Estate Agents - Attitudes & rudeness?

[Andeh13]

TL: DR..... 3 Estate Agents all very dismissive/rude; Two of them in the postion of 'sales' with me in the market for a new property in the next 2 weeks - 3 months. One a lettings negotiator who was immeasurable condescending and assumed a '2 month notice claus' I requested would never have been put into the contract I had signed and that I must have been wrong - on the day I was to move into the flat.


With selling my house and about to start the process of seriously looking to buy a new one with the girlfriend I have been amazed at the shoddy attitude & down right rudness of some estate agents.

When I moved into my current rental flat The day we were to move in - Decmeber 28 (I had signed the contract and agreed a move in time) I set off and rang the Estate Agents to let them know I was on time and would see them at 10am. I also clarified that the biggest & most important claus for me had been accepted [in writing] by the landlord - 2 months leaving notice at any time. The head 'lettings negotiator' laughed at me down the phone saying you really should have read the contract before signing it (in THE MOST condescending way), ''that claus is unheard of for 12 month lettings and will not in the contract, do you sign much without reading it properly?'' I held my tongue, explained that it was in the one I signed and had been discussed numerous times. His response.. ''Well, thats that then, the land lord must have rejected it''. Do you want to cancel the contract and call it all off?'.

I was horrified and explained I had made it clear several times to the land lord/the original letting agent who took me to see the property that this was essential for me, and that I was packed up and on my way down to move in as agreed. I also explained it was in the contract I had signed with a junior lettings guy on the 23rd December. He was totally dismissive and said he'd better look into it (I was 10mins away from the flat at this time. A very long hour later he came back and literally just said ''yeah, it is in the contract, when did you say you wanted to move in?' I was furious and explained I had been outside the flat, at the agreed time for over an hour. His response again was a ''I'd better find someone to see if they can do the moving in inspection, ill get back to you'' I was furious, but someone did turn up swiftly and full of apologies for the 'miss information'.


And then with an offer accepted on my house, contracts swapped and hopefully progressing swiftly (hah, touch wood) I am looking for properties to move into.....

I have rang several Estate Agents explained who I was, my house is almost sold pending contract approval but I was waiting for the money to clear before I would make any firm offers/arrange viewings (being a cash buyer...) and I'd like to discuss some of the houses they have on their website. I tell them the properties I have seen, asked in their opinion why most of them haven't sold in several months+, how much interest in them, any recent offers, their opinion on the area - all genuine questions IMO etc. Out of the 5-6 I spoke to one guy said 'I know your game, dont bother wasting my time' then hung up on me....and a second guy just cut me off mid sentence enquiring about offers & interest in one property, then hung up on me again when i rang back thinking someone had cut us off accidentally. All i can think of is because I said I wouldn't make any offers/commitments until my money cleared and I was in the cash buyer position they figured I was mucking around!?


Am I alone in this? All I can think of is I am young (mid 20s) and in the very fortunate position to be a cash buyer on some nice 3-4 bed properties. They just assume I am dreaming and don't give me the time of day. Ironically enough, when speaking to women they are more then happy to discuss it all with me, and then happy when I say, ill be back in touch in 1-2 weeks when i hopefully will be able to book viewings as a cash buyer. It is the older men (I think) that were just totally dismissive.

[TeePee]

Honestly, if you are finding this difficult, I would go to the estate agent selling your home (Presumably they have worked out?) and hire them as your agent to negotiate viewings and find the properties which interest you. It will cost you some money, but you are paying to avoid the hassle.

Otherwise, it's a buyers market right now. I had similar issues buying a car recently. Lots of dealers assume cash buyers are just wasting their time. Keep shopping around. Those that will work with you might make a sale.

If we have an agent on the forum, they might have better advice.

[Domestic_Ginger]

And what about conveyencers? half way between estate agents and Human beings.

I think they consider them selves more important than a phone answerer. Make an appointment? My wife does this kind of thing. I just have our savings .

[Andeh13]

I'm moving 150 miles away, and i doubt I could get my 'own' estate agent to take on board the houses I'm looking at. (if that's what you mean! )

I'm going to ask for the peoples names before I start asking questions in future, give me someone to avoid when I walk in asking for a viewing/offer cash in (effective) hand. I'm very patient and mild mannered, but I take a strong line with respect/lack of. Professional sales people should be of the persuasion that potential clients probably arnt time wasters rather then vice versa...

What stops me knocking on the door, explaining to the owner I like their property, and would offer £xxx, xxx if they would accept? Bypassing the estate agents entirely? I remember the agent dealing with my house saying they would be legally obliged if they put me in touch to take a cut of any sale. But if I just knocked on the front door and never spoke to the agent?

[kalniel]

What stops me knocking on the door, explaining to the owner I like their property, and would offer £xxx, xxx if they would accept? Bypassing the estate agents entirely?

Seller's contract with estate agent saying they won't do that? (I've not seen a sellers contract so don't know). You could always suggest to the seller that you'd be willing to continue enquiries only if they end their relationship with the current agent.

