estate agents

[leeds chimp]

kinda  a long post...need your advice

 

Few months ago we saw a house we loved (was probate) ...up for £225k...said to the EA we were interested but EA said would need to sell ours before making any offers as thats what the vender wants...Did not get on with the EA that did show us round the house...typical slip back hair pointed shoes kid...who did not know much about the house and just gave one or two word answers to questions...was not impressed at all...he then said it had gone UP to £240k ....questioned this a few times and even the ad on rightmove ...said was a mistake......for the last 8 weeks at 225k  ..been on the market 6 months now and still not sold

Talked about it in my local and it got back to him...(typical small village) ..and a collegue of his called me out on it while on the phone to me...asking if I had said all that...did not deny it as was true......which i thought was very unprofessional as it was business not personal about him

Then we sold ours and went back to view it again.. and made an offer of £215k....which was declined in less than a hour ....rang back and went to 222K which is near the top of our budget....

That was declined too...EA says the vender wants more....but wont say how much or anything ...so i said would walk away.....

Talking to a acquaintance at the school gate who knew the vender and told me the details...lady died and house being sold and split 5 ways ........but most of them dont get on....then the ad was removed on Rightmove ...moving to a different agent  ....so using socal media sent the vender a message saying we are still interested and let us know...which she said she would.

Spoke to the EA to let us know if they come back...EA not happy at all that I sent the message...ad we both got really ****y with each other...said if they had done their job right and managed the venders expections the sale would have been done....

And now i am stuck........

Do i wait till its relisted with a different agent and go from there?

go back to the old EA and do a final offer?

Forget it and walk away....but its just about our perfect house

[moondoggy]

Can't you just deal directly with the vender?

Saving them the EA fee may prompt them to accept your offer.

[JDog]

1 minute ago, moondoggy said:

Can't you just deal directly with the vender?

Saving them the EA fee may prompt them to accept your offer.

It seems like there are five vendors some of whom do not get on. In any event bypassing an Estate Agent is underhand to say the least.

[DanBettin]

17 minutes ago, JDog said:

It seems like there are five vendors some of whom do not get on. In any event bypassing an Estate Agent is underhand to say the least.

So what? He didn't do this from the outset, he did it because of the hassle he'd already had. And I dare say your average estate agent wouldn't think twice about playing an underhand strategy, especially when the likes of their 'perfect house' are riding on it and there'd already been a lot of messing around.

Edited February 26, 2018 by DanBettin

[leeds chimp]

1 minute ago, DanBettin said:

So what? He didn't do this from the outset, he did it because of the hassle he'd already had. And I dare say your average estate agent wouldn't think twice about playing an underhand strategy, especially when the likes of their 'perfect house' are riding on it and there'd already been a lot of messing around.

happy to go to the orginal asking price of 225k  but cant decide when to put the offer in ..nowor when it comes back on the market

21 minutes ago, moondoggy said:

Can't you just deal directly with the vender?

Saving them the EA fee may prompt them to accept your offer.

dealt a little with the vender direct but then blocked me on the social media....

21 minutes ago, JDog said:

It seems like there are five vendors some of whom do not get on. In any event bypassing an Estate Agent is underhand to say the least.

just lost all trust in them ....dont think they are painting us in the best light since they know i slagged them off

 

sold ours to a cash buyer....we have EVERYTHING in place to proceed...but either the vender or EA has bumped the price up ...

[Dave at kelton]

Difficult one.

Firstly it is likely that as the first agent introduced you he is entitled to a fee if he got his contract with the vendors right.

He has though been sacked it seems so may think he will leave the aggro to the new agent and then try and claim a fee. Acting for more than one vendor can be hell if they don' get on. I have been there!

If you **** the vendors off they may say they will not sell to you whatever you offer.

I think all you can do is make sure the vendors know you are still interested but not to the point you will pay any price and then wait for the new agent to be appointed and try to deal through them. You have not of course said if there is likely to be much demand as that of course does make a difference. Whatever you do don't **** the new agent off and don't slag off the old one.

And by the way I am a commercial property consultant not an estate agent if anyone is sticking pins in my effigy 

[leeds chimp]

cant pay any price as cant get the mortgage for it.....

pretty sure they know we are still interested and kinda desperate for it but just cant raise the asking price as it not worth that to us ...and been on the market 6 months now ....just going to wait for the new agent then....

they have had a few offers of  £208-£220k ...and in my eyes we are the highest offer and in the best position to proceed 

[moondoggy]

49 minutes ago, JDog said:

It seems like there are five vendors some of whom do not get on. In any event bypassing an Estate Agent is underhand to say the least.

Why?

Sounds like they have dismissed the EA.

[leeds chimp]

7 minutes ago, moondoggy said:

Why?

