Estate agents behaviou

That's unusual HDando, our experience for sometime has been that they're unwilling to book viewings with anyone who doesn't already have their house on the market.

Tell them you only want bookings for those whose house is currently on the market.

When I sold my last house the estate agent told me to look on-line but not visit any properties until mine was under offer.
I would be annoyed in your shoes. Can you ring and stipulate only those in a position to proceed should view your house? Otherwise, change agents. Good luck.

We allowed any viewers and ended up with 4 potential purchasers vying to be the one to sell their house first. one sold within a week and bought our house.

We had no one around who did not have their property on the market, but lots of people like us trying to buy/sell property in a depressed market.

I did most of the viewings as I knew the house better than the agent and am quite adept at tuning into what the viewers were especially interested in/didn't want and could tune my pitch accordingly.

How do you know what is the best thing to do - if you don't look at properties before you have a firm offer on yours, and everyone else does the same, how does the market move at all? The good old first time buyer is then responsible for putting a squib under a whole chain of buyers and sellers - surely that would slow everything down even more than the frustrating waits people seem to have .

A few weeks ago there was a very interesting documentary on BBC1 about Estate Agents - a lady went undercover - some of the behaviour of the Estate Agents was unbelievable - certainly worth a watch.

I have been treated appallingly by estate agents in the past and our first EA was a bit ho-hum. But the agent we finaally put our house with was superb.

HDando

Hi. I am one week away from looking my dream bungalow due to my sale falling through. The estate agent has shown people round our home who haven't sold theirs yet. They even showed someone around twice which made us feel we were in with a chance but actually only valued their house an hour before they came to view ours! They still aren't on the market but apparently they're moving d he to I'll health so the agent doesn't want to rush them Am I over emotional to feel a bit hacked off with them? To be honest if they'd explained the situation is have probably been ok with it. But now we stand to loose our purchase whilst the agent is chuffed we've got two people interested even though they can't proceed. Rather think I may have answered my own question there!

From what you posted, nobody agreed a sale, so nothing fell through. The situation is, your agent failed to find a buyer.

Which is no surprise given his very unprofessional conduct.
He "doesn't want to rush them because of their health issue"?

What a load of tosh.

He works for YOU; not them. You are about to lose your dream bungalow because he failed to prioritise YOUR interest
o=ver theirs, and he's stringing you along with the pretence they still haven't put their house on the market because they're not well?

More likely, they were so unimpressed by your agent they decided not to employ him and took their business elsewhere. So should you.

LovesBach

How do you know what is the best thing to do - if you don't look at properties before you have a firm offer on yours, and everyone else does the same, how does the market move at all? The good old first time buyer is then responsible for putting a squib under a whole chain of buyers and sellers - surely that would slow everything down even more than the frustrating waits people seem to have .

Putting a house on the market takes a considerable amount of preparation and time; finding an agent, agreeing a price for the house and negotiating agent fees getting it photographed and a brochure printed. (and, if not a cash buyer, applying for a mortgage in principle) .

Thats the absolute bottom line requirement for any serious househunter with a property to sell; BEFORE they start viewing properties.

The OP's selling agent has been showing her home to viewers who haven't done any of that; whose home is not even on the market. They could be complete timewasters, daydreamers who will never be able to afford her property.

I have had very limited dealings with estate agents.

The first time I tried to buy a house I put in an offer and it was accepted and then I heard nothing for ages. I was moving from outside the area so I couldn't pop in to see the estate agent and they never answered their phone. I finally got through and they told me that the house had been taken off the market.

A few years later I put in an offer for another house and the estate agent told me that it had been accepted so I instructed my solicitor to proceed only to find that somebody else had put in an offer before me and that had already been accepted. The agent had not bothered to check that another agent had placed an offer and when he did find out he had not thought to tell me. This was particularly galling as the estate agent had insisted that I provide proof of funds before allowing the offer to be made.

I have often looked round houses and flats without being asked if I have put my house on the market when wanting to buy and I have shown people round without having any idea
if they have put their house on the market when selling.

I get the impression that estate agents are only interested in their customers if there is a sale in the offing.

Its a buyers market...loads of sellers are reducing their asking price on rightmove now....I would take on any viewer personally in todays climate

butterandjam

LovesBach

How do you know what is the best thing to do - if you don't look at properties before you have a firm offer on yours, and everyone else does the same, how does the market move at all? The good old first time buyer is then responsible for putting a squib under a whole chain of buyers and sellers - surely that would slow everything down even more than the frustrating waits people seem to have .

Putting a house on the market takes a considerable amount of preparation and time; finding an agent, agreeing a price for the house and negotiating agent fees getting it photographed and a brochure printed. (and, if not a cash buyer, applying for a mortgage in principle) .

Thats the absolute bottom line requirement for any serious househunter with a property to sell; BEFORE they start viewing properties.

The OP's selling agent has been showing her home to viewers who haven't done any of that; whose home is not even on the market. They could be complete timewasters, daydreamers who will never be able to afford her property.

The last three properties l have bought l viewed and had offer accepted before marketing my existing property. It takes days to get a property on the market, in one case it took only 2 weeks to complete the sale.
Incidentally don't bother paying for a printed brochure in this computerised age.

