Estate Agents being pushy

[TheBouquets]

I am hoping to move house very soon. I have had bad experiences of being too open and honest with certain official persons. Therefore I have learned to be guarded.
I called an agent to arrange to view a property. I was asked loads of questions about my house owning position. As I refused to specify my house owning / financial situation I was not allowed a viewing.

This particular house has been up for sale for over a year, it has a good survey and in a desirable location.
If I am old enough to be buying a property, and a property which is not a starter price range for the majority of people, surely I am old enough to know whether I can afford this property or not.
What makes Estate Agents think it is going to do any good to put prospective viewers off before they even view? Surely our financial status is nobody's business but our own as responsible adults?

Whether it's a good idea or not is neither here not there. Pinkunicornsarefluffy said it wasnt allowed which is crap. Who believes this stuff?

Besides there are all sorts of reasons people might not be in a hurry to move and all sorts of compromises (we are not proceedable right now but will increase the offer accordingly etc)

But why bother to increase an offer when you aren't able to move anyway? You could offer £1 million over asking price, it means bugger all.

Because you're going to sell your house? It's just not sold at the present time?

Oh I see. More a registration of interest rather than expecting it to be accepted?

We managed to get an offer accepted pending us going on the market. It was subject to us getting an offer pdq but we bought that house. EA knew we were serious though.

Of course not. Are you being deliberately obtuse?

Eg. We loved the house we saw yesterday. Because our house isn't on the market yet we are aware that we may not be in the best position. Therefore we will offer £20k above asking price and put our house on the market immediately.

It's not that unusual

It's also common with people buying new builds because you need your buyer lined up well in advance so you can exchange and complete within 6 weeks

We never even met the estate agent when we bought our house, not much due diligence going on there. But fail to see what the ea can check anyway, all the finance is handled by solicitors.

No one should accept an offer from someone who is not even on the market. Dont. You are the one being obtuse.

Any estate agent who recommends their client accepts that offer shouldnt be an estate agent.

if they haven't even got their house on the market they may as well offer fairy dust and unicorns, it has about as much credibility at that stage.

When some naive person offers on a house without even having their own house on the market the only response is "thank you so much for your interest. Unfortunately we can't take your offer because you aren't in a position to move. If you get an offer with a completed chain then you might be in a position to actually offer. See you in a day, a week, two months, a year - who knows?"

It's not a serious offer.

When we sold our house we had an offer from someone whose house wasn't on the market. Whilst we did accept it, we said at the time that we would continue to allow viewings and would consider other offers whilst they were waiting to sell.

Estate agency is entirely unregulated (anyone can set themselves up as an estate agent and claim to tell you what your house is worth...I know people who have done it with no experience or knowledge!). People labour under the misapprehension that because they make thousands on every sale that they're somehow professional...think again!

The only chance they have of filtering money launderers is if someone comes in to their offices with a suitcase full of cash...beyond that, they have no right to ask for details of earnings. If you have a mortgage offer, tell them but that's all they're entitled to.

Of course once you do say you have a mortgage offer, they bang on about how they can get a better deal...then force their solicitors on to you.

Having had many bad experience with estate agents, like one agent who refused me a viewing of a property because his mate had put an offer in on it (which hadn't even been accepted!). Or 2 other occasions where the only reason information got circulated in a chain was thanks to me (at one end) and another vendor several houses up...none of the agents involved did a thing!

Back to the OP, I think telling them you're a cash buyer who owns several properties should be enough. They can't expect to know what you have in the bank!

Exactiy Cats, no one should take their property off the market to someone who hasn't sold. It's relatively easy to agree a price, but the purchaser has to have a completed chain or it's worthless.

And all this have you got an offer nonsense....

I once tried to make an offer on a house. The owner refused to accept - on the advice of the estate agents - as even though my house was on the market, I didn't have an offer. I found somewhere else once I did get an offer, her house eventually sold for less 2 years later. So they did her no favours there.

My bf recently bought a house. When he made his offer the house had been on the market for 3 months. They then dithered about accepting because they'd not even started looking for a property (at the agents suggestion!) once offer was accepted, estate agents then went silent (aside from pushing their mortgage guy/ solicitors) until out of the blue calling bf up complaining that the vendors were waiting to complete on x date (never mentioned previously) and he was holding everything up!

It really is the definition of money for old rope.

Throughthickandthin that happens everyday. It's obvious you know nothing about it

if you only knew Dont...

I do know, you're making it clear.

I also know whilst most EA are not clever, anyone who has done it for any period of time knows people accept offers from buyers who haven't sold everyday.

