To think that if you want to sell your house you do actually have to be a bit flexible and put yourself out a bit?

[wannaBe]

We're currently looking to move house. We've been fortunate in that we sold ours on the first viewing, but having sold a house before we have essentially put ourselves out to let people come and view it at all times of the day - and sometimes even at short notice. In fact I gave the agent a key as I would far rather not have shown people round and would prefer to let the agent earn their money.

Having sold ours now and looking for properties to buy I'm finding it's an absolute nightmare to get in to view some of them.

One house we've been trying to get to view for a week - first earlier this week and now at the weekend. The vender doesn't have a mobile and his landline doesn't have voicemail so the agent is unable to get hold of him. Second one had tennants in and they only allow people in on weekends. And the ultimate - we viewed a lovely house on Wednesday and were hoping to go back for a second viewing tomorrow. Now bearing in mind we don't live in the area so can't just pop round for a viewing - going to view properties involves having to make a four hour round trip. So I call the agent who calls me back five mins later and says that sorry, the venders are going away tonight and won't be back for a week, and no sorry they're not happy for the agent to have a key. Agent very apologetic and tbh couldn't believe that they're being like that, esp given the position we're in (STC, completed chain below us) which he says is rare in the current climate.

We are hoping to make a decision this weekend and are going to view two other properties, so the reality is that these people have potentially lost a sale of their house.

Now, how people choose to sell their houses is of course their perogative. but seriously, if you really do want to sell a house then it does involve a bit of effort and flexibility on your part.

'Tenants sign a contract, it is not their house, and if the OWNER of that house wants to sell it and has given the correct notice, it is up to them. EA can enter a house with 24hr written notice IF it is in the contract - then tenants don't have to like it or agree, it can happen anyway because they have SIGNED to say they agree.

Stop bashing the EA.'

That's exactly the attitude we encountered! 'You're the lowly tenant, not the owner so therefore I feel free to do whatever I please to get my hands on money.'

Well, guess what? The tenant is still paying rent on the hire of that property. It is contractually their home and their space until the agreement terminates, as such they have - - a right to peaceful enjoyment of their space they are paying to lodge in.

I don't own any hotel rooms I've stayed in, either, but I'll be damned if I let people saunter in there without any notice.

And I never signed any contracts which allowed LL, or his agent, enter the dwelling without 24-hour notice except in emergencies.

So if the EA just 'popped round' they were shit outta luck.

I don't give a rat's arse how hard they work; everyone does.

All I cared about was getting a new place to live, packing up, and getting our deposit back.

I am a tenant in a flat that has just been sold, we're moving out next month. We get on well with the LL and have accommodated viewings at all times of day and have kept the place tidy, we also allowed the agents to have keys on the proviso that we were given notice of all the viewings. The LL gave us 2 months notice to leave when an offer was accepted, but released us earlier when we found somewhere else, so it paid to keep him on side.

Silverstar2. I am a SAHM at the moment, and was in the house during several viewings and witnessed more than one agent telling buyers outrageous lies, from imaginary offers and interested parties to misleading information about the management company, service charges and communal areas. Hard working maybe, but honest doesn't spring to mind in relation to EAs for me.

Honest is not the word that springs to mind when I think of estate agents but as you say there's always more to learn.

When my friends sold their flat was on the market at 310000. The agent who showed the buyers around (the flat had been on the market for about 2 hours) sensed their desperation (she was pregnant and they'd had places fall through before) and immediately, on the spot whacked the price up by 10 grand. The buyer had come straight from work, was knackered and heavily pregnant and stressed and he knew he could get away with it. Our mates didn't even realise this had happened until the next day when it was all in writing!

It may not be against the law but it's definitely eww.

Letting agents lie like that, too, IME. I'm sure there are some honest ones, but we never encountered any.

Well, as a landlord currently selling my tenanted flat, I hope my agent has more common sense, compassion and knowledge than Silverstar.

I understand, they're trying to flog the property to get money.

Fair enough.

But that's not the tenant's job, and the tenant is still paying money to inhabit the space, as contracted.

If the EA is unreasonable, there's no reason why the tenant should accommodate them if it's not written into the contract regarding LL (or his agent) access .

You see, I never said that we could just walk in - I SAID entry with 24 hour notice. So wind your necks back in!!!

But, the stories you tell, they DO make me sad, because that is what gives EA a bad name - I promise you there are some good ones, but you never hear about them, do you? I am truly ashamed by some of the things you say, they are awful things to have happen, and just because i work in an EA does not make me a horrible person, but as I said, you don't have the knowledge or experience like I do - you only see the bad bits. there are two side to everything you do know that don't you?

I stand by my comments, all I can say is the ones I work with are ok, but as in life and every business, there are rotten ones too.

Silver, take a chill pill. You're not doing your profession any favours here and come across as very condescending with all this 'you're not experienced like me'.

How do you know? And well, I'm not a doctor, either, but some of them are twonks, too.

well what do you expect? So you can say what you want and I can't?

Right. I see.

Bye.

An agent/landlord cannot have access to a property without the tenant's permission regardless of notice given unless it is an emergency. Genuinely, and I would be thoroughly hacked off if anyone hassled my tenants, I'm quite protective of them. The agents' attitudes towards tenanted properties was one of the criteria I used to select one.

Bye!

Suncottage - I once wanted to view a house I was 26, earning a packet, and the EA asked me how a "girl" like me planned on paying for it - made an offer via another agent two days later and moved in within six weeks. Fast forward eight years and the DH (newly married) and I looked at a house via a sister agent =- I was unaware they were connected - although we bought the house. The MD phoned me on the Monday and asked if I would consider selling through them. My answer "thanks for the offer but I wouldn't give business to the mysogynistic, sexist little git in the local branch if it was the last EA on earth. Sold for 136,000 and bought for 294,000 in 1994. Could have been good business - should have provided a service.

Um, bye then.

on both sides of this - presently renting but looking to buy. actually, sale agreed subject to contract - fingers crossed!

wanted to see one flat, but the agent never got the keys from the useless owner. went through about 4 calls about the difficulties in getting the keys and said forget it. and it was foxtons too, and they are usually tenacious as hell about getting a viewing. the owner wasted my and the agent's time - FFS, why put it on the market?

the place we are renting is for sale. it's on with only one agent. it's actually quite annoying, but our landlord has been great and we are staying in the area (just round the corner!) so letting them do any viewings they want within reason. i figure the people they sell to will be the people redirecting our mail. most people have been lovely, but i hope the total bitch who considered herself too good to talk to me and walked around me like I don't exist yesterday doesn't make an offer!

the thing though silver is that we are experienced - experienced from the other side.

It doesn't matter how good and professional you think you are, if the majority of your clients don't feel they are getting a good service, then you are failing.

And the truth is that the majority of people don't feel they get good experience of estate agents, therefore it stands to reason that the majority of them are crap.

When I sold the house I was in before this one my agents were very good. Very communicative - we had a good relationship, however the agents selling this house lost my keys on the day of completion - when I had them round to value it this time they rang to demand why I hadn't gone with them and then started slagging off the agent I did go with - and this was connels - a national agent.

The agent who valued my house at 25K below what it was worth and then told me I'd be lucky to get that, purely because he saw it as an easy sale - I could go on but tbh I think the evidence speaks for itself in general.

There might be some good estate agents out there, but that certainly applies to the minority as opposed to the majority.