Do Estate Agents think we've returned to the 'Golden Age'?

on_my_oe

We are looking to buy a property in North Dublin, and are trawling Daft and MyHome looking for suitable options. We're following the usual (?!) plan of events; see a property, call estate agent but often get voicemail or the agents out of the office, so leave our contact details. We then follow it up at the same time with an email message... No call back so we call again the next day, and the next day. One property we had to leave 5 messages for before the EA bothered to speak to us... And then forgot to turn up for the showing.
We've attempted to look at 20 properties, and managed to see 2.

MadsL

My experiences in the US were so different. My realtor drove me around for the guts of a week looking at properties before we settled on one. Granted the closing costs taken out of the sale are higher but oh boy do you get service. I was getting emails at 10pm about houses we were viewing the next day.

The US also has an great system for viewing too, they have a house key attached to a coded lockbox. The realtor calls the selling agent and the agent gives them the code for the lockbox.

Perhaps EA practices need radical reform in Ireland?

on_my_oe

MadsL wrote: »

My experiences in the US were so different. My realtor drove me around for the guts of a week looking at properties before we settled on one. Granted the closing costs taken out of the sale are higher but oh boy do you get service. I was getting emails at 10pm about houses we were viewing the next day.

Perhaps EA practices need radical reform in Ireland?

I've got family who are EAs in Australia and NZ, and its American style service there too (but without the keys box).

I'm happy to lose the taxi service and settle for a bit of manners... But I'm keeping a bit of a black book as purchasers eventually become sellers - I definitely won't be using a couple of agents. Still it seems to be widespread so we assume that crap service is the norm, or no one really wants to sell (and earn commission!)

odds_on

Do Estate Agents think we've returned to the 'Golden Age'?

No, they just deny that we ever left the Golden Age.

I am waiting now, 4 weeks for a viewing of one property and 3 weeks for a viewing of another property both with the same agent.

Absolutely no service what-so-ever. IMHO, this is a problem with sole agencies - the EA gets the property on their books so they will eventually sell it to someone. There is no competition in the selling. Furthermore, they usually don't know any more details about a property than they put up on Daft or MyHomes. They seem incapable of finding out basic details that potential purchasers would want to know.

Muahahaha

odds_on wrote: »

No, they just deny that we ever left the Golden Age.

I am waiting now, 4 weeks for a viewing of one property and 3 weeks for a viewing of another property both with the same agent.

Absolutely no service what-so-ever. IMHO, this is a problem with sole agencies - the EA gets the property on their books so they will eventually sell it to someone. There is no competition in the selling. Furthermore, they usually don't know any more details about a property than they put up on Daft or MyHomes. They seem incapable of finding out basic details that potential purchasers would want to know.

You should drop a letter to the house owners telling them how you'd love to buy their house but that their estate agent doesn't return any calls and could they possibly ask him to ring you on 087-xxxxxx. Embarrass the agent into actually doing his job, if more people took this approach agents would soon wise up as they'd know sellers could potentially drop them.

jlm29

Muahahaha wrote: »

You should drop a letter to the house owners telling them how you'd love to buy their house but that their estate agent doesn't return any calls and could they possibly ask him to ring you on 087-xxxxxx. Embarrass the agent into actually doing his job, if more people took this approach agents would soon wise up as they'd know sellers could potentially drop them.

Better still, drop them that note, and then cut out the estate agent altogether...

digzy

They'll want you to thing it anyway.

That mr Lowe who's top man with dng was on prime time about 2 years into the crash stating that it was the best time to buy a house!

There's an old phrase-never get a tip from a bookie. I'd extend that to getting property forecasts from auctioneers.

Henry Ford III

digzy wrote: »

....There's an old phrase-never get a tip from a bookie. I'd extend that to getting property forecasts from auctioneers.

Correct and right. Their interests are in conflict with yours most likely.

Muahahaha

jlm29 wrote: »

Better still, drop them that note, and then cut out the estate agent altogether...

I'd love to advise people to do that but unfortunately there is a bunch of case law that would back up the agent in this position and he would still get his commission. The argument would go that it was the agent who advertised it and made you the buyer aware of it so he still deserves to get paid. Estate agents would not hesitate to take a client to court for going behind their back, they have to protect their business after all. And from what I believe all this is dealt with in the contract you sign with the agent so you're already aware that you can't do any deals behind his back.

