Yopa large overvaluation- chance to get fees back?

user1977

GDB2222 said:

Schwarzwald said:

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head said:

Schwarzwald said:

jimmyb78 said:

So I put decided to put my little flat on the market last year with my local Yopa agent valuing it at 95k with a carparking space.

I chose the Pay Later option, which is a fee of 1199 after 10 months. My agent assured me an excellent rental property like mine should go easily. 

Well, it hasn't. I first had to drop to 90k, then 85k. Still no offers. At this price I'm already in negative equity and had told my agent at the start that there would be no point putting the flat on the market at this value. I only agreed after the 95k valuation. 

Yesterday he revealed he'd had an offer of 80k and that he didn't believe we could get 85k for the flat now. This is 16% lower than advised. 

I cannot afford to sell at this price, and Yopa want their £1199. Considering the sheer size of the valuation discrepancy do people think i have a case of avoiding the fee due to being badly advised? I just want the place off the market now as the situation seems hopeless. I have raised a complaint but any advise is appreciated. 

As I am stuck on a delayed flight, I just read up Yopa’s T&C, which clearly state:

“The Local Yopa Agent will provide a guide price for marketing the Property for sale. … Ultimately, it will be your decision (as a Seller) to decide on the Marketing Price… 

You agree and acknowledge that the guide price provided by the Local Yopa Agent …. is not a valuation of the Property”

In addition, it also clearly states:

“5.3 IMPORTANT … If you choose Pay Later you agree to pay the Yopa Fee … in full on the earlier of:

a. the Completion of the sale of your Property;

b. the expiry of 10 months from the date your Property is listed by Yopa; or

c. if, after the date your Property is listed by Yopa, you terminate this Agreement or withdraw your Property from the Market at any time, the date of any such cancellation/withdrawal.”

You might be unhappy with the outcome, but their T&Cs seem to be stated pretty clear and transparent. 

On that basis, I dont see how you have any case based on the lack of offers / below your expectations and are due to pay them their fee (unless you can show they failed to provide any other agreed services, which you havent mentioned so far).

T&Cs can’t override legislation, if someone values (or offers a guide price on) a house at 500k and it’s worth 200k then it’s clear they either don’t know what they are doing and lack the skill to perform the service or undertook a misleading action to gain business. 

Problem with the OP is in terms of houses the amount it’s out by is that much.

Worth complaining to see if they will at least reduce the fee. 

While true reg T&Cs not overriding legislation, totally irrelevant here.

Or which “legislation” are you referring to?

EAs are not licensed and 10% deviation between estimate/guidance below offer (all while interest rate environment totally changed in last 10 months) cannot seriously be described as “misleading”, at best it was marketing and that’s just part of being a good sales person - it goes both ways: to win the mandate to market a property from the Seller, then to sell it the Buyer.

Your made-up 60% deviation example has no practical relevance here neither, simply didnt occur like that.

Worth complaining is always worth a try if unhappy with a service or product, but there simply doesnt seem to be any basis.

The deviation here is 20%, which is unreasonable. 

Even if it's in line with what other agents said at the time? Yes, it might mean they were all being equally misleading - or it could indicate that it wasn't an unreasonable estimate with the information available at that point.

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

Schwarzwald said:

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head said:

Schwarzwald said:

jimmyb78 said:

So I put decided to put my little flat on the market last year with my local Yopa agent valuing it at 95k with a carparking space.

I chose the Pay Later option, which is a fee of 1199 after 10 months. My agent assured me an excellent rental property like mine should go easily. 

Well, it hasn't. I first had to drop to 90k, then 85k. Still no offers. At this price I'm already in negative equity and had told my agent at the start that there would be no point putting the flat on the market at this value. I only agreed after the 95k valuation. 

Yesterday he revealed he'd had an offer of 80k and that he didn't believe we could get 85k for the flat now. This is 16% lower than advised. 

I cannot afford to sell at this price, and Yopa want their £1199. Considering the sheer size of the valuation discrepancy do people think i have a case of avoiding the fee due to being badly advised? I just want the place off the market now as the situation seems hopeless. I have raised a complaint but any advise is appreciated. 

As I am stuck on a delayed flight, I just read up Yopa’s T&C, which clearly state:

“The Local Yopa Agent will provide a guide price for marketing the Property for sale. … Ultimately, it will be your decision (as a Seller) to decide on the Marketing Price… 

You agree and acknowledge that the guide price provided by the Local Yopa Agent …. is not a valuation of the Property”

In addition, it also clearly states:

“5.3 IMPORTANT … If you choose Pay Later you agree to pay the Yopa Fee … in full on the earlier of:

a. the Completion of the sale of your Property;

b. the expiry of 10 months from the date your Property is listed by Yopa; or

c. if, after the date your Property is listed by Yopa, you terminate this Agreement or withdraw your Property from the Market at any time, the date of any such cancellation/withdrawal.”

You might be unhappy with the outcome, but their T&Cs seem to be stated pretty clear and transparent. 

On that basis, I dont see how you have any case based on the lack of offers / below your expectations and are due to pay them their fee (unless you can show they failed to provide any other agreed services, which you havent mentioned so far).

T&Cs can’t override legislation, if someone values (or offers a guide price on) a house at 500k and it’s worth 200k then it’s clear they either don’t know what they are doing and lack the skill to perform the service or undertook a misleading action to gain business. 

