Raging with Estate Agent!

Babyboy09

We have our house on the market the last couple of weeks. We had some viewings a fortnight ago, and according to the estate agent a couple of people were interested, although to date there have been no offers.

However, one of our friends called us on Friday evening to say that their work colleague (a cash buyer fwiw) is very interested in buying the house and had a viewing scheduled for Friday (news to us but we would have been keen to accommodate this) but that the estate agent called them on Thursday to cancel it - telling them that it didn’t suit the clients (us).

We’ve been so dejected all week that there have been no calls and viewings and now to get this news! What would be your recommended course of action?

BrokenArrows

Babyboy09 wrote: »

We have our house on the market the last couple of weeks. We had some viewings a fortnight ago, and according to the estate agent a couple of people were interested, although to date there have been no offers.

However, one of our friends called us on Friday evening to say that their work colleague (a cash buyer fwiw) is very interested in buying the house and had a viewing scheduled for Friday (news to us but we would have been keen to accommodate this) but that the estate agent called them on Thursday to cancel it - telling them that it didn’t suit the clients (us).

We’ve been so dejected all week that there have been no calls and viewings and now to get this news! What would be your recommended course of action?

Fire the estate agent.

Communicate with the cash buyer yourself.

Babyboy09

BrokenArrows wrote: »

Fire the estate agent.

Communicate with the cash buyer yourself.

That’s what my OH wants to do - I’m afraid of putting all our eggs in the one basket though. What if the cash buyer decides against it?

looksee

Employ a different estate agent. Tell the original estate agent clearly why you are dropping them.

colly10

Babyboy09 wrote: »

That’s what my OH wants to do - I’m afraid of putting all our eggs in the one basket though. What if the cash buyer decides against it?

Ye have to get rid of the agent anyway. Could have lost you a sale and clearly isn’t looking after your interests. It’s a bizarre story

Bargain_Hound

Sold recently to a cash buyer. Avoided our estate agent. Was FAR more straight forward and saved a chunk of cash. Buyer was more than willing too as they knew EA typical shenanigans.

antix80

This happened my sister. She was selling and got a low offer which the estate agent encouraged her to accept. She held out and the next offer was 40k higher.

Months later i was talking to a friend. He actually tried to view the house but the estate agent kept giving him the runaround and wouldn't accommodate viewings any time he suggested. After 2 weeks of phoning he gave up.

Whiteshower

<SNIP>

Sleeper12

If your estate agent is a one man band then he cannot jump when someone demands that he jumps. I'm sure he has plenty of properties on his books and maybe the time frame couldn't be met because he had a viewing elsewhere. He might have had a day off for wedding or anything like that. It's easier to say that the appointment doesn't suit the sellers rather than I'm taking a half day & only working 5 & a half days this week instead of six days. Even if there are several estate agents in the company its usually one assigned each property.

It's very easy to blame the estate agents but step back & think about it, if the cash buyer was genuinely interested they would have made a different appointment that suited them both. Maybe the best thing is to sack estate agent but that might be a knee jerk reaction. Someone who was genuinely interested would have taken a different appointment. In my experience this "cash buyer" is very likely a time waster. It may even turn out that your friend is causing trouble. I have never ever not viewed a property that I was genuinely interested in because my preferred date or time for viewings couldn't be met. Something smells fishy about the story you were told imo

Babyboy09

Sleeper12 wrote: »

If your estate agent is a one man band then he cannot jump when someone demands that he jumps. I'm sure he has plenty of properties on his books and maybe the time frame couldn't be met because he had a viewing elsewhere. He might have had a day off for wedding or anything like that. It's easier to say that the appointment doesn't suit the sellers rather than I'm taking a half day & only working 5 & a half days this week instead of six days. Even if there are several estate agents in the company its usually one assigned each property.

