foreveryoung Posted February 10, 2017 Share Posted February 10, 2017 One estate agent I used (one of the largest in the area) when buying a property were gagging to get me on there mailing list, so I eventually signed up. They never called me about local properties at all. I saw a property they were selling in the local news so called them up. Again to cut a long story short I had to go best offers on the property as there were 3 buyers, (lovely way to buy a property you really want) so I offered 5k over asking as the house was perfect. They duly came back to me 3 days later, although its suppose to be 24 hours explaining I failed to get the house, due to reasons they could not tell me, although it was blatantly obviously they had a buyer selling with them. Sorry this is a bit long winded. Anyway, I noticed the property 2 weeks later back on the market, note I fought for this house so they were more than aware they had a buyer willing to take it off the market immediately. Did they phone me, did they shit. I would have bought that house straight away, The moral, its just an example of why estate agents are crap and the clients far from get the monies worth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sidcow Posted February 10, 2017 VT Supporter Share Posted February 10, 2017 30 minutes ago, foreveryoung said: One estate agent I used (one of the largest in the area) when buying a property were gagging to get me on there mailing list, so I eventually signed up. They never called me about local properties at all. I saw a property they were selling in the local news so called them up. Again to cut a long story short I had to go best offers on the property as there were 3 buyers, (lovely way to buy a property you really want) so I offered 5k over asking as the house was perfect. They duly came back to me 3 days later, although its suppose to be 24 hours explaining I failed to get the house, due to reasons they could not tell me, although it was blatantly obviously they had a buyer selling with them. Sorry this is a bit long winded. Anyway, I noticed the property 2 weeks later back on the market, note I fought for this house so they were more than aware they had a buyer willing to take it off the market immediately. Did they phone me, did they shit. I would have bought that house straight away, The moral, its just an example of why estate agents are crap and the clients far from get the monies worth. Or indeed why THAT estate agent was crap. I am not an estate agent by the way! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
foreveryoung Posted February 10, 2017 Share Posted February 10, 2017 3 minutes ago, sidcow said: Or indeed why THAT estate agent was crap. I am not an estate agent by the way! Its only one story, one estate agent. I have plenty more an have heard many more too. Another agent failed to tell my pal the sale had fell through on a house he purchased. He was packed ready to go, then he called the agent. There excuse was they had been fighting to get the vendor still to sell till the very last day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sidcow Posted February 10, 2017 VT Supporter Share Posted February 10, 2017 4 minutes ago, foreveryoung said: Its only one story, one estate agent. I have plenty more an have heard many more too. Another agent failed to tell my pal the sale had fell through on a house he purchased. He was packed ready to go, then he called the agent. There excuse was they had been fighting to get the vendor still to sell till the very last day. I know but I have had some great service from Estate Agents. The way most people are trashing them is like saying all football teams are shit. Well yes a lot are, but there are also some damn good ones. I just think it's a shame that some people have a bad experience (es) and then tar an entire profession with the same brush. I have personally had multiple issues with solicitors in so far as them being poor in my working life. However there are also some fantastic ones around. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Davkaus Posted February 10, 2017 Share Posted February 10, 2017 The problem is that it's a completely unregulated profession. There are certainly some experts, worth their weight in gold that earn every penny and provide a valuable service. They're vastly outnumbered by lying, shiny-suit, square-toe shoe wearing bastards with no training other than their D grade GCSEs that'll tell you it's a lovely day while your own eyes tell you it's pissing down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
omariqy Posted February 10, 2017 Share Posted February 10, 2017 I used Martin and Co for my flat both for letting out and the sale. They were great. Happy to pay them a fee for their expertise. However, I get why so many hate agents. I've had terrible experiences too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
itdoesntmatterwhatthissay Posted February 11, 2017 Share Posted February 11, 2017 (edited) 13 hours ago, sidcow said: My advice is use an estate agent. If you are South Brum or Solihull use Melvyn Danes. Either way a "proper" estate agent i.e. not a cowboy will give you valuable advice and get it sold for the right price quickly, and then whip your buyer and chain into shape. A good one can be invaluable. Not sure what the hate is on here for them but I would bet my bottom dollar that those who think they are useless and scum have probably handed their business to the cheapest agent or the agent claiming to get them the highest (and therefore probably unrealistic) price. You get what you pay for with professional advice my friends. Maybe in South Birmingham but in North Birmingham they love their expensive captive market. My parents have sold 20+ houses with various estate agents in Sutton (grandparents a few too), my mum basically lived in estate agents. Paul Carr, Green, Connells, Hunters, Acres, Quantrills, Bairstow Eves and Bill Tandy are the ones I remember us using. For years they loved Paul Carr but then he, or someone left and the company went downhill. We bought some land via one of those guys above too, but only because we got in with the client as the agent was still pushing it around his friends. 90% of the homes we sold were family homes and once you sign they give it the push then drop it when someone easier comes along/or they ask you to drop your price. They don't even care when you get a few different estate agents in to do the job, oh sorry, they do, when they realise they probably won't get commission! As for giving valuable advice; sigh. Sometimes that's been our experience. We would fight with estate agents so we could do viewings because they were so bloody useless at their job. Better for us to give viewers advice as we actually knew the process. In my experience selling isn't too tough, getting a good solicitor is the valuable part; a good one (on both sides sadly) makes completion so much easier and they also whip slow estate agents. I now live in Brighton and the house has found renters for when we leave. 