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Original poster

Nightmare buyers and estate agent

167 replies

Thanksforthememory · 26/01/2021 00:00

We are currently selling my mum in-laws house as she died last year, we've had a few people round but no offers so we reduced to offers over £180.
We've spend £13k doing it up before we put it on the market new kitchen, bathroom, all newly carpeted and blinds so basically inside is like new.
We reduced last Monday and by teatime had our first viewing they offered £170k on Tuesday then upped it to £175k which my husband reluctantly agreed but I said to keep on the market because you never know what may happen.
On Thursday it went sold on Rightmove but being busy didn't have time to query it.
The buyers asked for a second viewing on Friday which I agreed only to find out when they arrived that the woman had brought a family member who was a architect who went round with his clipboard and pen and proceeded to tell me everything that was wrong with the house, while I just sat there in shock, there was nothing he told me that we didn't know anyway as if you walk round outside it's quite obvious to anyone what needs doing.
I told my husband what had happened and I was furious by this time as I thought they were just coming for a second viewing and not to rip the house apart especially when offers over 180 meant just that but with the covid who knows what may happen hence taking the low offer but then to slate the house which to means they are going to be horrendous to deal with as I can see they are wanting it even cheaper as the last house to sell on that road is £20k higher than their offer.
Now we are waiting for then to sort a survey out which doesn't seem to be forthcoming so my husband rung the estate agent and asked to put it back on the market till at least they've had there survey done and was told by agent that it's illegal to have it up for sale when they've signed a contract which I found out this is a complete lie.
I would like to pull the deal and sack the estate agent. What would you do in this situation.
Thanks.

OP posts:
Bluntness100 · 27/01/2021 15:45

I’m guessing the house was in pretty bad nick and that’s why they did it, they felt it was going to command a higher price and as people needed higher deposits then it gives someone a home they can just walk into

But 13k for a new bathroom, kitchen, and new carpets and blinds, means it’s at the low end and potentially quite cheap looking if they also had to pay someone to do the fitting, so a lot of people will want to rip it all out. As it seems likely the buyer did.

It’s a shame but hopefully thr op can calm herself down, and try to listen to the agents, not make unreasonable demands, and get it sold.

Because right now, with this approach that property is never getting sold.

Throughhistory · 27/01/2021 16:01

[quote GingerBiscuit21]@FlumpetCrumpet if you're paying with a mortgage the lender will insist on one even if it's just for valuation purposes. [/quote]
That's a mortgage valuation, not a survey. Although the buyer pays for it, the valuation is done on behalf of the lender.

C152 · 27/01/2021 16:24

I can understand it would feel terrible to have a stranger rip apart the house you've just spent £13k fixing up, but this is actually what second viewings are for - to look for details and check things you may have missed the first time around.

As for the estate agent, my experience has been that they all lie. If your contract with the estate agent allows you to sack them, I would sack them now and hire another.

wowfudge · 27/01/2021 17:24

They still call valuation surveys though @Throughhistory

wowfudge · 27/01/2021 17:24

Call them - you get my drift

Throughhistory · 27/01/2021 18:13

@wowfudge

They still call valuation surveys though *@Throughhistory*
Who is 'they'? They aren't surveys though, surely everyone knows that.
snowliving · 27/01/2021 18:31

When we bought our first house we didn't really understand the difference between a mortgage valuation and a survey.
They were both called surveys and they both involved a surveyor visiting the property.

purpletrees16 · 27/01/2021 18:53

You seem concerned they will argue on price - do what our sellers did and say they are paying the floor price and say everything is included that will come up in the survey in the discount already negotiated and you are willing to go back on the market.

... we gave up and bought anyway despite a survey saying £30k of work... because it some ways they were right - so If they got a good deal then they will stay and if they haven’t they will move on.

wowfudge · 27/01/2021 19:20

They is mortgage providers @Throughhistory.

Original poster
Thanksforthememory · 27/01/2021 23:09

Maybe I haven't made my self clear.
The offer that the buyers made was possibly a little on the low side, but my husband decided to take it anyway which is fair enough the problem started when the buyers brought round their family member who is a architect, I don't mind anyone coming round but what I did mind was when he told me what needs doing which I thought was rude he didn't have to say anything to me he could have waited until they were outside and told them but he didn't, as they were having a survey done anyway, everything he said would have been listed in the survey.
The fascia are rotten yes I admit that but he made it out to be all of it but I looked today it's only the corner, the roof in extension needs replacing, no it doesn't it's a bit on the edge that needs repairing.
When he went in the loft he said he could see daylight I hadn't been up so couldn't say if it did or not.
He didn't say anything about the work we had done which the majority of the work was done by my brother in-law who is a retired builder so it wasn't done on the cheap, it was done cheaper. I hope that clears up the confusion.
As of today I have terminated the estate agent and hired a new one.
I met him at the house this afternoon and we went round the house then he asked what's up there meaning the loft so I said it was boarded with pull down ladders so he opened it then I remembered what the architect had said about the roof so I told him and he said I cannot see any daylight and I went up and low and behold there wasn't any daylight coming through.
Then I realised that all my suspicions were correct about these buyers.
The low offer on its own is fine but when the survey comes back that's when they would start wanting to knock the price down and that was my worry.
If they've had offered £180k then we would have quite happily knocked whatever off for the work doing but as it's lower offer then no we wouldn't because that's already been taken into account so there wouldn't be any reduction from the £175.
The money we get isn't the issue here it's the point that we have had a lying estate agent who seemingly was working for the buyers rather than the people paying him.
This agent was on a fixed fee which sounds good but they are not interested in doing the best for their clients.
The new agent is percentage based and also charges a deposit and he will be doing the viewings because unlike the slimy toad before him I like him and I know he'll do the best for us. My sister sold her house and bought another through him and the houses that he sells are all sold round here so there's a lot of people paying deposits as my sister did as well and they don't seem to mind.
He would have been my first choice had it been up to me.

