Rightmove/estate agents is this normal for them?

[Posyapocalypse]

I found a flat I was interested in and wanted to view. I phoned the estate agent it was on with and expected to be offered a date to look round but they said they would get back to me. Heard nothing so filled in online form and got no response. It’s over 8 days now.

I found another flat on rightmove and phoned the agent that was on with and asked a question about the heating. The agent said she wasn’t sure but was ask the vendor and get back to me. Heard nothing.

Im a first time cash buyer so no chain,mortgage etc. Is this lack of response normal? Was I naive to exect to be offered a viewing of the first flat and for an answer about the heating for the second?

No, you're not naive. They've just lost your enquiries in the sea of other enquiries and you need to chase. Best to get used to chasing people early in the buying process - you'll be doing it a lot!

They are being crap though - not excusing them. It's just if you want things to move along you have to push them along I'm afraid.

Thanks flipperdoda. It didn’t fill me with confidence that if they couldn’t even deal with a viewing request or answer a really basic question about what heating system a place had, how theyd be to have to communicate with throughout the whole process if I got to the stage of putting an offer in.

A strange situation. What is the market like in your area?
If the market it still hot, you might need to be a bit more assertive.
I wonder if being a cash buyer is disadventageous to you.
You might do better to say you have a substantial deposit , then say there is no point in seeing their in house mortgage advisor until you have seen the property. You may be missing out because they sense there is no additional commission to be made from a mortgage. My son bought last year,had a 60% deposit and an AIP. He agreed to speak to a couple of in house Mortgage Advisors even though he was fairly sure that they couldn't beat the rate offered by his bank.

Daisymay2. I’m looking at flats only and there are so many for sale where I am I think they can be slow moving. I never thought being a cash buyer could have anything to do with the lack of response. You make a valid point. I just didn’t expect no follow up whatsoever when I said I’d like a viewing. Just feels weird.

Very weird. Where are you based? I’ve C Lon agents to be v good and responsive. Can’t see being a cash buyer a disadvantage as a lot is sticking on the market at the moment.

I’m in West Yorkshire.

I found a flat I was interested in and wanted to view. I phoned the estate agent it was on with and expected to be offered a date to look round

Did you ask to view and state a date

kenny. Yes, on the online form I said I’d like to view it asap and said I was free anytime the following week.

Perhaps the request to see it ASAP next week was ignored because they had loads of viewings this week lined up and anticipated an offer. Doesn't excuse the phone request

Asking about details of heating of someone who may not know the property before you have even seen it may not have been responded to if there were viewings booked either.

I work in Property (not an Estate Agent but work closely with them) I'm hearing this a lot. I'm afraid some are just very inefficient. You are proceedable with no chain. A perfect buyer in this market.

My experience is that some agents are just inefficient. If you find one that responds promptly and seems helpful, it is likely the whole process will be much easier. When I was moving I didn't view any properties on with Purple Bricks as they can be a nightmare to deal with.

I sent an email asking a question about a property and got a phone call within 15 minutes telling me it was sold but wanting to interest me in something else. So I guess it depends on the agent.

They normally bite your hand off.

Someone’s forgotten about/lost your enquiry.

Send an email asking again for a viewing. Say you’ll also be putting a note through the vendors door. Sometimes estate agents operate their businesses purely in their own interests ( ie will a sale lead to a mortgage commission or another sale). They ought to be acting in the interest of the vendor but don’t. We’ve been rung up to discourage us from buying a property..probably sold it to a mate instead..

Thanks everyone. This is really helpful . I’ll ask for a viewing again and say I’ll put a note through vendors door if they don’t respond this time.

I used to work in an estate agents. My advice is never to use the online forms or send messages via rightmove. Call the office directly, ensure they know your are a cash buyer with no chain and take the name of the person you're speaking to so you can easily follow up if you need to. Good luck with your search.

Thank you Juicy0 I’ll do that.

You'll get more attention if you go to an agent and tell them what kind of property you're looking for, where, your price range, that you have a mortgage lined up, nothing to sell, and here are my contact details.

We bought in September as cash buyers and it was a completely different experience from when I bought years ago with a mortgage. We were refused viewers and had offered turned down on multiple houses all because we were cash buyers. A lot of properties in our area are cash but only due to the location and from what I was told by the estate agent who sold us our home that they have had issues with people being dishonest about their funds and pulling out midway.
I hope you get heard soon and see some flats!

Right move is just a marketing vehicle, all agents listing properties will work differently. Use RM to search and then look on the agents own website for their staff details. Call using their direct details, ask for an email address and follow up with an email. Make it very clear you have no property to sell. As soon as you get to the point of offer send proof of funds in writing with your offer so there's no doubt it's genuine.

We've been house hunting in the UK recently and went into one agency to express interest in viewing a property (having phoned and emailed that morning with no response). The guy in the office was on a personal call when we came in which he finished at his leisure, he said no viewings were possible at short notice - fair enough - but that someone would call us. Nobody has and that was 12 days ago. He didn't ask us for any details of our budget, requirements, funding etc or suggest any alternative properties on their books. We crossed that agency swiftly off our list.

We rang a different agent to ask about viewing another property. We were on a tight timescale - not their problem I know - but we haven't even had a call back or any follow up on what we might be interested in. Another agent crossed off the list.

Happily, we visited another agency who arranged us a short notice viewing, provided us with lots of alternatives that ticked our boxes, talked to us for ages about our current position and what we were looking for and we have now had an offer accepted via them.

It's pretty poor when it is clear that the agents have no interest in getting viewings booked in and aren't actively targeting their marketing or indeed any marketing at potential clients. I sort of thought that was their actual job?

Some agents are just not very good. Unfortunately we are currently buying with one, and they have lots of properties locally so viewed with them too. Experiences include:

Viewing requests that went ignored.

A booked viewing they forgot about - when we called as we stood on the doorstep they had no idea what we were talking about but did send someone round 15 minutes later.

Took a day to call us back when we left a message about wanting to make an offer.

Told us the property was chain-free, which it wasn’t.

Have done no progression of our sale at all. We are very uncomplicated buyers indeed (chain free, moving from rental etc) and have had to proactively contact them at every stage to move things along. They have never passed on or offered any information about the chain above us without us asking, and each time they then have to go and ask.

Currently waiting for news of a pre-exchange viewing - we’ve been calling them since January to sort something out with the vendors and we rarely get a response until we chase.