Estate agent role

MeteredOut

Murphybear said:

MeteredOut said:

All estate agents lie, but some lie more than others

I’m seriously impressed.  There are over 23,000 EAs in the U.K.  How long did it take for you to get to know them all enough to prove they lie? 😹😹😹

Ok, you've got me; maybe I've not spoken to them all. But any EA who says they haven't lied to a client (or potential client) is not telling the truth.

downshifted

“I think you are coming across a little entitled in your posts as if the EA arent doing enough to make sellers further down the chain to hurry up.”

No, I don’t expect them to do that at all. As I have said 

“I do expect them to actually check the chain is complete before telling me that it is. It’s not being difficult or unreasonable to expect them to phone down the chain, that was not done in this instance.”

tooldle

downshifted said:

“I think you are coming across a little entitled in your posts as if the EA arent doing enough to make sellers further down the chain to hurry up.”

No, I don’t expect them to do that at all. As I have said 

“I do expect them to actually check the chain is complete before telling me that it is. It’s not being difficult or unreasonable to expect them to phone down the chain, that was not done in this instance.”

From my most recent buying/selling experience, your agent has details of your sale  only. They can ask you to provide  details of your onward purchase (if relevant) and, they can ask your buyer for details of their sale. You / your buyer may wish to oblige but, you/your buyer are not obligated to do so. In our recent transaction, we did not provide details of our onward purchase to our sales agent. Worth remembering that not all sales have an agent. 

ExEstateAgent

MeteredOut said:

Murphybear said:

MeteredOut said:

All estate agents lie, but some lie more than others

I’m seriously impressed.  There are over 23,000 EAs in the U.K.  How long did it take for you to get to know them all enough to prove they lie? 😹😹😹

Ok, you've got me; maybe I've not spoken to them all. But any EA who says they haven't lied to a client (or potential client) is not telling the truth.

Well I take offence to that. I was an EA some years ago and can honestly say I never told lies to vendors or buyers. Why would I? The aim is to sell homes and earn commission. 

I'm no longer an EA and when I've dealt with them as a customer yes some are poor and some are great, but that's the same with any type of business isn't it. 

I do find the perception of EA's funny, remember they are an agent and rely on the vendors (and purchasers) being honest too and trust me, most of the issues I had with sales falling through were down to dodgy customers! Cash buyers who later admit they need or will use a mortgage, people trying to do deals behind your back, vendors and buyers dealing directly and then falling out and coming running to the EA to sort it out...... 

Your EA can't fully check the whole chain, especially these days with GDPR there's only so much they will legally be able to find out. The EA will keep in touch with buyer/seller and probably the people below and above, but that's if they want to cooperate. The EA wants the sale to go through or they don't earn anything. Your solicitor, who earns their money regardless of what happens, is better placed to check that kind of info. 

MeteredOut

ExEstateAgent said:

MeteredOut said:

Murphybear said:

MeteredOut said:

All estate agents lie, but some lie more than others

I’m seriously impressed.  There are over 23,000 EAs in the U.K.  How long did it take for you to get to know them all enough to prove they lie? 😹😹😹

Ok, you've got me; maybe I've not spoken to them all. But any EA who says they haven't lied to a client (or potential client) is not telling the truth.

Well I take offence to that. I was an EA some years ago and can honestly say I never told lies to vendors or buyers. Why would I? The aim is to sell homes and earn commission. 

I'm no longer an EA and when I've dealt with them as a customer yes some are poor and some are great, but that's the same with any type of business isn't it. 

I do find the perception of EA's funny, remember they are an agent and rely on the vendors (and purchasers) being honest too and trust me, most of the issues I had with sales falling through were down to dodgy customers! Cash buyers who later admit they need or will use a mortgage, people trying to do deals behind your back, vendors and buyers dealing directly and then falling out and coming running to the EA to sort it out...... 

Your EA can't fully check the whole chain, especially these days with GDPR there's only so much they will legally be able to find out. The EA will keep in touch with buyer/seller and probably the people below and above, but that's if they want to cooperate. The EA wants the sale to go through or they don't earn anything. Your solicitor, who earns their money regardless of what happens, is better placed to check that kind of info. 

Agreed, vendors and purchasers lie too.

I'd never expect an EA to (or even be able to) check the whole chain though.

saajan_12

downshifted said:

I can't see how the EA has misled you, they can only go with the information that is presented to them. The EA handling your sale will have other sales and purchases happening, they arent going to spend every minute tracking the progress specifically on yours. Once the chain is ready it will be ready, some things come to light at the 12th hour, thats just the way it is. 

I disagree. I don’t expect them to spend every minute tracking the progress specifically on mine. I do expect them to actually check the chain is complete before telling me that it is. It’s not being difficult or unreasonable to expect them to phone down the chain, that was not done in this instance.

downshifted said:

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?

That's your made up expectation, why not go further and say phone each vendor not just each agent in the chain, or examine the documents for each sale to check the actual progress..

1.  Firstly its pretty inefficient to have every pair of agents in a chain speak on the phone, rather thank just to the one above and below. They would slowly do nothing to actually progress things and just be asking the status. 

2. They're always relying on what they're told in good faith.. even if they contacted the rest of the chain, those people could still present things as further along than they are. 

3. An agent doesn't automatically even know every player, they have introduced a certain buyer, and can ASK who they are selling to / via what agent, but the buyer doesn't have to divulge this. 

downshifted said:

I also think that when there is a long chain it’s worth their while to invest a little time in keeping everything on the boil, or people are likely to drop out, and they don’t get paid at all then. Focusing all your attention on the initial marketing is a waste of time if sales don’t proceed in good time.

4. That's not what's in your contract, it will usually just say to introduce a buyer. Arguably any sales progression is not worth their while at all as most transactions would still complete eventually, and who cares if they get their money sooner or later. In practice most agencies take a middle ground, ie push things along but not throw good time after bad speaking to ever link. 
Regardless that's their choice, not something you have a right to.