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Original poster

Do estate agents tell lies about the interest in a property??

57 replies

darlink · 12/10/2006 01:00

Have put a bid on a house (Scottish offers over system)

quite an unusual house would not have thought much interest.

No other bids when I offered yesterday.
Agent now say they are expecting another bid tomorrow of 30 thousand more!!!!

Might they be lying to force my hand? (not that I can afford to be forced)

OP posts:
ghosty · 12/10/2006 01:11

TBH with you, I have only met a couple of honest estate agents in my time (and I have met many!)
Don't know what to suggest really ....

SittingBull · 12/10/2006 04:07

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

Alibaldi · 12/10/2006 05:00

Don't believe them. Did you put a note of interest on the property. Normal in Scottish buying. If you did you should be informed of another interested party. Never heard of them telling you about the value of another bid. Normally go to closing and then the seller decides. All sounds very dodgy to me. Ignore they call, certainly if you can't afford more and see what happens. Most unusual circumstance, but hey things may have changed. Been out of Scotland for a year now.

mazzarella · 12/10/2006 09:34

when i got an offer for asking price on my house, the estate agent asked me if i wanted her to ring them up and tell them there was a higher offer in! to see if they would go higher! I said no thanks im happy with asking price.

yes they all lie!!!!1

FreakyFloss · 12/10/2006 09:35

ESTATE AGENTS = LIER.

Original poster
darlink · 12/10/2006 10:34

you gals are wonderful!

Alibaldi we did notify interest straight away.
When we made the offer it was def the only one. No other notes of interest.

We offered a decent whack above asking price .

Alibaldi should the agent tell my solicitor about other notes?
This has not happened.

It was The SELLER- who I trust not to lie - who told me the agent told him about the alleged higher bid coming in.

Confused???

OP posts:
wannaBe1974 · 12/10/2006 10:49

sounds dodgy to me although I think that sellers can be just as untrustworthy as estate agents tbh. In fact I have considered asking my agent to tell a couple who are stalling and stalling about whether to make an offer on my house that there has been interest in the property and another offer is expected, not because I want more money for it, but because they're wasting my time having been to view the property three times with various members of their family and still they keep ringing the agent to say that they'll get back to him by "the end of the day" and this happens daily. I'm perfectly happy to hear that they don't want it, but if they do want it then I'd really like to know without having to tidy up for the same people to view for the 4th time.

Also while I think that most agents are dodgy as hell, I think my agents are great, they're not charging me their usual 1.25% commission but they're charging me a flat fee as I've dealt with them before. Also when I sold my previous house they did all the ringing around etc when there was delay on my keys and I took them chocolate on completion. but I do think such agents are very few and far between.

Blu · 12/10/2006 10:54

I know nothing about the Scottish system, but the estate agenst we are buying (trying to buy through) tookk us to see a property that they weren't even contracted to sell yet - all as a way of getting the vendor to use them as the agents.

My friends were coming to the end of the contract with a particular agent, and had had little interest in the house. All of a sudden there was a flurry of people looking round - great, thought my friend - until she later recognised the 'buyers' as the office staff from the building society next door to the agents. Where they, no doubt, refer people for finance. Talk about 'you scratch mu back...' Fake Buyers!!!!!

LIZS · 12/10/2006 10:56

I don't trust EA's - they will tell you whatever is in their own best interest, be you the buyer or seller ! If you can't afford to go higher say it is full and final. Remember they operate on a % of the sale price.

LIZS · 12/10/2006 10:58

Blu I'm convinced they have regular "mystery viewers" and make fictitious appointments which are cancelled at last minute.

Helennn · 12/10/2006 11:09

Thanks for that wannabe1974 - admitting that vendors are often the ones getting agents to do things that they are often not happy with themselves - TRUE.

So nice to come on here and read that, "they all lie", and, "ESTATE AGENTS = LIER". If you made this sort of comment about just about any other group of people eg. black people, gay/lesbians, disabled people etc. etc. they would be completely up in arms and you would be branded a racist, (quite rightly), but say it about an estate agent and you get everyone agreeing.

As you can tell I was an estate agent for 9 years and I can honestly say we were a very hard-working, well-meaning, honest office. We often went beyond the call of duty helping people and had many customers keep coming back in to see us. Obviously lots of people have bad experiences but I do think an estate agents reputation goes before them and they are sometimes accused of things which are just un-true.

As darlink states above it was not the estate agent who told her about this other interest, but the owner. What would the estate agent hope to gain by telling the owner this? Did he know they would pass it on to darlink? Just because the agent did not know about this other interest when darlink made her offer the other one may have come in 10 minutes later - why shouldn't it?

Sorry to ramble on but I really am surprised that you can insult a whole group of people and not expect anyone to be hurt or offended by it!!!

CountessDracula · 12/10/2006 11:11

Oh come on

If you are an estate agent, lawyer, journalist etc you MUST have a thicker skin than that!

Gobbledispook · 12/10/2006 11:13

Most certainly they do. Half of them think they are so bloody clever but, er, they definitely are not.

I practically told mine what to say at every turn and then she wanted a pat on the back for a good deal negotiated. She was crappo.

dinny · 12/10/2006 11:17

they won't lie if they are members of the NAEA... unfortunately membership is voluntary, so all the crooked ones don't join.

ScreamandYellowFeathers · 12/10/2006 11:18

Yes they probably are lying.

If I told you half of the things we were told about the house we bought, you wouldn't believe me!
The house was on the market for over a year with no interest what so ever but suprisngly enough when we put in a bid so did 2 other people!

