Are estate agents mental?

olaola

A good friend is looking to buy a house in the area we live in (she's currently also renting here) so at least once a week, I accompany her to a viewings. Last night took the biscuit. It was the first open viewing of a house that had been put on the market for a low price. So this drummed up a good bit of interest - there were a good few people viewing it. All I can say is, there was scrum for the door to leave the place. From dirty jocks on the floor, skid marks in the toilet and the vile smell throughout the house - it was a disgrace. I could go on and on, these are only the 'highlights'. This is not the first time we've viewing a property that presented in such a manner. Maybe not to this extent though!

When we sold a property, we were given very strict instructions by the agent what to do with the place. And it was in immaculate condition every time someone viewed it.

What planet are these people living on!

Not only that, but my friend contacted an agent about a house over 6 times by phone & email and never received any calls back. I also called the agent about the same property - and never heard a peep. I feel like contacting the vendor to tell them that their estate agent is actively trying NOT to sell the house.

super_furry

Alot of estate agents today just don't know how to do their job. They got into the business when all they had to do was turn up and collect deposits from the queuing hordes outside. Now they haven't a clue how to sell because they've never had to.

D3PO

thats a terribel experience but you cant pin this on the EA in fairness (and I hate EA's !! ) if the seller left the house in that condition then they have to take the blame here

olaola

D3PO wrote: »

thats a terribel experience but you cant pin this on the EA in fairness (and I hate EA's !! ) if the seller left the house in that condition then they have to take the blame here

Yeah - You'd think that. But I have to go back to when we sold ours, the EA was VERY particular how the place should & would be presented. And if there was something out of place when she was viewing it - she'd say it to us!

And I'm also referring to the other eejit who won't return the (many) calls.

Kintarō Hattori

olaola wrote: »

....And I'm also referring to the other eejit who won't return the (many) calls.

I've had this recently while we were looking for somewhere to rent. The amount of agents who don't call back is shocking. There was one agency in particular who were advertising a place on Parkgate street. I rang them, got an answering machine. Next day rang them and spoke to an agent. Was promised a call back but never got it so rang again a wee later only to find he was gone on holidays.

A week or two later they were advertising another property. Rang up spoke to a different agent and was promised a call back........... it never came.

The apartment we're moving into shortly the agent was brilliant. She was advertising a top floor apartment (which we were after) but we were too slow and lost out on it. She wanted to show us some other places but we mentioned that we were specifically looking for a top floor apartment for noise reasons. About two weeks later she called us back to say another apartment had come in and we've taken in.

Literally one of the few people who called back. I have to agree with the OP, many estate agents just seem to come from another planet.

olaola

Kintarō Hattori wrote: »

I've had this recently while we were looking for somewhere to rent. The amount of agents who don't call back is shocking. There was one agency in particular who were advertising a place on Parkgate street. I rang them, got an answering machine. Next day rang them and spoke to an agent. Was promised a call back but never got it so rang again a wee later only to find he was gone on holidays.

A week or two later they were advertising another property. Rang up spoke to a different agent and was promised a call back........... it never came.

The apartment we're moving into shortly the agent was brilliant. She was advertising a top floor apartment (which we were after) but we were too slow and lost out on it. She wanted to show us some other places but we mentioned that we were specifically looking for a top floor apartment for noise reasons. About two weeks later she called us back to say another apartment had come in and we've taken in.

Literally one of the few people who called back. I have to agree with the OP, many estate agents just seem to come from another planet.

Jebus! Don't get me started on letting agents - another mate was entangled up in some very dodgy dealings by two men who had been fired from their positions at the agency. And still representing them - they were showing apartments and had the keys etc!!
Luckily, he had the deposit in a draft made out to the agency, so they couldn’t do a legger with the cash.

dazberry

I viewed a house that had been owned by an old woman who used to horde things. She had died in the house and not been found for 5 days. Then the back door was kicked in and druggies used to have gatherings there. By the time I went to view it (It was across the road from where I lived and I was just being nosy!) the smell in the house was rank - it would literally turn your stomach. The relatives did as little as was humanly possible with the house and were just selling it as was. The estate agent was mental for taking on the house IMO.

D.

The_Conductor

dazberry wrote: »

I viewed a house that had been owned by an old woman who used to horde things. She had died in the house and not been found for 5 days. Then the back door was kicked in and druggies used to have gatherings there. By the time I went to view it (It was across the road from where I lived and I was just being nosy!) the smell in the house was rank - it would literally turn your stomach. The relatives did as little as was humanly possible with the house and were just selling it as was. The estate agent was mental for taking on the house IMO.

D.

Perhaps someone could see its potential- and the estate agent was simply desperate for any possible commission he/she could get their hands on? If you look at some property websites from other EU countries- you do get the appalling popping up every now and again too- very obviously the seller just wants shot of the place, and is prepared to take a hit to get rid of it.....?

Limerickgal82

When i was looking for somewhere to rent. I called about 5 different Estate Agents and rec'd no calls back i also emailed said agents and again no reply. I eventually rented an apartment directly from the Landlord. Some estate agents are only used to selling houses and apartments and have no interest or clue about renting !! ( btw i did say Some agents so as not to tarnish them all ! )

bladebrew

i could go on forever about estate agents,
in this situation surely the agent should have told the seller to at least have the place clean,dirty jocks on the floor?! that is insane,
there are plenty of shows on tv about selling houses,some of these have people moving furniture into storage and renting furniture out just for viewings,as said though ea`s dont know how to sell, the same as most car
dealers,

an estate agent in the examiner about 2 weeks ago was pointing out it is a good time to buy a property which in fairness is true,but he also said it is a good time to sell:eek:
i think his name was con:rolleyes:

ztoical

Limerickgal82 wrote: »

When i was looking for somewhere to rent. I called about 5 different Estate Agents and rec'd no calls back i also emailed said agents and again no reply.