Sounds like they have dismissed the EA.

they have "sacked" the EA and going with a new one...but dont know who or when

 

[Dougy]

Sounds like a pretty rubbish Estate agent..

These type give good Estate agents a very bad name. 

Also it's not uncommon  that they will not accept offers until proof of funds has been shown. And to quite frank why should they. 

[leeds chimp]

5 minutes ago, Dougy said:

Sounds like a pretty rubbish Estate agent..

These type give good Estate agents a very bad name. 

Also it's not uncommon  that they will not accept offers until proof of funds has been shown. And to quite frank why should they. 

already shown a copy of the DIP from the mortgage company

[Snoozer]

If it was me i'd print a copy of the details of the property when it was listed at the EA who got sacked and drop a copy into all the EA's that are likely to sell the property telling them to contact you asap if they get the sale.

[Munzy]

Problem now will be the legacy of the sale if you pick up with the new EA.

The vendor will have had a contract with the first EA meaning you going direct to the vendor AFTER the EA showed you the house would result in the EA taking the vendor to court to get their commission had you bought it.

Problem you have now is that a new EA may be less willing to sell to you because the vendor may still owe the original EA commission if you buy it. Clearly the vendor won’t want to pay commission twice (once to original EA and then again to the new one). If the new EA has two buyers, you and someone else, my bet would be they try not to sell to you.

[leeds chimp]

20 minutes ago, Snoozer said:

If it was me i'd print a copy of the details of the property when it was listed at the EA who got sacked and drop a copy into all the EA's that are likely to sell the property telling them to contact you asap if they get the sale.

Already tipped off the EA i think its going to that we are after it

4 minutes ago, Munzy said:

Problem now will be the legacy of the sale if you pick up with the new EA.

The vendor will have had a contract with the first EA meaning you going direct to the vendor AFTER the EA showed you the house would result in the EA taking the vendor to court to get their commission had you bought it.

Problem you have now is that a new EA may be less willing to sell to you because the vendor may still owe the original EA commission if you buy it. Clearly the vendor won’t want to pay commission twice (once to original EA and then again to the new one). If the new EA has two buyers, you and someone else, my bet would be they try not to sell to you.

the EA i think ita going to has already said hat they will do their best to make sure dont have to pay double commission ...worse case is that I pay it if they get me the house within our budget

[Mungler]

So, if you have been attracted to the house on the current EA's "watch" then commission will have to be paid. That's simple enough.

EA's are under a duty to pass on offers. Not all do. Indeed, if you were an unscrupulous agent, in circumstances like this you could give a cock and bull story to all purchasers and generally mess them about until they got bored or went away, you would then revert to whoever you were taking instructions from on behalf of the deceased's estate (whoever that maybe) and say "it's just not selling" and then as if by magic a buyer (normally a builder or property developer) will come out of the mist and say that they will buy it.

My 2p - get onto the probate registry and pull the grant of probate for the deceased - it's a public record. That will tell you who the executors are and who the beneficiaries are. The executors will be in charge of the sale - drop them a line in writing, keep it short and simple:

1. I'm not getting on with the EA despite my best efforts; that happens but I want to make sure that that relationship breakdown hasn't queered my pitch

2. I've sold my house and am ready to go and subject to contract I am offering £x

Then see what comes back. If the answer is "no, we put all our faith and trust in the EA", then you can leave it with your best offer and say "you know where we are". If they come back with "I didn't know anyone had made an offer" then you can fill in the blanks.

If the executors were up to monkey business too then they won't want your offer in writing and on the table - whoever does buy it will have to offer more.

 

 

[leeds chimp]

1 hour ago, Mungler said:

So, if you have been attracted to the house on the current EA's "watch" then commission will have to be paid. That's simple enough.

EA's are under a duty to pass on offers. Not all do. Indeed, if you were an unscrupulous agent, in circumstances like this you could give a cock and bull story to all purchasers and generally mess them about until they got bored or went away, you would then revert to whoever you were taking instructions from on behalf of the deceased's estate (whoever that maybe) and say "it's just not selling" and then as if by magic a buyer (normally a builder or property developer) will come out of the mist and say that they will buy it.

My 2p - get onto the probate registry and pull the grant of probate for the deceased - it's a public record. That will tell you who the executors are and who the beneficiaries are. The executors will be in charge of the sale - drop them a line in writing, keep it short and simple:

1. I'm not getting on with the EA despite my best efforts; that happens but I want to make sure that that relationship breakdown hasn't queered my pitch

2. I've sold my house and am ready to go and subject to contract I am offering £x

Then see what comes back. If the answer is "no, we put all our faith and trust in the EA", then you can leave it with your best offer and say "you know where we are". If they come back with "I didn't know anyone had made an offer" then you can fill in the blanks.

