Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Property/DIY

Join our Property forum for renovation, DIY, and house selling advice.

Original poster

Estate agent won't let me meet the buyer - can I insist?

36 replies

Mitzimaybe · 28/03/2015 12:15

I've already moved out so the EA has done all the viewings. I've accepted an offer, things are proceeding. The buyer wants to discuss what I might leave or sell - furniture, white goods etc. I've asked the EA to give her my phone number but they won't. I'm at the house this weekend so I asked them to tell her to come round today but they haven't. I presume they think I'm trying to cheat them out of some commission. I'm not; it would just be so much easier to talk in person. If I still lived here and showed the house myself, I would have met her. What can I do?

OP posts:
iloveaglassofwine · 28/03/2015 12:17

Can you pass on your details via your solicitor?

LIZS · 28/03/2015 12:21

The memorandum of sale should give each others' details. Have you completed a fixtures and fittings list as part of the legal paperwork?

wowfudge · 28/03/2015 12:49

Get your solicitor to pass a message on to the buyer via her solicitor. Ask the EA what their rationale is for not having you meet.

specialsubject · 28/03/2015 14:01

the EA works for you and does as you tell them within legality and reason. So demand, and if refused complain higher, and if still refused tell them you won't be paying.

BumWad · 28/03/2015 15:24

That is a bit weird. We met our seller and buyers and negotiated on lots of Hobbs like curtains and barbecues. Go through your solicitor

BumWad · 28/03/2015 15:34

Lots of THINGS

iamusuallybeingunreasonable · 28/03/2015 15:43

We never met our buyers, didn't want to, we shipped out for viewings, they're buying the house not you, and as far as I'm concerned as a seller, the estate agents getting paid quite well to deal with it

LIZS · 28/03/2015 15:47

We never met our buyers, both times.

Original poster
Mitzimaybe · 28/03/2015 18:52

Thanks for the replies. I did a form for the solicitors covering light fittings, carpets, curtains etc. I put white goods as "negotiable" and it never occurred to me that the buyer might want some of the furniture. But as I was planning to sell some of the furniture anyway, it would be convenient if the buyer wants it.

OP posts:
TheSingingMonkey · 28/03/2015 19:01

Go through your solicitor. But you will have the seller's details on the memorandum of sale.

pilates · 28/03/2015 19:17

What reason did the Agent give for not passing on your number. That is weird and would make me suspicious. The Agents are acting for you as the Seller.

MoreBeta · 28/03/2015 19:23

It makes me think the buyer isn't actually real and you are being strung along and they will suddenly disappear just before exchange of contracts.

MoreBeta · 28/03/2015 19:23

You haven't already taken it off the market have you?

fhdl34 · 28/03/2015 21:21

We got our buyer's name and address in the memo of sale and he got ours, look up his number

GiddyOnZackHunt · 28/03/2015 23:26

Our EA said they believed it could confuse things. I can see their point during initial stages but it can be really useful in the later stages.
Presumably the buyer will want to come round again before exchange so get your key back from EA and force them to let you meet the buyer whereupon you can swap details

Original poster
Mitzimaybe · 29/03/2015 10:29

Yes, I have taken it off the market. I haven't seen a memorandum of sale - who provides that, EA or solicitor?

OP posts:
Egog · 29/03/2015 10:36

Be wary. The reason our EA didn't want us to meet our buyers is because they told us they were a family, and they weren't; they were developers who were going to rent it out post-sale. Through them. Bit of a conflict of interest, and the reason the EA had been pushing us to accept a low offer.

NoWireCoathangers · 29/03/2015 10:42

I worked as an estate agent, when buyer and seller have each others contact details this can muddy the water, especially in the early stages of a purchase.

If the survey comes through with areas of concern the buyer could then contact you to renegotiate. The agents are there to get you the best price possible, let them do their job, get a list of the items the buyer wants to buy within the property and negotiated for them on your behalf.

mateysmum · 29/03/2015 10:42

Seems a bit strange. Perhaps in the past the EA has been shafted by buyers/sellers, but that really isn't a good reason. They are acting on your behalf and you are paying them shedloads.

A memorandum of sale listing details of both parties and solicitors, agreed price etc should have been issued by your EA immediately the offer was accepted and solicitors appointed.

If the EA won't co-operate go via the solicitors. Who knows, the EA may be hoping to take a cut from the sale of f & F's by doing a deal with your purchasers and keeping you all in the dark. Whichever, what has he got to hide? suspicious: moi!

mateysmum · 29/03/2015 10:52

Sorry coathangers, whilst I see your point I don't believe it is reasonable to refuse to pass on details when a specific request has been made and a request for a meeting at the property also made.

The EA is working on behalf of the vendor and hence should take her instructions. If they feel that would compromise the deal or their professsional integrity, then that should be discussed with the client, not simply a refusal to share details. Likewise, the client needs to make clear why she wants to meet the purchaser - good old fashioned communication could solve this issue.

Survey issues are a bit different. When this has happened with my purchases I have always gone via the EA to avoid personal friction with the vendor, but sometimes talking face to face is the quickest way to avoid the chinese whisper syndrome between vendor/purchaser/EA and 2 solicitors.

PS: I have nothing against EA's.I have only praise for the professional way 2 local agents handled my most recents sale and purchase.

Original poster
Mitzimaybe · 29/03/2015 10:55

I'm pretty sure the buyer exists, as my sol has received enquiries from theirs.

OP posts:
NoWireCoathangers · 29/03/2015 11:04

Trust me vendors and buyers having each others contact details is not a good thing. I've worked in the industry for years, and seen many a deal go sour as contact details have been swapped. House purchases can be fraught at the best of times! There is nothing however wrong in facilitating a visit where vendor and purchaser can meet and discuss, but swapping numbers is never advisable. Also it's very rare that the agent gets a percentage of the items sold, they get paid on the purchase price for the house, not second hand furniture, curtains and light fittings.

pilates · 29/03/2015 12:03

Sorry disagree NWC. The only reason why this would turn sour is if the Agents aren't being honest and saying one thing to the seller and one to the buyer, which unfortunately happens frequently.

Perfectlypurple · 29/03/2015 12:07

Having contact numbers when we bought our house was a godsend, we arranged to meet to discuss white goods and then found out that the estate agent lied to us when he told us our sellers wanted an extra 5 grand on the purchase price.

NoWireCoathangers · 29/03/2015 12:18

PerfectlyPurple, perhaps the agents were trying to get more money for the vendors. If you bought those items for less it maybe because the vendors felt under pressure that you'd pull out of the purchase if it was a deal breaker.

Ultimately there are some good agents and some bad out there, but in my experience it's best to keep the vendors and buyers apart until the survey is completed, legals are clean and ideally when the exchange has taken place is preferable. Emotions can bubbly over into hysteria, you pay the agent to sell the house, so let them do their job. If you don't trust them then don't employ them, or sell your house yourself.