Estate agent role

downshifted

We have a long chain. As far as I can tell the EA has not been proactive in checking out the position of others in the chain. 

I was told that I was the last to complete paperwork (signed contracts for sale and purchase are with solicitors) & that we had to complete within 8 working days or the chain would fail. I had a frantic weekend, trying to organise a move. But that was all untrue. It turns out that further down the chain someone has only just got survey results and they are having further investigations done. 

I complained, only to be told “We can of course only relay what we have been advised in good faith by the Agents below. Disappointingly they hadn’t checked whether their buyer’s were in fact in a position to meet this deadline.”

I would have thought they should have checked the entire chain themselves, phoning each of the agents to check the position and only then relaying the info. Am I being unrealistic? I know solicitors can only deal with their direction sale and purchase contacts, but surely Estate Agents should be talking up and down the chain?

eddddy

downshifted said:

...but surely Estate Agents should be talking up and down the chain?

Yep... a good estate agent will be keeping up-to-date with every link in the chain.. But...

• Some estate agents aren't good
• Some buyers/sellers fib to their estate agents
• Some estate agents add a spin to (or fib about) what their buyers and sellers have told them

So you have to make your own judgement.

(FWIW, on one occasion my estate agent told me the FTB at the bottom of the chain was on the verge of walking away, if I didn't complete by a specific date. So I contacted the estate agent at the bottom of the chain, and found out that was completely untrue.)


I guess the good news is that most estate agents are paid on completion, which means they are very keen for completion to happen, and keen that it should happen as soon as possible.  So they are doing things which they think will help the sale, rather than hinder the sale.

downshifted

It’s a long chain and I only know who is buying mine…

MeteredOut

All estate agents lie, but some lie more than others

Tiglet2

downshifted said:

We have a long chain. As far as I can tell the EA has not been proactive in checking out the position of others in the chain. 

I was told that I was the last to complete paperwork (signed contracts for sale and purchase are with solicitors) & that we had to complete within 8 working days or the chain would fail. I had a frantic weekend, trying to organise a move. But that was all untrue. It turns out that further down the chain someone has only just got survey results and they are having further investigations done. 

I complained, only to be told “We can of course only relay what we have been advised in good faith by the Agents below. Disappointingly they hadn’t checked whether their buyer’s were in fact in a position to meet this deadline.”

I would have thought they should have checked the entire chain themselves, phoning each of the agents to check the position and only then relaying the info. Am I being unrealistic? I know solicitors can only deal with their direction sale and purchase contacts, but surely Estate Agents should be talking up and down the chain?

When you say the EA isn't proactive regarding the 'position' of the other parties in the chain, did you just mean you wanted to know if everyone is ready to complete by the 'deadline'?  I don't believe any  EA would know factually whether all the solicitors/third parties/buyers/sellers have done all their due diligence in being ready for a deadline set by who?

Once a property has sold (subject to contract), as far as the EA goes, their involvement is no longer necessary, apart from trying to hold the chain together by talking up and down the chain to ascertain where everyone is in relation to completing any paperwork etc.  EAs call this 'Sales Progression'.  But the EA is no longer involved in the ongoing legal work once the solicitors are instructed and start their work.

From the moment the solicitors start their work, the EA can only go on what he is being told by the various parties and to be honest, the information can get confusing/embellished/incorrectly passed on etc. so you shouldn't rely on this.

I cannot imagine that your solicitor would have agreed to an 8 working day turnaround, no matter who decided the deadline.  The deadline proposed was unrealistic.  Conveyancing takes around 3 months.  Obviously some of the other parties started their conveyancing ages ago, but your transaction still has to go through all the steps necessary to effect a good and marketable title.  In other words, the rest of the chain has to wait until your solicitor has completed his work - there will be no deadline/date/exchange until he is satisfied.

EAs, buyers and sellers do not decide deadlines.  Only when all the solicitors have done their legal work and are in a position to discuss dates, can all parties in the chain negotiate dates, but of course that date has to be agreed by all parties.

downshifted

Thanks everyone. 

The EA told me the chain was complete and I was the last in the chain to give the signed contracts to my solicitors. They said my buyers were insisting on contracts completing within 8 working days or they would lose their buyer. It seems they never checked with the other EAs in the long chain, as further down they are still in discussions over the survey results. So they misled me and I had a very worrying weekend.

It’s my understanding that the EA should monitor the entire chain until it is complete as solicitors only talk to their direct contacts, eg my solicitor only talks to my buyer’s and my seller’s solicitors. I think they had a duty of care to me to check what was happening and not just pass on what they’re told by one party as though it were gospel. I also think they be truthful about the state of the chain. 

Still, it’s all a learning experience