Are estate agents of this planet?

[Deleted member 37751]

I've moved out of commercial vehicles and into property development, and I am dealing more and more with a very strange alien otherwise known as an estate agent.

I know of no other business that negotiates in this way, here is an example of the games I have to play (House price is £85k and has been on the market for a week FYI)

Estate agent 'I need your final best offer today'

Me "ok, I'll call you back about 3pm".

<cue five phone calls before this time asking me for my final offer>

I ring at 3pm, like I said, and simply say to the estate agent "I'll give you the £85k and it'll be in the vendors bank account within three days"

Estate agent 'hmmm, that might not be enough sir'

Me "well that's the asking price, why wouldn't it be enough?"

Estate agent 'there may be other interested parties willing to offer more'

Me "you said that you wanted final offers this afternoon and now you're saying that's not the case"

Estate agent 'maybe'

Me "just tell me how much the vendor wants for the house and if the asking price, their asking price, isn't enough then tell me now and stop wasting my time"

Estate agent 'I'm not saying there are other interested parties, just that there maybe'

Me "you've never been in any other line of work, have you?"

Then I put the phone down, bored of their strange and alien negotiation tactics.

Off the back of this, I'm very tempted to start a transparent estate agency, that deals in black and white without the vagueness.

 

[davidjpowell]

Sadly many of them are monkeys. Some of them are worse than others.

I'd like to see them have to be qualified, but hey ho.

You tend to get the two ends. At one end is the wide boy, out for himself with no morals or standards. He might know his game, but it's No1 who wins. Then there's the other end - this is a young girl who works for a corporate, and as long as she makes her calls and meets her targets of speaking to people is happy.

Then there's the other end (must be a triangle!), when you try to sell and a valuer who's about 18 comes along and quotes a wildly inflated value to get the sale.

In the middle there are a few honest and reliable EA's.

 

[whitenemesis]

.............................
Off the back of this, I'm very tempted to start a transparent estate agency, that deals in black and white without the vagueness.

You'd be dealing with the general public, there will always be vagueness..

 

[kth286]

If you put in the time to learn the regs and processes that Agents have to abide by, you will then be a position of authority to enable you to remind them of such rules and the sanctions that may apply to them if they do not comply.

You will then earn their respect and they will play the game properly (at least with you).

 

[peter49]

It is a legal requirement for the estate agent to put your offer to the vendor for consideration. It is then for the vendor to accept or reject your offer.

 

[IanA2]

Yup....they are, Planet Greed which has moons Something and for Nothing.

 

[Palfrem]

We are contemplating a move and had an estate agent come to do a valuation the other day.

Mrs P is at home so she let him in and his opening gambit is "I've already done the valuation from a quick look round outside from the front"

 

[Dryce]

Off the back of this, I'm very tempted to start a transparent estate agency, that deals in black and white without the vagueness.

Since the homebuyer's report thing started in Scotland there is absolutely no reason why houses can't be punted via the web without any need for estate agents.

But .....

Too many buyers and sellers really really don't seem to be willing to put in a minimal amount of legwork or diligence to allow the process to be made financially more efficient.

Moreover if you came up with an agency that played it absolutely straight down the middle and didn't used strange puffed up language and do all the BS. (a) the buyers would think the properties were inferior and (b) the sellers wouldn't think you were workig hard enough.

Go figure.

 

[Dryce]

Mrs P is at home so she let him in and his opening gambit is "I've already done the valuation from a quick look round outside from the front"

But is any other kind of valuation any better?

It would be better if homes were described using some basic parameters. You don't see square meterage of floor area used very often. That would be a good basic start.

 

[developer]

It is a legal requirement for the estate agent to put your offer to the vendor for consideration. It is then for the vendor to accept or reject your offer.

This is the crux of the matter - it's how the agent handles the situation the sorts out the good from the bad.

 

[brucemillar]

My neighbour is selling. Estate Agent says £440k is a strong minimum price but he should advertise it at £460k.

First viewer offers £410k which is rejected by my neighbour.

