AIBU to think this Estate Agent's behaviour is unethical

[albertcamus]

(Warning : I KNOW it's none of my business, but I care about his interests & welfare)

Our neighbour of many years is a shy, kind, old-fashioned, honourable guy. He lives in a small starter home & would like to move to a bigger house with a garden now that he's married. He contacted one EA (from a large local chain), who came out & told him she could find a buyer immediately; within 24 hours an offer was made by a man whom she introduced as her partner, who wants it as Buy To Let. He shook on a price (which was the same as a similar house in the same road was sold for back in April). He has tried so hard to find a property in our area that is a step up the ladder, but cannot find/afford anything if selling at that price. I gently suggested that it should have been marketed more widely, but he said: 'My word is my bond'. He's now looking at a tiny house 40 miles away which would mean a nightmare & expensive journey to work for both of them. He is really stressed over the situation.

AIBU to feel that this EA has been unethical & has not acted in his best interests ?

It's a big local chain, fred, I will look for the CoP on their website

If it's only worth 10k more isn't that worth it for a quick sale or am I missing the point?

mommy that depends upon the price and whether you need a quick sale.
So if the house is on for 100k and they're 10k under it's a bigger loss than 10k under a 200k asking price.
We sold slightly under for a quick sale to secure a particular house. We knew what we were doing.

Is the agent charging him a commission? In this situation it would be normal for the agent to waive their commission, which could also account for a discrepancy in prices. I sold a property privately to a neighbour and we settled on a fair selling price less what we would have paid in agent fees.

10k for no agent fees, no advertising, no hassle of inspections, open houses, etc actually sounds pretty reasonable. However, he should get a signed and written contract done.

My Mom did this when my DF passed and we sold: she shook on it with a viewer. The agent (aged old school type but my DM bought out his protect the little woman side) and he wrote to them and said you took advantage and she wouldnt be accepting the offer. Bless him/they arent all bad.

I used to work for an EA too, normally peeps get 3 valuations then go with agent they think best. I agree with other posters, show him similar properties and what they have gone for and stress that he hasnt signed anything and if someone is taking piss his word doesnt need to be his bond AT ALL. Its lovely you are looking out for him. If all he can get is so unsuitable maybe she should stay put for now or remarket at diff price. The current EA would only argue that they priced it for a quick sale tbh. Some agents do that , some put £10k on top of real worth if owner in no hurry and they are prepared to negotiate.

I'd be a bit wary of assuming that your neighbour would necessarily sell for the average 10K more. It's an average which means some houses will sell for more, and some houses will sell for less. There is also a big difference between an agreed sale and a potential one.

Also would that 10K (minus fees, assuming that this is a private sale) make that much difference to his search?

However if he can't find somewhere he likes and the sale hasn't been legally completed then he can just pull out. No one is counting on moving into his house as a home as the buyer is seeing it purely as an investment.

I would deffo see it as unethical... Taking advantage of a decent chap. Not acting in his best interests if it hasn't been tested on the open market...

Presumably the EAs business partner would not be buying it UNLESS it was a stonking good deal benefitting themselves only!

I'm just going to say that from where I'm sitting that zoopla site looks woefully inaccurate (by which I mean its estimates are on the low side). Because my mother's house was last sold in 95 at a far cheaper price, the estimated value is about £100k less than a house of the same size in the same street that was (obviously) sold for more a few years ago.