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Original poster

Estate agent ghosted us. Should I knock on vendor’s door?

71 replies

sellotape12 · 30/04/2023 10:43

I know this sounds insane! We live in a popular neighbourhood and have been offering on a house, going back and forth on tight negotiations.
But then the agent completely ghosted us, like he suddenly avoided our calls and emails for weeks (and even once pretended not to see us when we walked down the street!? This man is selling our house also).

We found out by accident the house has gone under offer to someone else and I’m both heartbroken and furious. Why didn’t he call us? We’d have been happy to continue negotiating up. My sister reckons pop round to the house and either knock on or or slip a note under to find out if the vendor ever actually received any of our offers. They can tell us to go away of course but at least we might get closure. Or is that just massively stupid?

We really want the house. But conscious another couple has been probably conveyancing now for 2-3 weeks.

OP posts:
peonypurple · 30/04/2023 10:53

Wow that's really shit of him. Does he have an office or other colleagues you can contact? I would post a note to the house and say you are interested. Good luck!

Greenfairydust · 30/04/2023 10:55

I would drop the owners a note with your contact details.

It could well be the the agent has reserved the house for a mate...and that the owners were never made aware of your offers.

If I was the vendor I would obviously want to know, so you have nothing to lose.

Drop a note saying that you heard nothing about your offer of X made on such and such date and that you wanted to make sure it had been passed on and that your are still interested in the house, should the current sale fall through.

StarbucksSmarterSister · 30/04/2023 12:15

This man is selling our house also

I'd ditch him asap and get another agent

And yes, contact the vendor to see if they received your offer.

Original poster
sellotape12 · 30/04/2023 12:17

Greenfairydust · 30/04/2023 10:55

I would drop the owners a note with your contact details.

It could well be the the agent has reserved the house for a mate...and that the owners were never made aware of your offers.

If I was the vendor I would obviously want to know, so you have nothing to lose.

Drop a note saying that you heard nothing about your offer of X made on such and such date and that you wanted to make sure it had been passed on and that your are still interested in the house, should the current sale fall through.

Yes I wondered if they wanted it for themselves or something.
do you think a note rather than knocking on? Advantage of the note is it’s less intrusive and people don’t like to be put on the spot. Disadvantage is they could ignore it/ take a photo and email to agent

OP posts:
Original poster
sellotape12 · 30/04/2023 12:19

< yes absolutely mad that he’s out selling agent too. We wondered if it’s a motivating ‘threat’ to pull our house from them if they don’t put us back at the negotiating table. I guess it depends if Estage agencies work on speed or volume.

OP posts:
Londontoderby · 30/04/2023 12:20

Definitely drop a note through the door. Our EA didn’t even tell us about this persons offer and as they was messing about she put a note through the door to check if we got her offer.

Original poster
sellotape12 · 30/04/2023 12:27

Oh really @Londontoderby - how did you react? Did you get in touch with her?

OP posts:
HayleyBay · 30/04/2023 12:29

We had this with Remax. It was because we didn't want them to act as mortgage broker too. Their broker got more commission by going with the lower offer from someone who wanted to use their mortgage services.

Original poster
sellotape12 · 30/04/2023 12:41

I’m fairly sure this is illegal @HayleyBay , not that that stops them 🙄

OP posts:
HayleyBay · 30/04/2023 12:43

We were gutted. Won't look at anything for sale through Remax ever again. Not worth the heartache.

CellophaneFlower · 30/04/2023 13:32

When you say "going back and forth on tight negotiations" how many times do you mean?

It may well be that the vendor got a bit peed off with too much haggling and someone nipped in with a better offer meanwhile.

Doggymummar · 30/04/2023 13:34

Why didn't you make your best offer if you wanted it?

TheSnowyOwl · 30/04/2023 13:37

CellophaneFlower · 30/04/2023 13:32

When you say "going back and forth on tight negotiations" how many times do you mean?

It may well be that the vendor got a bit peed off with too much haggling and someone nipped in with a better offer meanwhile.

This was my thought as well. I wouldn’t bother going back and forth and I’d tell the EA the same thing; I also wouldn’t sell to those people unless no other offers and desperate. However, the EA should be honest and tell you that.

crosstalk · 30/04/2023 13:39

@CellophaneFlower but the EA should have the courtesy to tell them another offer was in.