Nonetheless I still say buyers who aren't getting call backs from estate agents should post a letter asking the owners if they could ask their agent to call them on a certain phone number as he hasn't be returning any calls in relation to the selling of their house. If people begin embarrassing agents into doing their job then sooner or later the agent will realise that every buyer is someone who could potentially get him into trouble with the seller and will hopefully start treating buyers with a little more respect than they currently do.

TheDriver

Muahahaha wrote: »

I'd love to advise people to do that but unfortunately there is a bunch of case law that would back up the agent in this position and he would still get his commission. The argument would go that it was the agent who advertised it and made you the buyer aware of it so he still deserves to get paid. Estate agents would not hesitate to take a client to court for going behind their back, they have to protect their business after all. And from what I believe all this is dealt with in the contract you sign with the agent so you're already aware that you can't do any deals behind his back.

Nonetheless I still say buyers who aren't getting call backs from estate agents should post a letter asking the owners if they could ask their agent to call them on a certain phone number as he hasn't be returning any calls in relation to the selling of their house. If people begin embarrassing agents into doing their job then sooner or later the agent will realise that every buyer is someone who could potentially get him into trouble with the seller and will hopefully start treating buyers with a little more respect than they currently do.

Indeed a seller must be careful if they strike up a private deal by ensuring the EA has been released from their duties and has not further contact with the selling of the property.

My experiences of EAs can be fairly bad too, some are lovely though. Last year I was given the key to the property and told to go up myself (it was empty) whilst another told us all about the bids on it and he knew we would be onto him in a few days to buy.......its still for sale.

Sleepy

Muahahaha wrote: »

I'd love to advise people to do that but unfortunately there is a bunch of case law that would back up the agent in this position and he would still get his commission. The argument would go that it was the agent who advertised it and made you the buyer aware of it so he still deserves to get paid. Estate agents would not hesitate to take a client to court for going behind their back, they have to protect their business after all. And from what I believe all this is dealt with in the contract you sign with the agent so you're already aware that you can't do any deals behind his back.

Nonetheless I still say buyers who aren't getting call backs from estate agents should post a letter asking the owners if they could ask their agent to call them on a certain phone number as he hasn't be returning any calls in relation to the selling of their house. If people begin embarrassing agents into doing their job then sooner or later the agent will realise that every buyer is someone who could potentially get him into trouble with the seller and will hopefully start treating buyers with a little more respect than they currently do.

Only dangerous if you're the seller to be fair...

zyzjaffery

From my experience, sometimes certain properties reach the stage that sellers are happy about current offer(s), and they are fed up with another viewing to potential buyers as every time the whole family have to leave. For this type case, Agents are unlikely call you back.

Cookie_Monster

do open home happen at all in Ireland? I was never looking for a house while living at home but have been since moving here to NZ. Every Sunday any house for sale has an open home for around 30 mins. You can just get the list and wander in, sign the book and look around.

on_my_oe

Cookie_Monster wrote: »

do open home happen at all in Ireland? I was never looking for a house while living at home but have been since moving here to NZ. Every Sunday any house for sale has an open home for around 30 mins. You can just get the list and wander in, sign the book and look around.

They do, but they're rare, and mainly scheduled for weekdays when most folk are at work (unless you're a large scale 'property investor' landlord).

The estate industry in Ireland is yet to become service focused. My OH and I were talking about agents, and I explained the costs of advertising are passed on in addition to the commission. Eg weekly hire of the 'for sale' sign, €495 for ad on Daft, extra for ad on agents own website, plus weekly charge for as in window, cost of the info cards given to viewers when/if they manage to get a viewing etc OH was shocked and stated they're overpaid shop assistants with worse manners

spaceHopper

on_my_oe wrote: »

They do, but they're rare, and mainly scheduled for weekdays when most folk are at work (unless you're a large scale 'property investor' landlord).

The happen at weekends to and can be very worth going to

http://www.myhome.ie/onview

odds_on

I steer well clear of multiple people view the same property at the same time - it often leads to a bidding war which I absolutely refuse to partake in. I would never offer/bid more than an asking price.