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Original poster

To worry estate agent is lying

14 replies

Frazzled13 · 25/09/2018 16:40

We’ve had our house on the market for about 6 weeks now and our estate agents have been generally a bit crap. Recently I’ve started hassling them more, asking what they're doing to get viewings etc. and they arranged about 5 viewings for the past week, 2 of which were today. For context, other than these we’ve had 4 viewings total. These recent 5 were all confirmed viewings at a specific time, not just people who were interested in viewing it. Every single one of these viewers have cancelled at the last minute, so am I being unreasonably suspicious to worry that at least a couple of these were fake viewings to get me off their back? I just can’t believe that all of a sudden we had a big increase (we did drop the price but that was about 2 or 3 weeks ago) and then all of them cancelled? Whenever they call me to say that the latest viewing has been cancelled, they can never give me a reason because they always say it wasn’t them who spoke to the potential viewer so they’re not sure of why. Also none of these buyers have rescheduled their viewings. Am I just being paranoid, or did these viewers never exist? I've never sold anywhere before so have no idea how frequently people cancel but the lack of a reason why, and the fact none have rescheduled (combined with the fact that none of the viewings scheduled before I started hassling them were cancelled) has made me wonder. I’m very happy to be told I’m being unreasonable – in fact I’d prefer it because if not our estate agents are even worse than I’d thought, and no one has been interested in viewing.

OP posts:
HelloPeopl3 · 25/09/2018 16:43

Yes I'd say that is very very odd..

Especially how no apps were rearranged.

Do you know anyone that has used the EA, maybe to ask how their process went ?

GloGirl · 25/09/2018 16:45

I'd be concerned.

I'd also ask a friend to phone to make a booking to view.

BlueBug45 · 25/09/2018 16:48

No you are not unreasonable. Estate agents are known to lie and mislead.

Executiveappointments · 25/09/2018 16:49

Time to change your estate agent I'd say

CSIblonde · 25/09/2018 16:54

That's odd. When I worked at EA we were religious about getting feedback because if something like eccentric/tatty decor, structural issues (on the viewing) or the area put them off after a pre appointment drive past so they cancelled, (very common) you need to factor that in. I'd be rethinking whether they're a good choice tbh.

Foxyloxy1plus1 · 25/09/2018 16:58

I reckon they’ve ‘persuaded’ people to view, they’ve agreed to get the EA off their backs and then backed out of the viewing. Or they’re made up viewings.

I’d look Quite often, you have to give them several weeks notice, so tell them before the end of the contract, so you’re not messing about when you change.

It should be your EA who speaks potential viewers and if that’s not happening, I bet it’s a large chain EA, where the left hand doesn’t know what the right hand is doing.

Original poster
Frazzled13 · 25/09/2018 17:03

Dammit, ok. This was one of those times I was hoping to be told I was totally unreasonable and that this was all normal when selling a house!

@CSIblonde lack of feedback is another reason we aren't that happy with them. We had a woman look round a few weeks ago who seemed quite interested but decided against it because she said it needed work doing. The estate agent said "annoyingly she didn't say what that work was" and when I asked him whether he'd actually asked her what it was, he said no.

@foxyloxy1plus1 yeah that was another thing I considered, that people agreed to viewings they had no intention of keeping.

OP posts:
londonrach · 25/09/2018 17:08

Sounds like they made up the viewings. Change agents but find out why no interest...do you need better photos, is it over priced. Have a look at other properties in your price range on right move to get an idea

CSIblonde · 25/09/2018 17:45

OP, I worked for an independent EA. We priced to sell, ie the going rate. The large chain 2 doors down always put everything on at 10k over the going rate then came down & down & down over 6months. Ridiculous: Buyers do their research & know the going rate. 90%of our houses were on 2months, max. Those that were on longer had structural issues, were in a rough area or had 'eccentric' decor (people can't see past wacky themes/'out there' or old fashioned colours).

cranberryx · 25/09/2018 19:02

I'd personally look into going with another estate agent.
Also, maybe ask a friend to book a viewing as PP's have suggested. You'll find out quickly why these viewings are falling through.

Maybe they don't response to online queries fast enough. Maybe they hassle people every day before the viewing so they decide they don't want to deal with an annoying EA? List could be endless.

I recently wanted to view a house down the road from me. It had been on the market for ages but I wasn't in the position to put an offer in, so I kept an eye on it.
After 5 months on the market, it appeared under another agent. (so represented by two agents).

I called the agent that had represented the property the longest and quickly found out why it wasn't selling. They took one week to get back to a Rightmove query. They then lied and said the house was off the market because the couple had decided not to move.

They didn't know that I had phoned the second EA the same day, booked a viewing for that evening and had put in an offer and had it accepted by the time they got back to me. When I spoke to the seller, they said they had not heard from the first EA at all.

I don't understand some EAs. Is it laziness? Miscommunication? Or just weird business practices?

EnglishRose13 · 25/09/2018 19:21

I had a similar experience to the above.

A house was on the market with two agencies. I rang one that I had used to view other houses to arrange a viewing and was told that the sellers couldn't make the requested time without them even asking the seller.

I then called the other agency and got the viewing slot I wanted without question.

I ended up buying the house, to which the original estate agent called "unethical".

Original poster
Frazzled13 · 25/09/2018 19:29

Thanks. I’ll ask a friend to see if they can book a viewing and see what they say.

I don’t think we’re overpriced, we listed at the price they (and several other agents) gave us, but have since reduced by just under 15% in total (we reduced it twice) and aren’t now slightly cheaper than a very similar place just down the road. We’ve seen loads of properties of different price ranges all reduce in price while we’ve been looking so I think everywhere around where we are is going down in price.

OP posts:
MrsReacher1 · 25/09/2018 20:19

Sometimes the agent is just piggy in the middle but I admit I wasn't happy with my last agent who didn't lie but clearly did not like my house and I don't think gave it his best shot. I think they are panicking and trying to get anything and everything done so don't do it properly,

WickedGirl · 25/09/2018 20:48

How much notice do you need to give the current estate agent if you leave them?

My house stalled.....I told the estate agent I was giving them notice that I was going elsewhere but they were to take my house off all social media immediately

This meant that it looked like a new property when I hit the market with a new estate agent 4 weeks later.......it sold within 2 days with the new estate agent

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