One of the problems is that EAs are by and large unregulated. I remember one elderly relative wondering why they hadn't had an offer on a desirable London flat after 4 months. Once their solicitor got onto it it turned out it hadn't even been advertised. Solicitor drew the conclusion that EA was hoping to get it for a friend or relative when elderly relative got desperate/depressed and dropped the price.

Original poster
sellotape12 · 30/04/2023 14:07

@Doggymummar because the EA made it clear the vendor was willing to accept a bracket between this and that. So we said, ok let’s try within that bracket. Call us back if not. It was a discursive negotiation, not a Best & Final bids procedure. Also, normally they say “other people are interested, let’s go to best and final.” They didn’t.

OP posts:
CellophaneFlower · 30/04/2023 14:07

crosstalk · 30/04/2023 13:39

@CellophaneFlower but the EA should have the courtesy to tell them another offer was in.

One of the problems is that EAs are by and large unregulated. I remember one elderly relative wondering why they hadn't had an offer on a desirable London flat after 4 months. Once their solicitor got onto it it turned out it hadn't even been advertised. Solicitor drew the conclusion that EA was hoping to get it for a friend or relative when elderly relative got desperate/depressed and dropped the price.

I get what you're saying, but it's the risk you take when making an offer. I had assumed an EA would always give you the chance to up your offer, but often they don't, they take instruction from the vendor.

If somebody has come along and offered, you've gone back with a counter offer (more than once it seems here) then somebody comes along, doesn't mess around and offers over that if you accept there and then, it stands to reason you might want to stop all the arsing about. Plus the new buyer might be in a better position.

Original poster
sellotape12 · 30/04/2023 14:09

Yes that is - sort of- what’s happened but there was a lack of courtesy in telling us another offer was in. We selected this agent for our own house because they prided themselves on courtesy and open, honest discussions, not sharky wheelin’ dealing. That was their spiel.

OP posts:
TheSnowyOwl · 30/04/2023 14:10

sellotape12 · 30/04/2023 14:07

@Doggymummar because the EA made it clear the vendor was willing to accept a bracket between this and that. So we said, ok let’s try within that bracket. Call us back if not. It was a discursive negotiation, not a Best & Final bids procedure. Also, normally they say “other people are interested, let’s go to best and final.” They didn’t.

So the EA said that but it might not have been true. It’s also not always the case to go to final offers. Here property sells quickly and sometimes for more than the asking price.

CellophaneFlower · 30/04/2023 14:13

sellotape12 · 30/04/2023 14:07

@Doggymummar because the EA made it clear the vendor was willing to accept a bracket between this and that. So we said, ok let’s try within that bracket. Call us back if not. It was a discursive negotiation, not a Best & Final bids procedure. Also, normally they say “other people are interested, let’s go to best and final.” They didn’t.

It's always a gamble though - whether to risk paying more than you need to, or lose out by not offering the most you'd be happy to pay straight off. You never know for sure if you will definitely get an opportunity to offer again and you should never rely on what an agent says, as they're working for the vendor and a couple of k doesn't matter to them - they just want a quick, easy sale.

Africa2go · 30/04/2023 14:31

I agree, vendors probably got another offer at a higher price, possibly with no game playing, said it's conditional upon being accepted there & then, house coming off the market etc. If you play the game of offering lower than you're prepared to pay with the hope that you get a better deal or can up your offer at a later stage, thats the risk you take.

tailinthejam · 30/04/2023 14:39

sellotape12 · 30/04/2023 14:09

Yes that is - sort of- what’s happened but there was a lack of courtesy in telling us another offer was in. We selected this agent for our own house because they prided themselves on courtesy and open, honest discussions, not sharky wheelin’ dealing. That was their spiel.

The things they 'pride' themselves on would be a bare minimum expectation, surely? When someone goes well out of their way to impress you with how honest they are, in my experience it usually means they're not.

Yes, go and call on the vendor. It can't do any harm.

Original poster
sellotape12 · 30/04/2023 14:39

Yes I’m fully aware of all this, but we are all speculating. I guess my question now is whether to try slip a note under the vendor’s door or not.

OP posts:
hellsbells99 · 30/04/2023 14:40

Is your house under offer? Are you in a position to buy? If not, this may be why they have accepted another offer.

Pearfacebananapoop · 30/04/2023 14:40

Definitely contact them. We had this. The estate agent didn't pass offers on below a certain amount. We brought the house for less than that amount by dealing direct. Hate them with a passion.

unfortunateevents · 30/04/2023 14:50

Have you actually sold your house or is it still on the market with this agent?