Same estate agent calls neighbour and tells him he is being silly and should re-think. "this is a very good offer in the current climate". Time to change agents.

 

[abecketts]

Mrs a'Beckett's works for a firm of solicitors conveyancing is her forte and she rages at the complete idiots who are estate agents chasing them for fees and the size of the fee far outweighs the legal costs and which one is more important.

I wish we had the scottish system so much simpler and takes the plonker out of the equation.

 

[Deleted member 37751]

If you put in the time to learn the regs and processes that Agents have to abide by, you will then be a position of authority to enable you to remind them of such rules and the sanctions that may apply to them if they do not comply.

You will then earn their respect and they will play the game properly (at least with you).

My experience so far is that they're all just making it up as they go along.

Can you imagine going to look at a car for sale that was say £5k and you have a look at the car and are happy to pay the asking price, then the seller starts saying that £5k might not be enough to buy, there's other interested parties?

 

[wemorgan]

You know something is wrong when the legal bill is less than the estate agent's bill, where the solicitor studied at university and the estate agent left school at 16 with few skills other than to open a door and talk rubbish.

 

[E270 Owner]

Little House Company: Private House Sales - Homes for Sale by Owner - Sell my House Online

I highly recommend have a good read and watch the infomercial of the above if you are thinking of selling

 

[moonloops]

I'm not sure what gene pool the estate agents come from but they are definitely from the shallow end of it..

Me: Hi estate agent I want to put my house on the marked for 95 spondoolicks as that will give me enough equity and a bit spare to pay off my second home mortgage. My absolute bottom dollar is 85 spondoolicks so please aim for the higher of the two numbers

EA: Sure not a problem

EA after a few viewings: There is an offer of 70 spondoolicks are you happy to accept?

Me <in a slow voice>: No, like I said 85 spons min - tell them to take a hike. I'm in no hurry to sell and only reason I am selling is to clear the other mortgage of which I need the 85 min

EA: Ah OK, <a bit later> How about an offer of 75 and you pay their stamp duty (which equated to about 10 spons) ??

Me: "FFS"

 

[mattk1]

Sadly many of them are monkeys. Some of them are worse than others.

I'd like to see them have to be qualified, but hey ho.

You tend to get the two ends. At one end is the wide boy, out for himself with no morals or standards. He might know his game, but it's No1 who wins. Then there's the other end - this is a young girl who works for a corporate, and as long as she makes her calls and meets her targets of speaking to people is happy.

Then there's the other end (must be a triangle!), when you try to sell and a valuer who's about 18 comes along and quotes a wildly inflated value to get the sale.

In the middle there are a few honest and reliable EA's.

Love your two ended triangle

 

[davidjpowell]

I'm not sure what gene pool the estate agents come from but they are definitely from the shallow end of it..

Me: Hi estate agent I want to put my house on the marked for 95 spondoolicks as that will give me enough equity and a bit spare to pay off my second home mortgage. My absolute bottom dollar is 85 spondoolicks so please aim for the higher of the two numbers

EA: Sure not a problem

EA after a few viewings: There is an offer of 70 spondoolicks are you happy to accept?

Me <in a slow voice>: No, like I said 85 spons min - tell them to take a hike. I'm in no hurry to sell and only reason I am selling is to clear the other mortgage of which I need the 85 min

EA: Ah OK, <a bit later> How about an offer of 75 and you pay their stamp duty (which equated to about 10 spons) ??

Me: "FFS"

OK they've not communicated this well, and giving them the benefit of the doubt you would be plenty ****** off if they did not communicate the offer that they are legally obliged to.

The tactic I don't agree with (and I wonder whether this has taken place here) is to over-value in the first place and then try and manage clients expectations. Certain agents around here are infamous.

 

[wemorgan]

I wouldn't mind dealing with monkeys, if all we ever paid them was peanuts.

 

[John Jones Jr]

My experience so far is that they're all just making it up as they go along.

Yep. And, it will get worse too. The more buoyant the market becomes, the less professionalism & standards apply. Good luck.