Estate Agents are variable, and many of them seem to be rather scummy.. but I wouldn't like to overly generalise When buying we found one or two to be rude, so we simply avoided that whole agency where possible and wrote a letter of complaint to the company, as well as recommending our previous landlords avoid them when selling their property.

[Moby-Dick]

Estate Agents are Lower than PE Teachers. I rest my case.

[Saracen]

Seller's contract with estate agent saying they won't do that? (I've not seen a sellers contract so don't know). You could always suggest to the seller that you'd be willing to continue enquiries only if they end their relationship with the current agent.

Estate Agents are variable, and many of them seem to be rather scummy.. but I wouldn't like to overly generalise When buying we found one or two to be rude, so we simply avoided that whole agency where possible and wrote a letter of complaint to the company, as well as recommending our previous landlords avoid them when selling their property.

I bypassed the agent completely and dealt direct with the vendor after I found out he wasn't passing information on, like that I had made an offer. I imagine the little *bleep* still got his 40 pieces of silver from the seller, but the agent was so obnoxious, not to mention a deceitful little liar, that I told the vendor either we dealt direct or he could find another buyer, because I was no longer prepared to even talk to the agent. Guess what he chose.

The agent, by the way, tried to shove his mortgage broker down my throat, despite me already having a guaranteed mortgage in place, and then tried to convince me that my solicitor, a property specialist that had been a friend of the family for 30+ years, wasn't independent and that I ought to use someone he recommended. He kept on and on about that, until I finally told him there was no way on earth I would consider ANY solicitor suggested or promoted by someone (him) directly working for the other side of the contract (the vendor) so just forget it, it ain't happpening.

And all that was after one if his clerks had pushed and pushed to know how much I earned, and what I did. That, of course, is none of his business. Ensuring I have the finance to afford the place was his business, but my income is not. And I had, and had produced, a mortgage guarantee for about 60% of the purchase price, and a bank statement showing well in excess of the other 40%.

So, after getting jerked around by this greedy idiot once too often, I went round to see the vendor, had a nice long chat about the above, and a fair bit more besides, and we agreed on the price, terms, etc and TOLD the agent what the deal was. Period.

One of his tricks was, unknown to me, the agent had cut the price on the adverts without telling the vendor. The vendor had given two prices, one was his target, and the other was the absolute minimum he'd accept. The agent used the target price for about 3 weeks, then cut the price on flyers to the absolute minimum, without telling the vendor. My offer, of course, was based on the flyer price as a starting point, not a red line. He then denied he'd done so, calling me a liar to the vendor .... unaware I was in the next room (in the vendor's house), listening, with one of the amended price leaflets in my hand. His face when I walked in with it was priceless.

Not all agents are as thoroughly dishonest as that one. In fact, I'd guess few are that bad. But that, and a few other things over the years, has left me with a thorough scepticism and distrust of them all.

I will use them, but never trust them and I keep my eyes very wide open around them.

[mikerr]

What stops me knocking on the door, explaining to the owner I like their property, and would offer £xxx, xxx if they would accept? Bypassing the estate agents entirely?

Sorry, but I wouldn't let any random guy who saw the for sale sign into my house to have a look round... that's part of what we pay EAs for.

EAs just like to move properties fast, and they do seem to ignore your wishes price-wise - in the past I've told them the minimun I wanted, but to keep the displayed price as it was
- lo and behold an offer at exactly that minimum price a few days later

[csgohan4]

Be mindful of estate agents and their Small print, always ask to see them before you rent properties out, they have lots of hidden extras.

[Andeh13]

Sorry, but I wouldn't let any random guy who saw the for sale sign into my house to have a look round... that's part of what we pay EAs for.

Why bother putting a for sale sign outside then? It's not like your neighbours are going to want to buy your house, or the occasional visitor to the area.

The only useful thing Estate Agents do is put your house on Zoopla. After that all they do is act as a messenger. I knock on your door, agree on a price and then we go to our respective solicitors. Quicker, easier and CHEAPER by £3,000 - £4,000 for you... I would have been over the moon had some had the initiative to do that to me.

edit; As far as I can remember the Estate Agents I used/am using were legally entitled to their fee for anyone they introduced me to/if someone else sold the house whilst I am within their contract, but within a week of me 'ending' the contract with them IIRC I could do what I like with whom I like.

[BobF64]

EAs just like to move properties fast, and they do seem to ignore your wishes price-wise - in the past I've told them the minimun I wanted, but to keep the displayed price as it was
- lo and behold an offer at exactly that minimum price a few days later

Thats why you dont give them a minimum, insist that you will review all offers that are made.

[GoNz0]

glad the guy who sold our house was a friend, his wife made it her mission to sell our house and worked hard to get it sold. ended up selling it to a chancer who say the sign after finding the house he went to look at a few doors down had sold, he tapped on the door and i passed his number to the agent who pushed for a good price.

was easy buying the place we have now, we put an offer down that they refused then walked away, 1 month later they phoned up and said we could have it for that price

[Domestic_Ginger]

Online estate agents are much cheaper but you need to do the viewings yourself. They will do the negotiations for you although I feel with so many properties they are at a disadvantage having never visited your property.