the survey report, without actually sending them a copy of the report.
I never received any acknowledgement from the agent. This is strange in a place like Northern Ireland because it's a very small world and chances are, if you're looking for a house, you may well end up going through the same estate agent next time you find one. So you would assume the estate agent would want to maintain some kind of reasonably friendly relationship, in case an opportunity to do business with you presented itself in the future. 

Exactly the same thing has just happened to me again. With a different agent (there only are about 4 or 5 big estate agents in County Down).

The survey report was very disappointing. I listed the defects as highlighted in the report and apologised but said I was pulling out.

Again, total silence. They haven't acknowledged my email in any way.

Could this be because, once informed that a buyer is pulling out because of a bad survey report, the agent is then under an obligation to disclose that information to any future would-be buyer?
And in failing to acknowledge the email, they perhaps think they can pretend they never read it, and so never received the relevant information?


As I said, I'm just curious.  Northern Ireland is usually a very friendly place and people are loquacious and courteous so this behaviour from two different agents is definitely odd.

jaelato1

Not sure what kind of response you'd expect. "Thanks for letting us know you are pulling out" or what exactly do you expect them to say back?

babyblade41

You have pulled out of 2 properties now due to the survey... maybe you are reading too much into the report rather than speaking to the agent.

If it's very small area future viewings may not be met with enthusiasm as you may come across as a difficult buyer.

EA's talk to each other so word will get around.

My recent sale fell through a day before exchange due to how difficult my buyers were. They then asked to view a property in the next village a week later.Our agent responded with " we are obliged to show you round, & pass on any offers but we will advise our client to proceed with caution as your previous conduct with our previous client was pretty dire "

Helenochka

jaelato1 said:

Not sure what kind of response you'd expect. "Thanks for letting us know you are pulling out" or what exactly do you expect them to say back?

I would expect them to say something along the lines of "We're sorry to hear that. Please do not hesitate to contact us if you think we can be of assistance in the future". 

Helenochka

babyblade41 said:

You have pulled out of 2 properties now due to the survey... maybe you are reading too much into the report rather than speaking to the agent.

If it's very small area future viewings may not be met with enthusiasm as you may come across as a difficult buyer.

EA's talk to each other so word will get around.

My recent sale fell through a day before exchange due to how difficult my buyers were. They then asked to view a property in the next village a week later.Our agent responded with " we are obliged to show you round, & pass on any offers but we will advise our client to proceed with caution as your previous conduct with our previous client was pretty dire "

babyblade41 said:

You have pulled out of 2 properties now due to the survey... maybe you are reading too much into the report rather than speaking to the agent.

If it's very small area future viewings may not be met with enthusiasm as you may come across as a difficult buyer.

EA's talk to each other so word will get around.

My recent sale fell through a day before exchange due to how difficult my buyers were. They then asked to view a property in the next village a week later.Our agent responded with " we are obliged to show you round, & pass on any offers but we will advise our client to proceed with caution as your previous conduct with our previous client was pretty dire "

I can see why you might think that but I really haven't been a difficult buyer. 
I've bought 2 rental properties in the area in the last 2 years and this latest was to have been the third. 
I'm not an inexperienced buyer and am not easily scared off by survey reports. I know the surveyor well, we always have a lengthy verbal conversation in addition to the written report and the two properties I pulled out of had major problems that would have been very expensive and difficult to fix. 
I'm just wondering whether there's someone out there who's perhaps worked as an estate agent and come across this practice of ceasing all correspondence as soon as a buyer cites a bad survey as the reason for pulling out. 
I doubt it's a coincidence - more likely a policy.  

jaelato1

Helenochka said:

jaelato1 said:

Not sure what kind of response you'd expect. "Thanks for letting us know you are pulling out" or what exactly do you expect them to say back?

I would expect them to say something along the lines of "We're sorry to hear that. Please do not hesitate to contact us if you think we can be of assistance in the future". 

While this is a nice gesture, they are not obligated to reply back. i put an offer on a house not too long ago and EA never even acknowledge my offer because it was a bit low.

JReacher1

I think the fact you’re emailing them is odd. Once you’ve had an offer accepted and at survey stage I think if you pull out you should do it over the phone. 

They probably don’t acknowledge you as it’s a bit rude how you are pulling out of the sale.  

Helenochka

Hi JReacher1
It hadn't occurred to me that it was rude to pull out by email but perhaps you're right. 
I acted pretty promptly. 
I had the offer accepted last week and immediately arranged a survey. I spoke to the surveyor on Monday and, on receiving the written report on Tuesday, I emailed the agent. 
I had assumed email was better because that way I could enclose extracts from the report which might be of use to the vendor and agent, given that any future surveys will likely flag up the same problems.  

Here's my question. 
Am I right in thinking estate agents have an obligation to inform prospective buyers that a previous survey led someone to pull out?
If so, do they have to provide that information automatically or only if asked?

Thanks in advance.  

anselld

You are over thinking it.  If a buyer pulls out the agent will be p'd off because they have lost their sale and commission.  It doesn't matter how well justified the reasons are and in the agent's mind they may wish to have nothing more to do with you.  Don't take it personally.

donutandbeer

Helenochka said:

Here's my question. 
Am I right in thinking estate agents have an obligation to inform prospective buyers that a previous survey led someone to pull out?
If so, do they have to provide that information automatically or only if asked?

Thanks in advance.  

I don’t believe estate agents have any obligation to inform future buyers about these things, not even when asked. They might inform them, if they realise how big of a problem it is and don’t want to wait for weeks for the buyers to find out and pull out. 

I’ve recently viewed houses where I was informed before/during the viewing that there are some potential problems that they would like to disclose so as to not waste everyone’s time. Things like: fire hazard cladding (on a freehold house), asbestos, and dispute with the developer over faulty roof (newish build, all owners suing the developer). Apart from asbestos which is fairly common in some houses, I believe they have priced the house with the problems in mind (it’s cheaper than other similar things), although you can argue that it might not be enough to attract buyers. 

I often hear estate agents says the previous buyer pull out because they couldn’t get a mortgage in the end. I know it’s common that people fail to get mortgage even with a AIP, but estate agents also use this “excuse” when they don’t want to spook future prospective buyers. Especially if they think the previous buyer pulled out out of something minor or just cold feet.