Has Estate Agent made a boob

saajan_12

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6677988/has-estate-agent-made-a-boob

Sounds like the issues are:

1. First time buyer turned out to be in chain
2. Second buyer wants L3 survey with appointment 1 month later
3. Agent said exchange will be in Sept

The causes / fault:

1. Could be the agent, if they didn't check, or could be the buyer lied/changed plans. All they could check is whether they have enought deposit and a DIP, which is easy to get from banks without a full check. Unclear.
2. The agent just gives the name & contact details, they wouldn't get involved in checking availability, that's well beyond their remit. You could never insist on the buyer choosing your agent, a month isn't out of the ordinary.
3. That's a reasonable estimate for a purchase that started in late June / Early July. They don't actually set exchange, so their words don't CAUSE a delay, they're just setting expectations. If you were expecting end of July, then 1 month for the whole process was ambitions / unrealistic.

Basically the first is maybe the agent's fault, may not be. Teh rest is nothing to do with them. I say this as someone who thinks agents are generally useless, and has let property directly without an agent wherever I can. But that doesn't mean that all issues are their fault.