We kmew it was all lies as luckily dh knew the the lady whose house it was.

TheBlairAitchProject · 12/10/2006 11:20

my husband recently got taken to the press complaints commission by an estate agent who he had accused in print of lying. her balls were so big and she was so accustomed to lying her face off that she denied everything and tried to get him sacked, so imagine her surprise when he showed the PPC his evidence (stacks of it) and they dismissed her. she is a director of a Very Well Known Scottish estate agency.

who's handling your sale?

and sorry Helenn, but how much do estate agents get paid in wages and how many of them have the big houses and flashy cars? something dodgy going on there... so many things that estate agents count as 'perks of the job' (buying newbuilds at cheap prices from developers if they are going to sell the rest of the properties etc) that the buying public would consider corrupt if they knew about it. good for you if you're not one of them, but i know a lot of estate agents and only only the ones making top dollar from zillion-pound homes are straight fellows.

TheBlairAitchProject · 12/10/2006 11:21

by the way, the PCC dismissed her complaint. she is still in her position in the estate agency.

LIZS · 12/10/2006 11:24

or they may claim to be but aren't ! suppressing our property details on their computer system against our specific wishes but in line with those of our prospective purchaser, issuing 8 sets of particulars in one day - again without our knowledge or approval - while we were "sstc", only for the deal to fall through the next week, while denying they had any idea in advance, making an appointment , postponing then a no-show but not diarised correctly anyway and can't contact the "viewer", unreturned phone calls.... honesty ? Forgive my scepticism please.

Helennn · 12/10/2006 11:29

Er no, I don't have a thick skin at all, if you look at my previous posts you will hopefully see that I am a caring person who genuinely does try to help people. If somebody insulted an ethnic minority/disabled person you wouldn't expect them to shrug off an insult. Obviously there are good and bad as in every trade - but if people keep perpetrating the myth that all estate agents are liars then even when one is trying to help you you won't believe them.

And, if you can prove that you were lied to about a property, then you should prosecute the agent under the 1991 Property Misdescriptions Act - it is against the law.

I can guarantee that a lot of buyers and sellers are totally un-ethical too when push comes to shove!!! Obviously buying a house is a very stressful time so

TheBlairAitchProject · 12/10/2006 11:36

choosing a career in estate agency hardly equates with being born into a particular race or having SN, though, does it? you knew that estate agents were unpopular before you started, did you not? i'm a journalist, doesn't bother me when people say we are unscrupulous, a lot of us are. I'm not (i'm not under that kind of tabloid rage pressure in my particular job) so why would i be offended?

Helennn · 12/10/2006 11:42

No - at 19 I did not realise that estate agents were so unpopular. I went into it because I thought it would be an interesting job where I could work my way up, (I started as a secretary which is what I was qualified to do). Maybe the link with SN/race etc. is not a perfect one but I was just trying to get my point across. I do not think jounalists get such a bad press as estate agents, (but maybe I am a little sensitive). Any-way I must get on with the chores - but PLEASE - NOT ALL ESTATE AGENTS ARE LIARS. Oh - and the blairaitchproject - I often caught the bus to work as I couldn't quite afford the snazzy sports car - I'm still waiting!!!

lulumama · 12/10/2006 11:45

mine lied (allegedly? which ended up us offering £5000 over asking price as contract race and 4 other potential buyers...then told us to instruct surveyors before owner had even confirmed our offer was accepted......went in and had it out with them though!! owner did not remember any other viewings!!!!!!!!!!!

got the house, but miffed about the money!

TheBlairAitchProject · 12/10/2006 12:38

...that daily bus journey marks you out as one of the honest ones, then.

Jbck · 12/10/2006 19:09

Darlink is it an independent agent 'cos they are more likely to give you an idea about amounts of bids than say Your Move or Slater Hogg. You should have been notified though if anyone else had put a note of interest in & it should have had a closing date set. What sort of offers over price is it up at because for a house to get £30K more than asking at all, it must be pretty hefty pricewise & if the bid is 30K more than your bid which was already well over o/o price then it must be a phenomenal house. Would you be happy posting link. I know freinds recently bid on a house in South Side of Glasgow which was o/o £300K & they were 9th out of 12 bidders. It actually went for £180K over the 300 but it was terrific house in a great area. Most houses are still only going for between 10 & 15% over, any more & they are generally the ones a lot of people are interested in because they don't come up often. We recently went for a lovely 3 bed bungalow which sold in 4 days & we know bid was about 10K more than ours but it was still only 12% above o/o. we're moving 4 weeks tomorrow, it's blinkin' stressful isn't it! Good Luck hope you get it, I'd say hold out.

Original poster
darlink · 12/10/2006 23:45

wonderful women the lot of you!

Helen I can see why this conversation would make you hacked off.
Good for you for being an honest estate agent.That is heartening to hear.

But do you think many of your colleagues are dishonest? If not why is the public perception thus?

Jbck the house is being sold through Slater Hogg.
Half an hour from Glasgow in a small town ( Population 8,000)
Detached 6 bed Georgian Villa in own walled grounds. Offers over 475K.
We bid 530

Seems there is indeed a genuine bid of 560 Subject to survey.
The owner called us to tell us this because he wants us to have it! he even told us the amount and if we bid the same we will get it!

We cannot go that high and ar waiting to see whether the sale goes ahead at 560. as it is not signed and sealed.
I m not ttoo downhearted as we live in a lovely farmhouse in the country.
The new house is in the town our kids go to school in (3 miles from our current house)

OP posts: