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Original poster

Estate agent/vendor situation. Please help!

54 replies

Worried247 · 11/05/2019 06:36

I've NC for this as potentially outing.

So this week we had an offer accepted on a house. The house was up for sale with a new, very small estate agent who doesn't have an office but works remotely.

Initially when we offered, the estate agent said 'the vendor did not give a particularly warm welcome to your offer as they were hoping for it sooner after your second viewing'. Some of the things he said were a bit weird - the estate agent more or less said that the vendor resented us as they lost the house they wanted because we didn't offer sooner. I was a bit like WTF (we weren't in a position to offer until this week!) but the estate agent went back and forth to the vendor and we negotiated a price.

Anyway, today the sales memorandum came through. And the vendor has got the same (unusual) name as the estate agent!!!!! So I did a quick Google and found out that the estate agent business that we have been going through, is registered at the address of the house we are buying.

To cut a long story short, the estate agent is the same man as the vendor!!!! Not once has he let on. He showed us round the bloody house as an estate agent, not once letting on that it was his house!!
He even lied to the point of pretending to go back and forth calling the vendor about our offer etc etc. When we made our offer, he was so so picky about checking that we could afford it and pretty much wanting it signed in blood. It's obvious why now!!

What would you do? Is that even legal?

To be honest, it's an old house (about 150 years old) that needs work and we are about to invest in a full structural survey and now we feel anxious. What else has this man lied about? And how could he lie to our face so many times? Would this make you uneasy? It's making us wonder what else he is lying about . I guess we should let our solicitor know so that she can ask outright?

I've hardly slept all night chewing this over.

OP posts:
jamtart30 · 11/05/2019 06:41

Get out and quickly.

escapingtothecountry · 11/05/2019 06:44

And how could he lie to our face so many times? LOL. Because he’s an estate agent, and that’s what they do best.(or at least tell edited version of the truth). We’re just trying to buy a place. Turns out a metre of garden to the side of the house has been sold to the neighbours as has 1/3 field that comes with the house. And the 2 bed annex doesn’t have pp or building regs. EA knew all of this, just chose not to tell us. Makes us uneasy too, but we like the house, know it needs money spent on it and are getting a full structural survey —which generally isn’t worth the paper it’s written on—. I’d tell him outright that you know it’s him.

Pppppppp1234 · 11/05/2019 06:44

It wouldn’t sit right with me either OP and it’s a very weird way the estate agent (vendor) has gone about things.
It would hugely alert me as you said what else what has been hidden or mis construed.
I’d want to call him out to be honest.....:

ELW85 · 11/05/2019 06:49

@Worried247

I’m not sure about the legalities, as your solicitor would be ensuring your best interests and remain independent. However, it’s a conflict of interest for the vendor/EA at the very least, and if they’ve lied this much to this point, the rest of the transaction isn’t looking promising, so I’d withdraw and tell them exactly why!

Itis6oclocksomewhere · 11/05/2019 07:01

I would pull out of the sale. Echoing PP, they have lied so far and it doesn't look good for the rest of the transaction.

I would have thought they have to say something. We sold a house a couple of years ago and the buyer was related to one of the agents. We were made aware of this as soon as they booked a viewing and we were reminded when they offered.
Another friend of ours is selling her house and she used to work for the estate agent that is trying to sell her house. On the Rightmove listing it clearly states that she has a connection to the estate agency.

jemihap · 11/05/2019 07:03

I'm pretty certain that (genuine) estate agents have to declare it if they or any of their employees hold an interest in any property they're marketing.

AJPTaylor · 11/05/2019 07:06

Absolutely certain that Estate Agents have to declare an interest. Is he allegedly a member of a trading body?

ItsNiceItsDifferentItsUnusual · 11/05/2019 07:06

Drop the house and be blistering in telling him why. I know agents have a bad rep but this is out and out deceit.

RaptorWhiskers · 11/05/2019 07:06

Weird and deceitful, especially when he was making fake calls to the “vendor”. I’d pull out and tell him exactly why. Tbh I’d have been so annoyed about the “vendor” daring to express displeasure about when I chose to make my offer, I’d have withdrawn it immediately and said well if the vendor is so displeased then I won’t bother.

StickOfRhubarb · 11/05/2019 07:06

I would find the whole situation too risky. It’s such a massive thing, buying a house. All that money, and you can’t feel like you are being conned whilst you are doing it.

Legofriday · 11/05/2019 07:23

He sounds very odd but I don't really get why it's any different from the normal set up. All estate agents work for the vendor, and their interests and incentives are pretty well aligned with the vendor. They aren't neutral 3rd parties. They aren't going to volunteer that there's damp in the attic, or the neighbour has an annoying dog. They are never acting for you, the buyer. Just the same as this guy.