If the executors were up to monkey business too then they won't want your offer in writing and on the table - whoever does buy it will have to offer more.

 

 

Already done that (power of social media)

got a reply at least which stated if things change will let me know and I put the figures in there to make sure they knew that I had made offers for the place...but it felt a bit of a frosty reply...

 

might just have to wait at this rate

[Mice!]

never quite get this, the estate agent will have had a contract to sell the house, they didn't so any claim on commission should end there.

Good luck with the house.

[243deer]

Currently trying to buy my first house - the underhandedness of all the estate agents that I have had contact with so far has been nothing short of eye watering. As soon as I have made an offer on anything - even if it has not sold for several months - it has suddenly sold. A few weeks later it is back on the market but at a higher price. My mrs has documented all this but it seems that there is no regulator for estate agents. The mrs and I have now taken to making one offer and telling the EA's that it is a final offer valid for 24 hours - take it or leave it.

In my opinion you need to communicate directly to the vendor if at all possible to ensure that they know about any offer that you have made.

One friend of mine heard of a property via his wife who worked with the vendor. When he went to put in an offer the EA said that the house was already sold. Long story short the EA bought the house after a while telling the vendor no offer had been made then put it on the market themselves at a higher price for a quick profit - the EA was subsequently 'persuaded' that the decent thing to do was to pass on the profit to the original vendor.

I am not at all surprised that you have had the instinct that the EA is not acting in an above board and fair manner. I wish you the very best of luck.

[Dougy]

Estate Agents that behave in this manner want reporting. 

I thought they all went in the 80s

[oowee]

Good luck with this. Whatever happens if possible complete on your sale and if you have to / are able to move to a rental. If the first property does not materialise, you should be able to save the 6 month rent costs when you find something else to buy. 

[Munzy]

3 hours ago, Mice! said:

never quite get this, the estate agent will have had a contract to sell the house, they didn't so any claim on commission should end there.

Good luck with the house.

Doesn’t work like this, the contract covers the agent introducing potential buyers to the vendor. If a buyer (who has been introduced to the vendor by the agent) cuts out the agent and a sale is completed privately, of, if that same buyer’s purchase is completed by a different agent down the line the original agent may have a claim for commission.

Obviously each agent’s contract is probably different but I know of two different agents who took vendors to court to get their commission due to a situation described above. Purple Bricks was one of the firms who did it to a friend of mine, can’t remember who the other was.

[Mice!]

fair enough munzy, all still sounds very suspicious when your putting in offers but the house is unsold unless the offers are ridiculous.

[Lloyd90]

6 hours ago, Munzy said:

Doesn’t work like this, the contract covers the agent introducing potential buyers to the vendor. If a buyer (who has been introduced to the vendor by the agent) cuts out the agent and a sale is completed privately, of, if that same buyer’s purchase is completed by a different agent down the line the original agent may have a claim for commission.

Obviously each agent’s contract is probably different but I know of two different agents who took vendors to court to get their commission due to a situation described above. Purple Bricks was one of the firms who did it to a friend of mine, can’t remember who the other was.

Purple bricks don’t get commission, that’s their entire advert, it’s just a one off payment.

surely they would take their payment before hand? 

[silver pigeon69]

On 26/02/2018 at 13:40, Munzy said:

Problem now will be the legacy of the sale if you pick up with the new EA.

The vendor will have had a contract with the first EA meaning you going direct to the vendor AFTER the EA showed you the house would result in the EA taking the vendor to court to get their commission had you bought it.

Problem you have now is that a new EA may be less willing to sell to you because the vendor may still owe the original EA commission if you buy it. Clearly the vendor won’t want to pay commission twice (once to original EA and then again to the new one). If the new EA has two buyers, you and someone else, my bet would be they try not to sell to you.

This. But i would say the previous EA has contacted the seller and warned them that as he "found you", if they sell to you, the seller will have to pay him commission. If you approach the new EA, he will want  his commission. The seller, who has just sold to you, may find themselves(their solicitors) with a demand from two EA's for commission and or a legal challenge and big head ache!

i don't think its the "new" EA not wanting to sell to you. Their contracts are GOOD and they know the funds( for both of them(EA's)) will be there, even after court fees!

I can't see any other reason why a seller would block contact with a purchaser, unless it was personal.

[Munzy]

5 hours ago, Lloyd90 said:

Purple bricks don’t get commission, that’s their entire advert, it’s just a one off payment.

surely they would take their payment before hand? 

If I recall correctly my friend listed a property with them, they did a viewing the same day but then the house was immediately taken off the market and the “contract” ended within the 14 day cooling off period Purple Bricks had in their contract. The buyer made contact with my friend directly a few months later and bought the house. PB took my friend to court and won their commission.