OP posts:
callmeadoctor · 27/01/2021 23:33

From OP "The low offer on its own is fine but when the survey comes back that's when they would start wanting to knock the price down and that was my worry."

ooooooookay...................................... Op, they didn't reduce their offer though, did they? (and they might not have done..........)

Bouledeneige · 27/01/2021 23:50

OP - where are you based in the UK? Seriously I've never heard of EA's charging a flat fee - I thought they always charged a percentage. I've also never heard of a deposit being charged. It's all really odd.

Original poster
Thanksforthememory · 27/01/2021 23:51

No that's true but I'm pretty sure they would have done once the survey came back or else why would he like about the roof.

OP posts:
Original poster
Thanksforthememory · 27/01/2021 23:52

I don't want to out myself but it's Yorkshire

OP posts:
Original poster
Thanksforthememory · 27/01/2021 23:53

Sorry that should say lie

OP posts:
Original poster
Thanksforthememory · 28/01/2021 00:07

Yes. I think that's why my husband went with them, both the agents that gave valuations had a fixed rate due to bereavement and a empty house.
I never knew about paying a deposit but after speaking to the new agent he told me then my sister confirmed it.
The way I see it if you find your dream home why not pay a deposit to secure, you pay deposits for loads of things so what is the difference it's only a thousand and if after the survey there's subsidence or damp then it gets refunded if you decide you don't want to buy it.

OP posts:
RainingBatsAndFrogs · 28/01/2021 00:46

I have bought 4 houses now and in the middle of my 5th. Never messed anyone about as a buyer, and would never pay a deposit to the EA.

The risk and outlay is mine when buying: expensive survey, expensive searches, I’ll be damned if the EA will benefit from holding my money!

The EA’s I am currently buying through simply asked for certain commitments to be in place within two weeks, after which they would discuss with me marketing the property again.

Anyway, good luck,

Lochroy · 28/01/2021 07:01

I would never buy a house where a deposit was due to the EA. I'm prepared to take a risk/go through the due diligence of paying for any mortgage fees, survey, conveyancing and searches but what if one of them threw up a genuine problem and I wasn't able to complete the sale? No way I'm risking writing off more money.

Zofloratheexplora · 28/01/2021 07:48

The low offer on its own is fine but when the survey comes back that's when they would start wanting to knock the price down and that was my worry

Yes the architect was rude but the above is a risk with ALL buyers.

Curious about the deposit. What if I as a buyer decide to pull out because the alleged chain free vendor wants to add a chain which is already on a chain which will cause delays for me or what if the survey comes back with £50k of urgent work that I can't afford or the searches say a new estate is going to ruin my view? Do I then lose my deposit I paid to the estate agent? As a buyer it doesn't sound very enticing, it would put me off viewing your property.

thecognoscenti · 28/01/2021 07:49

You sound really hard work. It's quite normal for a prospective buyer to visit again (particularly if the house is going to need work) and to bring someone else as a second pair of eyes. He wasn't slagging off your child, he was pointing out potential issues with a property. You seem to take any criticism of the house very personally and it's not helpful. If you can't detach yourself you shouldn't be there for viewings, it doesn't benefit anyone.
I suppose paying a deposit to the estate agent (which isn't the deposit for the purchase, as some PPs seem to have misunderstood - it's more of a reservation fee by the sound of it) could weed out time wasters, though it could also put off legitimate prospective buyers.

FellowFlipFlop · 28/01/2021 07:55

I suspect the slimy toad who did in fact secure you an offer will be more successful than this new shining star - most people wouldn't pay a deposit to make sure the owner takes the house off the market and doesn't sell it to someone else.

Once a buyer gets wind of how difficult you are to deal with you may be further out of luck

user86386427 · 28/01/2021 08:07

Let's hope anyone in Yorkshire with a £180k budget has seen this thread....bat shit.

Bluntness100 · 28/01/2021 08:16

I’ve never heard of an estate agent charging a fee to secure a property.

That’s what happens when you rent or buy a new build.

I’d be shocked if I made an offer it was accepted and was told I had to pay a thousand pounds or it keeps being marketed, or my offer can’t be accepted. And you get it back of there is subsidence or damp only?

How very odd.

FurierTransform · 28/01/2021 08:46

OP, I think you're taking the whole 'walk round with a clipboard' thing way too personally.
If the price agreed is good, the simple answer to literally anything they could point out is "Thanks - Yes, I'm aware & it's already priced in :) "

NeedToKnow101 · 28/01/2021 10:49

@Dogonahottinroof

I saw a sign the other day saying under offer but still open to offers! I was shocked!

Common with probate- the duty is to get the best possible price.

Surely that shouldn't make any difference? It would still be fucking the buyers over.