It's very easy to blame the estate agents but step back & think about it, if the cash buyer was genuinely interested they would have made a different appointment that suited them both. Maybe the best thing is to sack estate agent but that might be a knee jerk reaction. Someone who was genuinely interested would have taken a different appointment. In my experience this "cash buyer" is very likely a time waster. It may even turn out that your friend is causing trouble. I have never ever not viewed a property that I was genuinely interested in because my preferred date or time for viewings couldn't be met. Something smells fishy about the story you were told imo

The ‘cash buyer’ rang on the Monday to make the appointment for Friday which was then cancelled by the estate agent on Thursday.

It’s a large nationwide chain of estate agents - not a one man operation.

Sleeper12

Babyboy09 wrote:

The ‘cash buyer’ rang on the Monday to make the appointment for Friday which was then cancelled by the estate agent on Thursday.

Babyboy09 wrote:

It’s a large nationwide chain of estate agents - not a one man operation.

I did also point out that where there are several estate agents that they are assigned their own individual property's.

What was described in the OP is not unusual. It may turn out that the agent is a bad agent but I'd look into it more before jumping to changing agents.

I still believe that "cash buyers" are time wasters. If they are genuine they will take another appointment.

Grumpypants

I've little to no time for most of them. The lack of interest in selling a house borders on the grumpy teenager in a fast food joint.

I've had refusals to show us property, wouldn't take an offer, wouldn't accept a deposit from my wife "until your husband sees it", failure to answer emails/phone calls.

Since you have a direct line to the cash buyer get their number invite them over and show them around. If I was buying a house i'd prefer to talk to the person who lived there anyway.

If that deal goes through your solicitors do the legal stuff. All the estate agent does is advertise it and show it off. In this case they dont even do the later.

wassie

Sleeper12 wrote: »

It's very easy to blame the estate agents but step back & think about it

The agent has a contractual obligation to act in their client's interest.

Lying to a potential purchaser by stating it doesn't suit the client, who are obviously stressing about selling what is most likely their biggest asset doesn't exactly accord with acting in their best interest.

I see it rather as a typical example of real estate agent behaviour in boom time conditions. Generally these agents don't last when markets reverse.

Sleeper12

wassie wrote:

The agent has a contractual obligation to act in their client's interest.

I get that but it is not unusual or unheard of to have to cancel or postpone an appointment. This can happen in any business. I have no idea if this is a good or bad agent but the story stinks to high heaven. A genuine buyer will usually reschedule. Its very unusual not to hear from them again.

I have dealt with many estate agents over the decades and have rarely found the dishonest, dodgy agents that most people believe them to be. I found most male and female to be honorable professional people.

All I'm saying is that I wouldn't rush in to replacing the estate agent based on the information at hand. A rescheduled appointment is nothing unusual. My dentist rang & rescheduled an appointment I made four months earlier for a checkup. He's still a great dentist. Rescheduling an appointment doesn't mean he's not great at his job

Humour Me

The agent didn’t reschedule though, he cancelled and specifically blamed the client. The OP wasn’t aware of the viewing despite the appointment being made the previous Monday. So either the agent made the appointment and realized that he forgot to tell the OP and decided to cancel rather than checking if the late notice would suit the OP or he never intended to keep the appointment.

rocheyy

We have been viewing houses the last few months and Everytime we want to view a house that's occupied, they contact the seller to confirm our appointment. If it's unoccupied they make the appointment without consent of the owner. This is standard enough I'd reckon.

Last week we put an offer on a house, which was below asking price, and to our surprise, the auctioneer refused point blank to pass the offer onto the owner, stating that it will be refused. We had our heart set on the house, now we have been put right of by the auctioneer and we'll more than likely try avoid buying a house through them now.

zerosugarbuzz

rocheyy wrote: »

We have been viewing houses the last few months and Everytime we want to view a house that's occupied, they contact the seller to confirm our appointment. If it's unoccupied they make the appointment without consent of the owner. This is standard enough I'd reckon.

