Lodging complaint about estate agent for emotional blackmail

dutchcloggie

My friend wanted to buy a house and the offer was accepted and after the survey the house needed about 8,000 pounds of very urgent roof repairs according to the structural survey (as well as a load of other stuff that needs doing in the next few years such as damp course, leaking chimney, repair of non-moving structural cracking etc, adding up to around £20,000). A roofer quoted £5,000 pounds but that is still more cash than my friend has. So she wanted to renegotiate the price or have to vendor repair the roof and then she would buy the house for the original agreed price. And she said that if this was not an option, then she would like to withdraw from the sale.

The estate agent said the house was going to be on the market for £150,000 but that they had convinced the seller that £130,000 was more reasonable considering the required repairs (which the vendor and estate agent did not know about until my friend had a full structural survey done and told them about it, so that's a lie). The vendor bought the house last year for only £110,000 and has done probably around £10,000 of work on it so where that insane valuation comes from is a mystery.

The agent said my friend is "reaching for the Stars" by asking for a price reduction. They said if the vendor had done the roof repairs herself, it would be on the market for £150,000. So first she said the roof doesn't need urgent repairing. Then she said those quotes are too expensive and that surveys will always tell you repairs are needed so don't take them seriously. Why ask an expert then, if their advice is apparently pointless and people should just ignore it?? And yet if the vendor does the £5,000 repair, it somehow makes the house worth an extra 20,000? Why does the vendor not do it herself then?

Anyway, since then the estate agent (who has been calling her at 7:00am and 9:00 pm, as well as multiple times a day, sometimes 3 times in an hour) has told her that she is naïve, silly doesn't know what she's doing, that what she's trying to do is unheard of, that this has never happened to her in her long career, that "surely" she understand how doing work to the house increases the equity and therefore the value of the property, that my friend is shooting herself in the foot etc.

But worst of all she's told my friend that "speaking as a friend, not an estate agent", as a single mother she is denying her children the opportunity to own a property in the future by not buying that house. That other have offered more money but the vendor really wanted it to go to a single mother etc.

That last one in particular surely completely crosses any Ethical Lines? My friend is upset by this behaviour and it has made her wonder if she is indeed stupid for thinking she can buy a house. This is her first experience with buying a house so she has no other estate agent to compare this behaviour to.

This post is NOT about whether the decision to pull out is or isn't wise. The house probably is with £130,000 and yes, it would make sense to just buy it and fix the roof. But she cannot afford that extra cost and so that is the end of that. Surely it is entirely normal to reassess your budget after a survey. It is about the behaviour of the estate agent.

It feels completely unprofessional to contact buyers so wildly outside office hours. To make personal judgements about people like that and to try emotional blackmail in such a horrible way.

I feel I want to lodge a complaint with the regulator. Or is this acceptable behaviour?

RelievedSheff

Given that it isn't you but your friend who is dealing with the estate agent then you would have no grounds for complaint!

As for the agents behaviour, they are pushing for a sale. They don't get paid until the sale completes. They will try every trick in the book to get a sale. The agent who was selling the house we bought contacted us out of office hours, granted she didn't seem quite so forceful as your friends experience.

As for your friends situation. If she doesn't have the money to fix the roof and the house is priced with the repairs in mind then she can't afford that house and needs to be looking elsewhere with the thought in mind that she needs to make sure she has a budget for unexpected repairs and maintenance.

dutchcloggie

Hi,

Thanks. I won't be the one making a complaint. I am just asking on her behalf :-)

And that is exactly the point: She can't afford the house and wants to pull out. There surely is absolutely nothing weird, naive, stupid or unreasonable about that….Surely "as a mother" that IS the responsible thing to do…

RelievedSheff

Nothing wrong with pulling out at all on that basis. She is under no obligation to buy until contracts are exchanged.

The survey results are a very valid reason to walk away from this property if she can not come to an agreement with the vendor to lower the price.

GrubbyGirl_2

To quote Hamlet "the lady doth protest too much, methinks". That estate agent is trying to bully her into buying a house that clearly has huge problems and nobody else will buy. She is clearly lying by saying that others have offered more but the vendor wants her to have it. No vendor would turn down more money. The vendor clearly bought a pig in a poke last year and is trying to offload it to a mug. She not only should walk away, she should run!

The estate agents behaviour is grossly unacceptable. I would definitely complain to the and to any governing body. I would also hit social media and and expose their underhand tactics.

user1977

Or is this acceptable behaviour?

Yes. It's also acceptable for your friend to ignore the nonsense which the EA is spouting.

dutchcloggie

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81956347#Comment_81956347

I know many estate agents are snakes (not all of them), but personally I find telling someone who has clearly said she loves the house but can't afford it that she is failing as a mother to protect her children feels a little more than pushy sales tactics. I mean, that wasn't even "suggested", it was literally what she said.

mills112

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81956350#Comment_81956350

desperate maybe? she should tell the EA to go and do one and stop talking complete nonsense. say she doesn't want to engage in emotional talks as this is a financial transaction so there is no room for emotion. perhaps talking straight will deter the EA from trying to use the emotion card.

but yeah, they are all liars and slimy. a few are fine but they are certainly never honest as they wouldn't sell anything if they were honest!

Tabieth

The behaviour is unacceptable, I’d lodge a formal complaint in your friend's situation.

lincroft1710

If the EA had said any of what she said to your friend, I wouldn't have wasted any time in complaining about the EA, but would have told her straight to her face that she was a…….(sorry, Forum rules do not allow me to post the words I would have actually used)

dutchcloggie

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81956388#Comment_81956388

Well yes, but that is easy to say for me, who has experience in buying houses and isn't severely limited in her house choices due to a very small budget. And also, it is pretty difficult to do when you are on the phone to someone who is saying stuff like that and taking the wind out of your sails like that. She was stunned and too shocked to say anything. Because especially as a FTB, of course you start thinking: What if she is right? What if I am indeed being stupid or demanding too much, maybe this is normal when buying a house.

It won't happen next time as she now is armed with knowledge. Knowledge is power.