11 groups came round with the agent, nothing, 2 with me, both of mine said yes to the agent. Oh and the agent has been horrific throughout our process treating us as a cashcow the moment we stepped in. Award winning agents my arse. Edited February 11, 2017 by itdoesntmatterwhatthissay Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xela Posted February 11, 2017 Share Posted February 11, 2017 8 minutes ago, itdoesntmatterwhatthissay said: My parents have sold 20+ houses with various estate agents in Sutton (grandparents a few too), my mum basically lived in estate agents. Paul Carr, Green, Connells, Hunters, Acres, Quantrills, Bairstow Eves and Bill Tandy are the ones I remember us using. For years they loved Paul Carr but then he, or someone left and the company went to poop. We gave them one more chance a few years ago, awful. We bought some land via one of those guys above too, but only because we got in with the client as the agent was still pushing it around his friends. Steve Morris is decent in Sutton. Rented my first property through them for 6 years and no issues. Pretty sound guy too 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
itdoesntmatterwhatthissay Posted February 11, 2017 Share Posted February 11, 2017 Just now, Xela said: Steve Morris is decent in Sutton. Rented my first property through them for 6 years and no issues. Pretty sound guy too I'll pass that on. Their new place is being sold in a few months time. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
omariqy Posted February 13, 2017 Share Posted February 13, 2017 We've put in a very good offer for a place and I think there is one or maybe two other interested parties who have offered. They want to verify finances - fine. The agent is also saying that if everyone is in a similar position in terms of finances and chain then it may go to a best offer. Now if I understand this right, this is where you say what your best offer is and if you are successful you pay that price - am I right? So if the property is on for £250k and we both offer £250k but then they ask for best offer and I offer £275k and they offer £255k then I end up paying £20k more than what the other person was willing to offer? Is that right? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Risso Posted February 13, 2017 Share Posted February 13, 2017 We've just sold our house on the IOM. Exchanged contracts last week, complete next. Estate agent is a bit of a friend of ours, and sold it so quickly it didn't even appear on the website. Called him out one week, buyer was there with full asking price offer the next. Lovely. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Davkaus Posted February 13, 2017 Share Posted February 13, 2017 10 minutes ago, omariqy said: We've put in a very good offer for a place and I think there is one or maybe two other interested parties who have offered. They want to verify finances - fine. The agent is also saying that if everyone is in a similar position in terms of finances and chain then it may go to a best offer. Now if I understand this right, this is where you say what your best offer is and if you are successful you pay that price - am I right? So if the property is on for £250k and we both offer £250k but then they ask for best offer and I offer £275k and they offer £255k then I end up paying £20k more than what the other person was willing to offer? Is that right? Pretty much, but you should never know what their offer was, the estate agent shouldn't tell you. It's a ridiculous process anyway, as if you get beat, there's nothing to stop you making another offer, it's just up to the vendor as to whether they'll honour the 'best offer'. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
omariqy Posted February 13, 2017 Share Posted February 13, 2017 2 hours ago, Davkaus said: Pretty much, but you should never know what their offer was, the estate agent shouldn't tell you. It's a ridiculous process anyway, as if you get beat, there's nothing to stop you making another offer, it's just up to the vendor as to whether they'll honour the 'best offer'. Fair enough. I will probably just offer slightly more and see where that puts me. If not good enough then I will speak to the agent again and ask what the offer is so I can beat it, if need be. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
omariqy Posted February 17, 2017 Share Posted February 17, 2017 I refused to go down the best offer approach. So there were lots of phone calls with all sorts of offers going in over the last few days. One of the other prospective buyers even went to the vendors house to convince her to sell it to them. Fortunately, her son (who showed everyone round) liked us a lot and all we had to do was match bids to get it in the end. A nerve wracking few days but a happy chappy now. Had to go over asking price but it's worth it. Now the next stage of stress begins - solicitors and mortgage application. Mrs is already obsessed with Pinterest! We would like to do a velux loft conversion - not sure how much it would cost or how big the roof is as we couldnt get up there. It's a 1920s/30s semi-detached property so I imagine the roof space is pretty sizeable. Anyone got experience of this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonno_2004 Posted February 18, 2017 Share Posted February 18, 2017 On 13/02/2017 at 17:10, Risso said: We've just sold our house on the IOM. Exchanged contracts last week, complete next. Estate agent is a bit of a friend of ours, and sold it so quickly it didn't even appear on the website. Called him out one week, buyer was there with full asking price offer the next. Lovely. Good luck with the move, mate! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Risso Posted February 27, 2017 Share Posted February 27, 2017 On 2/18/2017 at 13:59, jonno_2004 said: Good luck with the move, mate! Cheers Jonno, all done and dusted now! From the erm, bright lights of Ramsey to the more tranquil environs of Ballabeg. Much closer to the kids' school, and a cracking view over Castletown etc. I'll miss the north very much, having lived there for 10 out of the last 11 years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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