Last week we put an offer on a house, which was below asking price, and to our surprise, the auctioneer refused point blank to pass the offer onto the owner, stating that it will be refused. We had our heart set on the house, now we have been put right of by the auctioneer and we'll more than likely try avoid buying a house through them now.

It would seem all houses are selling well above the asking price. Why did you put an offer in below it? Maybe it’s a good lesson learned for you and you May secure the next one.

Graces7

Many years ago now but I had to change agents due to such issues. I contacted the professional governing body and they recommended, and all went very well then

rocheyy

rocheyy wrote: »

Last week we put an offer on a house, which was below asking price, and to our surprise, the auctioneer refused point blank to pass the offer onto the owner, stating that it will be refused. We had our heart set on the house, now we have been put right of by the auctioneer and we'll more than likely try avoid buying a house through them now.

An offer does not have to be passed on to the seller if they have instructed the agent they will not accept offers below a particular threshold amount. The agent works for the seller, not for you.

You had your heart set on the house. So what?

The agent was straight up with you about your lowball offer rather than waste anyone's time, so don't blame them if you get your nose put out of joint because you're offering too little for the seller to consider it.

duffman13

zerosugarbuzz wrote: »

It would seem all houses are selling well above the asking price. Why did you put an offer in below it? Maybe it’s a good lesson learned for you and you May secure the next one.

Really? All houses are selling above asking price? You got statistics to back it up? There a lot of examples on the PPR of people buying houses at less then the asking price.

rocheyy

zerosugarbuzz wrote: »

It would seem all houses are selling well above the asking price. Why did you put an offer in below it? Maybe it’s a good lesson learned for you and you May secure the next one.

Well it has previously went sale agreed twice below asking price, and they've both fell through. Our offer wasn't going to be our final offer, we didn't want to make an offer and then not be able to offer higher if we were out bid. The asking price was the top of our approval. Also this is our first house so all of this is new us.

Grumpypants

zerosugarbuzz wrote: »

It would seem all houses are selling well above the asking price. Why did you put an offer in below it? Maybe it’s a good lesson learned for you and you May secure the next one.

No there not, house around the corner went up at 480k and sold for 395k. Offering asking price in that case would have cost 85k.


What might be likely is they offered a price that the owners had already refused. But even then the estate agent should have said that. Refusing to kick off negotiations is lazy.

HailSatan

Humour Me wrote: »

The agent didn’t reschedule though, he cancelled and specifically blamed the client. The OP wasn’t aware of the viewing despite the appointment being made the previous Monday. So either the agent made the appointment and realized that he forgot to tell the OP and decided to cancel rather than checking if the late notice would suit the OP or he never intended to keep the appointment.

Sleeper will have a perfectly rational way to explain this as the fault of the vendor AND the potential buyer.

Sleeper12

duffman13 wrote:

Really? All houses are selling above asking price? You got statistics to back it up? There a lot of examples on the PPR of people buying houses at less then the asking price.

The poster is correct. The way houses are priced in the last 6 years or so is to advertise the house a good 20 perc below what you will accept. Sold a property only in the last few months. Our minimum acceptance was 600k but advertised 510k. Sold well over 600k. Any property I looked at in the last 6 years wouldn't acce the asking price. I fou the exact same situation with commercial property. Its not that all houses sell for above asking due to demand. Its bec the trend is to advertise them below what you will acc for them.

The only property I see going for asking are new builds

HailSatan

Saw more properties withdrawn from sale in Limerick than sold at or above asking.

PhoenixParker

Sleeper12 wrote: »

If your estate agent is a one man band then he cannot jump when someone demands that he jumps. I'm sure he has plenty of properties on his books and maybe the time frame couldn't be met because he had a viewing elsewhere. He might have had a day off for wedding or anything like that. It's easier to say that the appointment doesn't suit the sellers rather than I'm taking a half day & only working 5 & a half days this week instead of six days. Even if there are several estate agents in the company its usually one assigned each property.

