Estate Agents... Your Thoughts Please

[JillJ72]

Well, after now having two buyers pull out on us (both for financial/relationships reasons), and feeling that our estate agents have been naff, to put it mildly, at communication, we are going to move agents... once our notice period is up.

Which ones would you recommend, and would you not recommend, and why?

We're selling a shared ownership 2-bed property.

Thank you!

Where are you?

Bucks/Beds/Northants border.

When I have sold a house, I have nearly always gone for the independent local, not as a policy, but that is usually the one that I click most with when I have them round to pitch for the business.

But it's random tbh. A very good local firm sent a truly poor guy once. Every viewer would walk in to our front room and say 'Oh, great, built-in shelves' and the agent would then say EVERY time 'You'll soon fill them up though', and would then move to open our understairs cupboard and say 'Here's where you store all the rubbish, ha ha.' EVERY time.

Do you have Michael Anthony in your area? We used them twice in Herts and they were fab. I think their area extends further north too. The agents weren't people I'd want to spend time with socially, but they were very good at their job.

With shared ownership do you not have to give the housing association first option on buyers? Then if they cannot get a buyer after say 4-5 weeks then you can sell the house on the open market?

Yes, the shared ownership company had first option, they didn't find a buyer! We chose to go sole agency when the nomination period expired. 2 buyers further down the line, 8 weeks later, we are no nearer selling. If all had gone to plan we would have been moving this month!

does anyone know what kind of checks are normally done if you want to rent out a property?
the agents have asked for bank details? is this standard practise?

Estate agents vary so much area by area and it's really difficult!

Some will not even take an offer unless you have proved to them you have the cash to go through with it. Whereas in some areas, you just say what you'll pay and they don't even question it.

Get 3 estate agents round, see what they each say about your place. Ask them about eachother - some are absolute liars! It is so hard to assess - there is an independent one in my area who lies and cheats, but there is an independent one in my old area who is fabulous and honest! See which estate agent has most of the properties for sale (similar ones to yours) in your area.

Next time you get an offer, say that prior to accepting it, you require a financial check on the buyers to be done.

I work in Estate Agency and believe it or not, we are not all untrustworthy liars!!!
I work for a small independant company that has a fantastic reputation.

As for people being able to afford properties, anyone putting in an offer on one of our properties has to either see our financial advisor or have the certificate to prove they can afford to purchase the property. Having said that, i know not all estate agents do that, so just be wary and go with your gut instinct.

Good Luck!

Thank you for your thoughts. I guess instinct is a very good barometer of feeling, and now we are not so green behind the ears and have been bitten twice if not thrice times, we will be going in to "interview" estate agents with eyes and ears open.

The agents through whom we were buying have been really good, a completely different experience; proper communication, helpful, friendly, professional, calm, reassuring.

Apparently 1 in 3 sales fall through? We've had 2, if not 3, out of 3 now. Some going for a shared ownership property. Really pants! And tomorrow the icing on the cake will be to be told that the house we were buying has been sold to someone else. We can't believe there will be a last minute reprieve. Just feel so sorry for our vendors, and so angry at our buyers who mucked around as if this is a fun game, and who walked away with no worries.