Myself and my brother moved there at the start of Jan and we must have emailed/called 20 different people. Should tell my brother about this thread cus he nearly went nuts dealing with the EA. didn't hear back from alot and the handful that got back to us where pretty rubbish, we had two cats and wanted to know if the flat allowed them but the EA couldn't get in touch with the landlord but still wanted us to sign paperwork and pay a deposit. Went on for over a week not being able to contact landlord then finally they told us the landlord had already rented the place himself. They showed us another place and again we asked about cats and again couldn't get in touch with landlord. After two days of being pretty much bullied to sign we went back online found a great place and rang the EA handling it, asked about cats, told they needed to get in touch with landlord, called us back within the hour to say landlord was ok. That was the Monday, we moved in the Thursday. Really nice and easy to deal with EA so there are some good ones out there but they do appear to be few and far between.

AARRRGH

bladebrew wrote: »

an estate agent in the examiner about 2 weeks ago was pointing out it is a good time to buy a property which in fairness is true

It's good compared to the height of the bubble, but it is not good compared to a healthy, normal market! Prices have a long way to go. Consider the fact that the average house price is now something like 250k. That's still about 8 times the average wage which is way too much for a country like Ireland.

The_Conductor

AARRRGH wrote: »

It's good compared to the height of the bubble, but it is not good compared to a healthy, normal market! Prices have a long way to go. Consider the fact that the average house price is now something like 250k. That's still about 8 times the average wage which is way too much for a country like Ireland.

3.2 times the average wage- is considered to be normal in an international context. In the case of Ireland- where over 1/3 of our housing stock is vacant, perhaps 2.5 times average wages, might be a better barometer.

wyndham

olaola wrote: »

A good friend is looking to buy a house in the area we live in (she's currently also renting here) so at least once a week, I accompany her to a viewings. Last night took the biscuit. It was the first open viewing of a house that had been put on the market for a low price. So this drummed up a good bit of interest - there were a good few people viewing it. All I can say is, there was scrum for the door to leave the place. From dirty jocks on the floor, skid marks in the toilet and the vile smell throughout the house - it was a disgrace. I could go on and on, these are only the 'highlights'. This is not the first time we've viewing a property that presented in such a manner. Maybe not to this extent though!

When we sold a property, we were given very strict instructions by the agent what to do with the place. And it was in immaculate condition every time someone viewed it.

What planet are these people living on!

Not only that, but my friend contacted an agent about a house over 6 times by phone & email and never received any calls back. I also called the agent about the same property - and never heard a peep. I feel like contacting the vendor to tell them that their estate agent is actively trying NOT to sell the house.

Was the house vacant or was there a tenant? A sitting tenant wouldn't care about the presentation of the house to potential buyers and may deliberately try to put people off?

hoser expat

I currently rent but am willing to buy when the right place comes on the market in my town.

There's one house I have my eye on, it's been on hte market for 12 months and has been reduced several times, reduced low enough to approach my budget. So I rang the agent to arrange a viewing, but the main agent wasn't available so the other agent arranged it for me. After the viewing I said I was interested and for the main agent to give me a call. You guessed it that call never came. It's still on the market. Muppets.

stepbar

hoser expat wrote: »

I currently rent but am willing to buy when the right place comes on the market in my town.

There's one house I have my eye on, it's been on hte market for 12 months and has been reduced several times, reduced low enough to approach my budget. So I rang the agent to arrange a viewing, but the main agent wasn't available so the other agent arranged it for me. After the viewing I said I was interested and for the main agent to give me a call. You guessed it that call never came. It's still on the market. Muppets.

What was stopping you from making an offer? It would make no difference what agent you made the bid with.

olaola

wyndham wrote: »

Was the house vacant or was there a tenant? A sitting tenant wouldn't care about the presentation of the house to potential buyers and may deliberately try to put people off?

The OWNERS lived there. And this was years of dirt, grime & neglect. They had mopped the floor (the stink of the dirty mop was disgusting) but that seemed to be the only effort they made.

shoegirl

Friend of mine actually bought a house like that a few years ago. Basically it was the cheapest on the market and we reckoned that 10k would put it straight. It was priced about 20k below everything else and after a dubious bidding war she got it still for about 7k less than others around. The cost of cleaning, repainting and renovating came to about that.

Its a quite nice house, and the tenants were just vile. Sadly for my friend, its probably worth about 60% of what she paid for it now anyway.

In fairness, EAs are NOT qualified, skilled professionals, they are just sales people who often have no training and limited experience. There are no barriers to entry to the profession and you can hire who you like. I wouldn't expect high standards from them.

Danbo!

Same boat here, looking to move at the minute and every letting agent takes my details, and say "we'll call back with a time for viewing." Have 7 places short listed and of those, 3 are being let directly by the landlord. All landlords so far have called back promptly after speaking to the current tenants to arrange a viewing. But yet it takes three to five calls to letting agents to get any sort of result. I cant get over it as the 4 agency controlled places are vacant so viewings shouldn't be a problem and surely they want someone in quick.

Danbo!

Quick update on my rental search:
Just got a call from a landlord I had called this morning. He asked if I was looking at any other properties, or just interested in his. When I told him I was looking at others, he said "sure if you dont have any luck finding somewhere else, call me back and then you can see it." :rolleyes:

Well for some, being able to afford a second property and not bother renting it out to anyone.