It's very easy to blame the estate agents but step back & think about it, if the cash buyer was genuinely interested they would have made a different appointment that suited them both. Maybe the best thing is to sack estate agent but that might be a knee jerk reaction. Someone who was genuinely interested would have taken a different appointment. In my experience this "cash buyer" is very likely a time waster. It may even turn out that your friend is causing trouble. I have never ever not viewed a property that I was genuinely interested in because my preferred date or time for viewings couldn't be met. Something smells fishy about the story you were told imo

The estate agent 1) agreed to the viewing, 2) has not contacted the client about that viewing either on the agreed date or to explore alternatives.

Theres no excuse for that combination.

If the estate agent couldn't make Friday work for a viewing from the outset they should have arranged a different slot in the first place.

If something came up that needed a reschedule by the EA, the viewing would have been arranged with the vendor.

In either scenario a call to the vendor to explore possible times and dates would be warranted.

Sleeper12

HailSatan wrote:

Sleeper will have a perfectly rational way to explain this as the fault of the vendor AND the potential buyer.

Ah I see the rereg troll follows me to yet another thread. You've managed to keep this account running for longer than most of your others. Well hail Satan

HailSatan

Sleeper12 wrote: »

Ah I see the rereg troll follows me to yet another thread. You've managed to keep this account running for longer than most of your others. Well hail Satan

You're paranoid. Possibly delusional. Use some of that money from your property empire to seek help.

duffman13

Sleeper12 wrote: »

The poster is correct. The way houses are priced in the last 6 years or so is to advertise the house a good 20 perc below what you will accept. Sold a property only in the last few months. Our minimum acceptance was 600k but advertised 510k. Sold well over 600k. Any property I looked at in the last 6 years wouldn't acce the asking price. I fou the exact same situation with commercial property. Its not that all houses sell for above asking due to demand. Its bec the trend is to advertise them below what you will acc for them.

The only property I see going for asking are new builds

I fundamentally disagree especially in the current market which I'm both buying and selling in. I've been keeping an eye on a few areas and what I've seen is houses are selling for asking or just below. Turn key houses are by in large selling above asking price however anything that needs work is struggling a bit and rightly so with the cost of renovations.

I got my asking price for my house, it was realistic and probably 10k less than I would have got 6 months ago, I also got my new property (pending closure) for 35k less than asking. Two other house I put under asking price bids on were rejected, one of them went sale agreed at 10k less than my offer 4 months ago and the others still on the market.

By all means if the agent rejects a bid off hand because it's ridiculously under asking then fine, but if the OP is the only bidder then the OPs bid is the market value. Obviously if the house is new on the market, and the OP really wants it, id call the estate agent in 4 week and resubmit the offer. You'll get an indication how things are going then

zerosugarbuzz

zerosugarbuzz wrote: »

It would seem all houses are selling well above the asking price. Why did you put an offer in below it? Maybe it’s a good lesson learned for you and you May secure the next one.

Really? Where?
In the last 12 months where I'm living I know of two houses that went above. Most other properties are staying on the market for months j dropping the asking price.

Sleeper12

PhoenixParker wrote:

If the estate agent couldn't make Friday work for a viewing from the outset they should have arranged a different slot in the first place.

Yet it seems that the estate agent has managed to avoid a time waster "cash buyer".

Here is the thing. Read the OP. It stinks. So many possibilities there including the possibility that the "friend" who told OP about the "cash buyer" is causing trouble & made up the story. Why hasn't "cash buyer" tried to reschedule? The "cash buyer" has a friend who knows the seller. Why haven't they tried the back door for a viewing? I can promise you this, anyone who is genuinely interested in a property won't be put off by a rescheduled appointed. No one really knows what happened here but I'm very doubtful that there ever was a "cash buyer" & if there was they seem to be tyre kickers rather than genuine buyers.

I get that most people don't understand how house sales are handled & don't trust estate agents. The reality is that the vast majority of Estate agents are honest and honourable in their dealings. OP is believing 2nd or 3rd hand information as fact without asking the estate agent what happened.