What might put me off is the vendor being a certain amount of bonkers, but not someone acting for themselves, because that essentially changes nothing.

Estate agents are not surveyors or solicitors. They are by definition hugely biased and have a very specific agenda which is to get you to pay as much as possible for whatever quality of property they are selling.

RaptorWhiskers · 11/05/2019 07:27

Acting for himself is fine, but it’s bonkers to pretend there’s an imaginary vendor somewhere and pretend to talk to them on the phone etc.

Theweegobshite · 11/05/2019 07:29

Yes there should have been a statement on the particulars declaring that the property was owned by a member of staff. This is a requirement.

WipeYourFeetOnTheRhythmRug · 11/05/2019 07:34

WTF? He sounds unhinged. Pretending to have a dialogue with a fictional vendor who is himself? Did he not think you’d find out from the documentation?

Theweegobshite · 11/05/2019 07:36

www.tradingstandards.uk/media/documents/commercial/codes-of-practice/tpo-sales.pdf

Code of practice part 2h.

Bluntness100 · 11/05/2019 07:39

That's very odd.

Do you really want thr house? If so, inform your solicitor of the situation. It can still proceed but clearly you need to be cautious as he is deceitful. People don't have to engage agents and can sell their own properties, but he should have been honest, clearly, that it was his house.

ChariotsofFish · 11/05/2019 07:42

Year, they are required to disclose this. Do you know which redress scheme they’re part of? Have you told them you know? Personally, I would pull out of the purchase and ask them for details of the redress scheme and submit a complaint. You obviously can’t trust them to be honest throughout the purchase.

Original poster
Worried247 · 11/05/2019 07:43

I have just read the particulars again and in teeny tiny print it says about the house 'this property is being sold by a director of estate agent.

But that doesn't take away from the fact that he has lied so much, from having conversations with the vendor, to showing us around his own home and pretending he is an estate agent, to emailing us about conversations he's had with the vendor!

If he had said from the start that he is both the estate agent and the vendor then genuinely it wouldn't have bothered us. I know estate agents are there to represent the seller and no one else.

It is all the lies that don't sit right with me. I even had a really frank conversation with him about the state of the house (!!) And he said he hadn't been there for a while. He also said to me in the week that he hasn't spoken to the vendor for a while and needs to have a catch up - with his fucking self!!! I mean WTF. The more I think about it the more weird it is!!?

OP posts:
gubbsywubbsy · 11/05/2019 07:45

I think he has just set up an estate agent to sell his house .. seems obvious to me unless he has a website with other houses for sale .. but then of course that could be fabricated... why not just drop him an email saying factually you know so it may be easier just to talk to him as such .. don't make a big deal of the other weirdness if you want the house ? Structural survey will tell you what you need to know if you can afford to lose that money just got ahead .

bibbitybobbityyhat · 11/05/2019 07:56

Yes, very very odd behaviour. There's nothing to stop anybody selling their own house - you don't need an estate agent to do it. I'm dying to know how you're going to let him know you know - I think a phone call would be best! Of course you need to be certain it is actually him selling the house and not a relative with the exact same name (not uncommon) but even if it is a relative he should still have declared the conflict of interest.

ContinuityError · 11/05/2019 08:10

He has broken the Trading Standards’ code of conduct and if he is a member of the NAEA then he has broken its code of conduct too - both require him to have notified you in writing before negotiations began.

He’s also in breach of Section 21 of Estate Agents Act 1979, which requires him to disclose his interest in the land.

Neron · 11/05/2019 08:20

DH and I viewed a beautiful house owned by the estate agent selling it. We were advised before and asked if we still wanted to go ahead with the viewing and his wife showed us round because she was a SAHM and nothing to do with her husband's company.
When we wanted to put in an offer, it was by chance he answered the phone but insisted on putting us through to one of his staff due to the conflict of interest.

superram · 11/05/2019 08:22

I bought an estate agent’s sisters house. I think it was when we offered he put it in writing but actually mentioned it on viewing (he agreed that her paint colours were shit). This is so unprofessional

Original poster
Worried247 · 11/05/2019 08:26

Thanks again everyone xx

No there has been none of that. He has not once let on and has always gone off the phone from me and pretended to call the vendor!!

OP posts:
ABingThing · 11/05/2019 08:31

I would walk away now as he is clearly being dishonest with you.

There's a Section 21 on the property we are buying, but it was clearly stated in the advert paperwork and the (large chain) EA checked we'd been made aware before we booked a viewing. Despite that we're still nervous about the whole thing.

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