Are all EA’s awful

[kirinm]

I’m so unbelievably sick of people who lie and are massively incompetent being heavily involved in one of the biggest purchases of your life

EA1: house we are officially ‘buying’ - can’t even get a basic question answered by the seller or their solicitor despite us being nearly 10 weeks into a fucking impossible purchase.

EA2: made an offer, she called broker to check we could borrow what we offered and then tried to find out if we could borrow more.

EA3: have been trying to arrange a viewing for over a week. We are excellent buyers due to being ready in our other purchase but willing to pull out if something else comes on. (EA doesn’t know we have had an offer accepted). Only responds by email every 24 hours to say oh no more viewing slots can you do X day only to then say, it’s pretty full up.

And you have zero option but to have to stay pleasant with these people. There are some agents we simply won’t deal with due to their conduct but when you’re as desperate as we are at the moment, you have to start considering compromising your morals. (There is one agent we absolutely won’t deal with as her overvaluing is nuts and she’s renowned for it where we are - she’s pure greed).

Sorry, just a rant. I’m so pissed off with this whole nightmare.

Well after an actual visit to the EA, we’ve finally been told a lot more about the house we are supposed to be buying which makes clear that it isn’t likely to proceed. We always suspected there was an issue but it has taken 10 weeks for the EA to confirm it. Could’ve saved everyone a lot of time and money.

I could write a book about our experiences moving house !

We were relocating to be near DHs elderly parents 250 miles away (UK) so to view properties it meant a 4 hour drive and a night in a guest house. We used a well known on line agency to book viewings and we had an offer on our own property.

To make it worth our while we booked at least 8 viewings. We made it very clear what we were doing, how far we were coming and asked if they would let us know if any of the properties were unavailable.

Before we set off I checked if the viewings were still going ahead. I was told it was all OK. Halfway down a motorway we got a call to say one had cancelled.

When we got to the guest house we got another call to say another one was no longer available.

The next day we went to one viewing that was an "open house". There was a queue of people on the street waiting to view. We had a look around.
So I asked the rep for the estate agents if they had had any offers. "Oh yes" he said "We have some good offers on the table".
"Fine" I said, "You don't need any offer from us then do you?".
His face was a picture.
We left.
That night in the guest house we got a call asking us if we wanted to put in an offer. I said "What for? You told us you had some good offers and if you think we're getting into a price war you can forget it." There were some splutters at the other end of the 'phone and I hung up.

We did put an offer in on one property we viewed but when the survey was done it threw up a load of problems which they weren't willing to put right. We pulled out and it ended up being sold for a lot less than we'd offered.

One bit of advice I would give anyone house buying is to buy a damp meter. It saves an awful lot of money on a survey, if you can stick it into the plaster and see if there's a damp problem.

They work off commission people should never forget that they're not your friend and they're not there to support you they're there to get money end of. As much money as the can get out of people too

The trouble with estate agents is that they have zero emotional commitment or jeopardy whereas as buyers/sellers we're stressed to all hell with basic needs like shelter at stake as well as insane amounts of money.

I don't understand why you behaved like that about the house that had already received offers @Breadtomatoandcheese

You're acting like you got one over on the EA but didn't you actually just walk away from a house you liked enough to drive 4 hours to view for no good reason?

Fair enough if you didn't like the house on viewing it but I don't see the logic of not making an offer if you did like it, just because it was popular enough to attract others to make an offer at an open day. Yours might have been the best offer or you might have been in the best position.

We hadn't driven 4 hours to view this property, we were already in the area and it was one of several we viewed.

We had already decided we weren't going to get into a bidding war.

And most importantly the EA's rep was an arrogant little shit who we didn't want to do business with.

OK it was one of the shortlisted properties you drove 4 hours to see.

I would never let the EAs personality determine whether I bought a house or not, there are far more important factors than that.

And you didn’t know it was going to escalate into a bidding war. Even if it did, I would still offer what the house was worth to me as you never know, that might be enough to secure it.

We had similar a couple of weeks ago. The EA didn’t come and greet us even though he could see us waiting outside, didn’t take his sunglasses off, told us the viewing was now an open day because the house was so popular and that the price was now ‘offers over’.

He put me off immediately and I was desperate to offer feedback but refrained. Anyway, despite how popular the house is, it hasn’t sold.

I also agree with @Breadtomatoandcheesei absolutely refuse to get in to a bidding war.

@kirinm - is this issue that this is a probate sale? And probate is yet to be granted?

That’s an issue but not ‘the issue’. Basically, there’s no genuine motivation to sell. We suspected that from the outset but were assured otherwise. Yesterday it was confirmed. It is what it is and I feel much better knowing.

The EA also didn’t tell us they’d been contacted about this ‘sale’ two years ago. We asked specific questions about this in March.

@Twiglets1 I would never let the EAs personality determine whether I bought a house or not, there are far more important factors than that.

Not to me there isn't.

If we are going to spend £100,000s we need to be sure we have a good relationship with the EA, and that means mutual respect on both sides.

So, arrogant little shits keeping us waiting, (without an apology) when we have an appointment, and then rocking up in huge flashy Beemers, acting like they are Mr Wonderful, doesn't cut it with me.

Well aside from the fact that if they don't sell houses they don't get paid.

I don't know about you but I am quite emotionally attached to my income and there is certainly a lot of jeopardy for me if it disappears.

One bit of advice I would give anyone house buying is to buy a damp meter. It saves an awful lot of money on a survey, if you can stick it into the plaster and see if there's a damp problem.

These meters are notoriously inaccurate and any 'damp' they find can be dependant on all types of things, such as treatments already applied to a surface etc. They don't tell a professional for sure if there's a damp issue, so they're almost certainly useless in a layman's hands.

I wouldn't use one instead of a survey.

However, if you smell damp then a meter can confirm it, so you know not to bother going any further.

That's an annoying update. I'm so sorry for you.

Do you look properties up on Zoopla before viewing? They quite often have a listing history. If I see a property's been listed, say, twice over the last three years, I generally write them off as timewasters/the house as a problem house and don't bother, unless I can see (on Property Log) that they've had a few price reductions, which would suggest they're now more motivated than in previous years.

What's Plan B if this purchase isn't going anywhere?

I’ve had some good experiences but I don’t trust what they say because they tend to come out with whatever the buyer or seller wants to hear.

It didn’t ever go online. We were contacted by another agent back in December for a house on the same road and I have a suspicion that it was the same house so they’ve done the rounds but nobody has got it over the line for now obvious reasons.

Plan B is…keep looking.

@Soyfinger How many houses have you bought ?

Me too

You please yourselves, I'm not interested in what other people do 🙂

I wouldn't discount a house on the results of a dodgy meter. Even if there is damp, sometimes it's an easy fix - leaking gutter, cracked mortar, house that hasn't been ventilated properly etc.

I'd certainly investigate further if it was a house I was really interested in.

Brace yourself!