Problem with the OP is in terms of houses the amount it’s out by is that much.

Worth complaining to see if they will at least reduce the fee. 

While true reg T&Cs not overriding legislation, totally irrelevant here.

Or which “legislation” are you referring to?

EAs are not licensed and 10% deviation between estimate/guidance below offer (all while interest rate environment totally changed in last 10 months) cannot seriously be described as “misleading”, at best it was marketing and that’s just part of being a good sales person - it goes both ways: to win the mandate to market a property from the Seller, then to sell it the Buyer.

Your made-up 60% deviation example has no practical relevance here neither, simply didnt occur like that.

Worth complaining is always worth a try if unhappy with a service or product, but there simply doesnt seem to be any basis.

The OP is a consumer and Yopa a trader so the Consumer Rights Act applies meaning services must be carried out with due care and skill.

Yopa are also bound by the Consumer Protection From Unfair Trading Regulations covering unfair and misleading practices. 

There was however an unfortunately typo in my last reply, although hopefully apparent by the use of the word problem at the start of the sentence, it should have read:

Problem with the OP is in terms of houses the amount it’s out by is not that much.

I.e the made up 60% deviation example is an extreme to demonstrate why such a practice would be in breach of the legislation but for the OP the figures in £s are not that much in general terms of house prices, as a % probably unacceptable but not necessarily clear cut to show there was a lack of skill or a ploy to overvalue to earn the sale.

The idea that Yopa (a company who has experience with house values) offer a guide price but it's up to the seller (who has little to no experience with house values) to decided whether or not their guide price has any merit is on shaky grounds IMHO. 

sidneyvic

What a load of tosh. Of course the fee is due, you signed a contract that is legally binding. And yes they will take you to court, they deal with this sort of thing all the time. When they win you will be also liable for their costs. No if or buts you owe what you owe. Live and learn. 

Sarah1Mitty2

GDB2222 said:

Schwarzwald said:

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head said:

Schwarzwald said:

jimmyb78 said:

So I put decided to put my little flat on the market last year with my local Yopa agent valuing it at 95k with a carparking space.

I chose the Pay Later option, which is a fee of 1199 after 10 months. My agent assured me an excellent rental property like mine should go easily. 

Well, it hasn't. I first had to drop to 90k, then 85k. Still no offers. At this price I'm already in negative equity and had told my agent at the start that there would be no point putting the flat on the market at this value. I only agreed after the 95k valuation. 

Yesterday he revealed he'd had an offer of 80k and that he didn't believe we could get 85k for the flat now. This is 16% lower than advised. 

I cannot afford to sell at this price, and Yopa want their £1199. Considering the sheer size of the valuation discrepancy do people think i have a case of avoiding the fee due to being badly advised? I just want the place off the market now as the situation seems hopeless. I have raised a complaint but any advise is appreciated. 

As I am stuck on a delayed flight, I just read up Yopa’s T&C, which clearly state:

“The Local Yopa Agent will provide a guide price for marketing the Property for sale. … Ultimately, it will be your decision (as a Seller) to decide on the Marketing Price… 

You agree and acknowledge that the guide price provided by the Local Yopa Agent …. is not a valuation of the Property”

In addition, it also clearly states:

“5.3 IMPORTANT … If you choose Pay Later you agree to pay the Yopa Fee … in full on the earlier of:

a. the Completion of the sale of your Property;

b. the expiry of 10 months from the date your Property is listed by Yopa; or

c. if, after the date your Property is listed by Yopa, you terminate this Agreement or withdraw your Property from the Market at any time, the date of any such cancellation/withdrawal.”

You might be unhappy with the outcome, but their T&Cs seem to be stated pretty clear and transparent. 

On that basis, I dont see how you have any case based on the lack of offers / below your expectations and are due to pay them their fee (unless you can show they failed to provide any other agreed services, which you havent mentioned so far).

T&Cs can’t override legislation, if someone values (or offers a guide price on) a house at 500k and it’s worth 200k then it’s clear they either don’t know what they are doing and lack the skill to perform the service or undertook a misleading action to gain business. 

Problem with the OP is in terms of houses the amount it’s out by is that much.

Worth complaining to see if they will at least reduce the fee. 

While true reg T&Cs not overriding legislation, totally irrelevant here.

Or which “legislation” are you referring to?

EAs are not licensed and 10% deviation between estimate/guidance below offer (all while interest rate environment totally changed in last 10 months) cannot seriously be described as “misleading”, at best it was marketing and that’s just part of being a good sales person - it goes both ways: to win the mandate to market a property from the Seller, then to sell it the Buyer.

Your made-up 60% deviation example has no practical relevance here neither, simply didnt occur like that.

Worth complaining is always worth a try if unhappy with a service or product, but there simply doesnt seem to be any basis.

The deviation here is 20%, which is unreasonable. 

It does depend how the estimate was worded, though.  "It might be worth trying a £95k asking price" is different from "I am confident that we can achieve close to £95k".  If Yopa were foolish enough to say the latter, I'd be seeing them in court.

I doubt that would get very far in court.

Sarah1Mitty2

sidneyvic said:

What a load of tosh. Of course the fee is due, you signed a contract that is legally binding. And yes they will take you to court, they deal with this sort of thing all the time. When they win you will be also liable for their costs. No if or buts you owe what you owe. Live and learn. 

That`s it, the basic rule really is that a house is worth what someone will pay for it, not what an agent says it might be worth.