A couple who came to view my house said as they were leaving " we love the house. We need to put ours on the market!" I had quite a few viewings with unrealistic offers then the couple who didn't have their house for sale put in a very reasonable offer and the estate agent told me that they had an offer on their house. It was sold to them a few months later.

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This time last year we were 4 months on the market and not a sniff of a sale.
We got an offer out of the blue end of October and have been 4/5 months in our new home.
Best thing we ever did.
I’m afraid you have to take a lot on the chin when selling houses.
It’s worth the pain though.

Really interesting discussion estate agents can definitely make or break the moving experience! Communication and transparency are so important when dealing with them. If anyone’s planning to <a href="https://estateagentsilford.co.uk/best-day-to-move-house/">move house</a> soon, this guide offers some great tips on choosing the best day and making the whole process a lot smoother.

Really interesting discussion estate agents can definitely make or break the moving experience! Communication and transparency are so important when dealing with them. If anyone’s planning to move soon, this guide offers some great tips on choosing the best day and making the whole process a lot smoother: estateagentsilford.co.uk/

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Sarnia

When I sold my last house the estate agent told me to look on-line but not visit any properties until mine was under offer.
I would be annoyed in your shoes. Can you ring and stipulate only those in a position to proceed should view your house? Otherwise, change agents. Good luck.

I'd put it down to luck of the draw as to what happens myself and not refuse any viewing.

I sold my last house 12 years ago and didn't expect restrictions either way - I didn't impose any/I didn't get any.

Admitted mine was an obvious first time buyer house - 2 bed Victorian terrace house and so I thought there was a good chance it would be a first-time buyer that got it in the end (and it was). I came exploring the town I'd decided to move to and wasn't aware of anyone putting any restrictions on me - I saw every house I'd decided to see and a few others I'd not specified.

I hadn't sold my house when I came doing viewings here and chose the house I'd thought most likely and said to the vendor "My house has been on the market 2.5 months and it will sell at 3 months on the market - so I will have my buyer very soon now". I don't know whether he believed me or no - but anyway my house sold at 12 hours before 3 months and with a bidding war in the event between two would-be buyers.

That was the key imo - I knew exactly how long it would take for my then house to sell. Basically three ways over - there was a website at that time and I don't know whether it still exists or no and one input the address, condition of area, condition of house and it checked its records and came back with a figure of 3 months. I was also watching the market there extremely closely and the condition of the houses up for sale, eg "That house has just been modernised - and it was done properly and not by a houseflipper = that won't take long at all (it took 9 days)", "That house is awful standard - goodness knows how long it will take" and I could figure out from that as well how long an average condition house/slightly old-fashioned (as I had thought I'd be able to move much earlier than I could and so wasnt going to finish a house I'd never intended to keep from day 1) would take.

Try checking if that website still exists - it must be possible to find it if it still does. I think it probably mainly used the condition of the house to judge how long it would take to sell. Basically we all know "Nice/modern/proper standard renovation and not a houseflipper" and I think a house like that will sell in pretty much any area in 1-2 months - provided the area itself hasn't got an obvious noticeable problem (back garden with no privacy, obvious problems with the neighbours, parking problems, noisy venue next door and the one that always puzzles me (lots of traffic noise and the viewer ignores the fact they've just turned up in a car themselves and rejects it!).

So - yep...take the lot and ask to see the lot is my take on it.

Whoops - just realised it's a slightly older thread....guessing maybe OP has made up their mind by now.

wintersday

A few weeks ago there was a very interesting documentary on BBC1 about Estate Agents - a lady went undercover - some of the behaviour of the Estate Agents was unbelievable - certainly worth a watch.

Ooh, I’ll have to watch that!
It was years ago now, but I once viewed a flat that was currently rented. The EA (an apparently very nice young man who told me his father was a vicar!) disclosed - as legally required - that the flat was owned by someone else at the EA.

I eventually made an offer, not much below the asking price. Was very bemused when the EA said it could be accepted, but only if I could exchange contracts within 24 hours.

Well, of course I couldn’t - I’d never heard of such a thing - I hadn’t even approached a solicitor.

A few months later, I checked the Land Reg, to see what it had sold for. 😱!!! It was well below my offer - around £185k, as opposed to my offer of around £220k.

Only then did it dawn that the owner had either sold it cheaply to a son or daughter, and was avoiding a good chunk of Capital Gains Tax (the price would have risen substantially since s/he had bought it),
Or, had a ‘brown envelope’ arrangement with a friend or acquaintance, while also avoiding a chunk of CGT.

It really was an eye opener! Since then I have taken anything told me by EAs with a barrel of salt. Unfair to the honest ones, I know, but…

Just checked and that "how long to sell a house - here" website seems to have gone since I used it. Have got smile on face though from I could tell selling times across the country and mine is one of the fastest selling postcodes in the country (ie whole of Britain). Not bad going - considering a lot of the houses in this town (including this postcode) havent been modernised yet - though they're at it "hammer and tongs" in next road over and some onto their 2nd renovation since I moved here (ie ripping out bodger "renovations" and doing the job properly).

It makes sense to feel annoyed. The agent should have been clear about the viewers not being in a position to proceed. Most agents will still show a property to anyone who might list soon because they want to build interest, but that does not help you when your purchase depends on a quick sale. A short explanation from them would have avoided all this frustration. You can tell them you need only proceedable buyers now so you do not waste more time.