I know 2 instances amongst just my friends just this year-
Friend 1- divorce. Her house had been on the market 18 months. They accepted an offer from a family who hadn't yet marketed their house. They had no choice, it was the only offer they had. Their buyers sold their own house less than a month later and they competed a few months after that.

Friend 2- selling a £500k house. Buyers who were also not on the market were selling a £300k house in a popular local development which is highly desirable (especially at that price bracket) my friends knew they'd sell quickly once on
The market; in fact buyers didn't even get it on the market as the EA knew someone waiting for one of those houses.

Neither of those cases are particularly unique are they?

It is many years since I bought a new to me house. I don't really recall what conversations took place decades age.
I have also had an Estate Agent toview one of my properties. She looked round then sat down pulled out some papers and starting filling them in and said she would sign me up for 26 week contract. I had not said that I was going to list that or any other property with her. For months now I have had phone calls about once a month from that agency.

It is not just the pushy ness I met with as a potential buyer but also as a potential seller that I find obnoxious. Some people think that is part of life I lthink manners would be a good idea.
The house I wanted to view is one of a number in a desirable area and I could not understand why it was around for a year. It was my second choice property in that area.
I do not have to disclose my financial situation even to my lawyer. My lawyer is currently doing some work for me. There is no need for them to know anything other than this is the situation and I want the appropriate legal papers completed. It might not be wise to be saying too much about one's own financial business.
I just don't accept heavy pressure sales techniques. Perhaps some people here think it is fine or even work in such a field. Personally I walk away from high pressure sales.

I don't like telling them too much before viewing as they also use it as an opportunity to suss you out on behalf of the vendor as to whether they can hold out for more money.
I own a fair few properties and I use a buying agent nowadays as some of the agents round here know me and know that I can afford pretty much whatever so will hold out for asking price.

Exactly. They are not just trying to ascertain whether or not you're in a position to move. They want to know how high you can go which really depends on the place. You might be prepared to stretch for one property but not for another.

Thankfully at long last two posters who see the same as me.
I showed the emails from the estate agent to a relative who is in a certain occupation and therefore full of suspicion. I was asked for my exact address not just the Post Code. My relative said that they could be arranging a viewing for you about 30 miles away knowing that your own house is likely to be empty at the arranged time.
I had thought of the fact that they would likely try to push me to a higher price and that they might pitch for the sales of any properties I might decide to sell.
As for time wasters it is my plan not to put the house I live in up for sale until I have the new house ready to move into and just before I move the furniture out I will have estate agents round for the photos and then nosey viewers will only find a house with carpets and not much else. I now there are some right nosey blighters round here.
Moving house is one of the most stressful thing you could do and there is no need for estate agents to make it any more stressful.

For goodness sake OP - either continue to cut off your nose to spite your face or play the game. You don't have to go into great detail, but being offended to this extent will get you nowhere.

As for time wasters it is my plan not to put the house I live in up for sale until I have the new house ready to move into and just before I move the furniture out

Is that because you don't need any equity from your house to buy the new one? I can't imagine anyone selling to you under those conditions unless you're prepared to put in a huge offer.

OP, you're overthinking this. As for the "relative who is in a certain occupation and therefore full of suspicion"... bonkers.

If you want to be taken seriously by sellers and their representatives (the agents) you will have to play ball. Or don't. It's up to you. You know how much you want/need to buy.

I do not have to disclose my financial situation even to my lawyer. My lawyer is currently doing some work for me. There is no need for them to know anything other than this is the situation and I want the appropriate legal papers completed. It might not be wise to be saying too much about one's own financial business

Never get divorced. Then your financial situation becomes everyone's business and your lawyer will stop acting for you unless you disclose it. Also, your financial situation is (to an extent) your lawyer's business in that they will need to know the source of funds to avoid being tainted by money laundering.

Is this actually a stealth boast that you're really rich (keep referring to 'my properties')? Or are you just mega paranoid? The EA might have just thought that you came across as a massive pain in the butt and could not be arsed to deal with it. If you were to make an offer on the house, you would have to disclose your financial position in order for the seller to make an informed decision as to whether to accept your offer.

SilverBirch, yeah I don't know why the OP would have access to a survey on a property she has not viewed either. Sometimes the owner will have already had a survey carried out (maybe if property needs certain work doing to it), but that would usually only be made available if you view the property. Perhaps that was the case here and the EA gave the OP a copy of the survey to read.

To quote a pp, you just need to get over yourself love. So you've got a bob or two? Doesn't make you the queen of England ( or is that you Liz?)