Private purchases more stressful than going through EA?

[brokenshoes]

I know that buying/selling houses is inherently stressful, but I'm convinced that not having an estate agent makes it even more so. Other than perhaps benfiting from a slight reduction in the purchase price due to the vendor saving on fees I can't see any other benefits.

I'm currently buying privately (vendor is a friend of a family member, but I didn't know her before starting the process) and it seems like such hard work as I'm having to do a lot of the chasing/communicating that the estate agent would usually do.

My vendor is really hard to get hold of so it has made arranging for the survey and other pre-purchase checks really tricky to organise. An estate agent would usually do the liasion.

There has also been a bit of a "misunderstanding" regarding exchange/completion dates which has taken some diplomatic phone calls to resolve. Again, this is something that the estate agent would help to mediate with.

Has anyone else found private sales/purchases more stressful than having an estate agent?

Seeing with some agents in the past I have ended up doing all the chasing and arranging and viewings and photographs and writing the description. The only service I got from the EA was an expensive space in their window! That was stressful and added just another person to chase, in addition to speaking & negotiating directly with the purchasers and their solicitors.
But our last sale and purchase was fab as the EAs involved were helpful and proactive and did make the process go a little smoother.
So I guess it depends on the agents. Some make it more stressful others less so.
Choosing carefully is very important for your sanity and that of your buyers - I've walked away from properties due to incompetent agents.

I've bought privately three times and it's always been stressful mainly because the sellers weren't really familiar with the buying/selling process and weren't sending paperwork etc but then blaming me for the slow progression. I've never bought from an agent but I have sold through them several times and I have to say, at least twice, they've saved a sale I would have walked away (perhaps rashly) because I felt the buyer was being a tit. The good ones do a good job, the bad ones don't.

Yy to not being familiar with the process. My vendor delayed instructing her solicitor for a reason which escapes me but was completely unrelated to anything else that was going on. It was only by chance that i found out when I did otherwise the delay could have been much longer.

I've done one of each and much preferred the control over the process I had with the private purchase.