I've been looking to utilise the stamp duty holiday savings and have been actively searching for a property for me and my child. I am chain free and ready to go and have a really good deposit.
I know property buying is one of the most stressful things to go through but I just feel like I've been taken on an emotional rollercoaster of mind games by the estate agents. I've been in strong positions to have offers accepted but had rejections based on such subjective things, "oh they went with the other couple instead for x,y,z reasons" and I'm like what... but I'm also x,y,z so why didn't you check with me on this before you decided to give half baked information about who I am and my offer?? How much influence and power estate agents have to screw up your sale with the seller.
Or I have been blatantly used to help drive up the price for a house by stretching out my budget (spending hours with brokers to find a way around it and asking family for financial help etc.) only to then realise that they knew the other buyer would go higher so they pushed me to help drive the price up. Lines like "I really like you and know you really want a family home for you and your kid, friend to friend, I think if you can match the offer we can get it for you" blah blah... I don't know you estate agent man-child, stop pretending you're doing me favours as I've still not go a home from you!?
Or you'll have agents call you up after your best and final offer has been rejected and you've said that's it I'm out, but they're still trying to push for more by calling you back a day later skirting around the subject of some other crap property that's come up that they know you have no interest in and then slip in "oh this other one you wanted is still in discussion if you want another go before we go to the sellers" so you'll fold and go back into a bidding war on the original place.
Some estate agents will give you info on whether your offer is higher or lower than others but others will just say "No we can't discuss this but there are x offers on the table but you can revise the offer.". So what is it then? Should you be giving such indications to buyers about how your offer sits?
And then the amount of properties that get sold before they are even marketed. They then come up on the site with an 'under off' label on the same day it's added. I've asked estate agents to let me know so I can do the same and swoop in agreeing an offer before the masses see it, but it only happened once and that fell through as seller changed their mind. I've heard from others who bought homes that they gave money upfront in order to be informed first of good properties... I don't want to do this, why can't it just be fair and everyone gets the same visibility and opportunity to bid??
Ugh there is so much more immoral and frustrating interactions I've had doing this. I've wised up a lot in the last 8 months of trying to buy a property and obviously this housing bubble doesn't help as now the prices have become even more silly. I feel really down about all of it; I just want to get a nice home for me and kid with a garden and separate bedrooms for us. I've given up for now as it's just too stressful. I've wasted so many weekends and taken days off to see places before they get snapped up and losing all that time I could have spent quality time with my kid instead.
I'm obviously just needing a rant but I also think the way the housing industry is regulated and the behaviours you come across by estate agents are unreasonable. There is no transparency and I just don't trust them.
Have you guys had similar issues? What are tricks to get "in there" with them?
AIBU to be frustrated at estate agents?