EAs getting desperate?

ginvzt

gemima wrote: »

Business can't be that brisk judging by rightmove (I look every few hours). We looked at 6 properties over the weekend and not one of them have made a follow up call to see what we thought!!

Either that or they don't like us because we are always commenting about how overpriced houses are at the moment!!

Or they can't afford the phone bills so are waiting for you to call as it seems our EA is behaving!!!

dean_ham

Poppy9 wrote: »

In our local rag today Darlows is closing 21 branches in South Wales.

Funnily enough the EA that was desperate with me was Darlows and im in S.Wales

tomstickland

MUDGUTS wrote: »

I'm waiting for the right time to call a couple of Estate Agents and laugh down the phone at them.

It's not bad enough yet though.

You know, I've been fantasising about calling round the the EA's where the young sales advisor pretty much sneered at me when I told him I wanted to find something under £100K. I don't know if I'm nasty enough to really.

ginvzt

tomstickland wrote: »

You know, I've been fantasising about calling round the the EA's where the young sales advisor pretty much sneered at me when I told him I wanted to find something under £100K. I don't know if I'm nasty enough to really.

Here you go!!!! (I just got this emailed from EA - not that we are looking in that area at all)
http://www.entwistlegreen.co.uk/property-details.php?pcode=PRN080195&dbtype=sales&rps=entrps

Fred1_2

Poppy9 wrote: »

In our local rag today Darlows is closing 21 branches in South Wales.

I thought it was 3 branches that were closing. Does Darlows have 21 branches in total? I seem to remember it went bust or sold pretty quickly in the last housing downturn in the late 80s / early 90s only to reappear again when the housing market recovered.

Cinderbrook

I have at least one independent branch of EA that has just gone to the wall, but strangely two others opening new branches. No doubt just a 6 month exercise. The house next door to me was put on the market 10 days ago and the HIPS guy has only just done his report, very obvious sign of a slow market.

BobProperty

BobProperty wrote: »

I'm predicting two estate agents in my area will go out of business in the next couple of years. I'm also waiting to see what price two particular properties sell/sold for. One is up for auction next month with a guide of £225k. It has been on the market with another EA for £300k previously. I think £180-200k is more realistic, we'll see.
As with MUDGUTS, I'll keep a few of these details on the local EAs so when I'm buying in a few years I can remind them of their previous ludicrously overpriced properties.

Just bumping my own post to say the property failed to sell in the auction a few minutes ago and the highest bid was £190k. God, I'm good! :rotfl:

ginvzt

BobProperty wrote: »

Just bumping my own post to say the property failed to sell in the auction a few minutes ago and the highest bid was £190k. God, I'm good! :rotfl:

Have you thought of becoming an EA? would be much better than some of the rubish one we have at the moment!

LillyJ

I got a phone call yesterday from an agent who had not been very helpful before as our AST doesn't finish till end of June and he said it was too early for us to start looking.
My boyfriend told him we had already found somewhere and he said he has never heard a grown man sound so gutted in his whole life. Well it serves him right, if he had actually made appts for us to view houses we liked on his books, then we may have bought through him, who knows!?

ianmr65

BobProperty wrote: »

I'm predicting two estate agents in my area will go out of business in the next couple of years. I'm also waiting to see what price two particular properties sell/sold for. One is up for auction next month with a guide of £225k. It has been on the market with another EA for £300k previously. I think £180-200k is more realistic, we'll see.
As with MUDGUTS, I'll keep a few of these details on the local EAs so when I'm buying in a few years I can remind them of their previous ludicrously overpriced properties.

Well done on you prediction mate... the fact is tho, that EA's don't really go 'out of business' that implies you have a business, with assets, sales, and a real product, in the first place. Barriers to entry for agents are so low, be they estate or recruitment, all you really need is a rented shop or office.

When the effort starts to wind down, the partners (the only ones who are ever any good - within the paramaters of their normal mediocrtiy) go off and join a competitor, - probably the one they left to start the new place, the erks go off and find a job in macdonalds or a contact centre.

That's why most estate agent firms don't last more than 3 or 4 years.