Why do Estate agents insist in knowing if you have contacted other agencies?

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I have had 2 estate agents around to value my house, and they are very insisting on knowing if you are getting other valuations

Can anybody throw some light into the matter? do they exchange notes? why do they care so much? I suppose that with the estate of the market they must be putting as much effort as possible in getting a new customer.

Any clues?

None what so ever, I worked as an estate agent for 10 years and would always recommend potential customers to get at least three valuations.

if you instruct any of them they will want to be sure that you haven't got an agreement elsewhere (multiple agency)
but can't see a reason for them wanting so much to know about other valuations

Thank you.

I'm getting the three valuations but I don't want to be asked how much the other predicted. (If we are following one agent, then why do 3 valuations?)

the other thing I found very irritating is that they need to speak to the man in the house. When I told them I was the one dealing with this, the agent asked if he was living at home? WTF???

I wonder if I should brand Your Move sexist and cancel the appointment... That's exactly the same reason why I decided not to use them when selling my previous house.

Wouldn't use YM if they are that annoying from the start - imagine going through the whole stressful process with them if that's their attitude!

They might just be fishing to find out what valuation the others gave, perhaps planning to make theirs different depending on what the others said to get your business? - don't tell though!

I suspect they are more interested in knowing what fees you are being quoted.

Very at YM asking ot speak to the man of the house. It can be difficult to market a house if owners are splitting up, and one person isn't keen to sell, but there are ways of asking if divorce is the reason for sale, and this certainly isn't it!

I suspect they are fishing to find out what other agents have said also. Just tell them you are speaking to others(make them work for it) but tell them they are the first.

They will find out if you put it with more than one agent, and they also seem to be able to find out what properties you have viewed. I guess they talk to each other.

Regarding speaking to the man of the house, I think they are just trying to get all the decision makers together so you cant give them the excuse that you need to speak to your husband later. They would probably do the same if it was your husband (ie want the wife there). IMHO its more about getting you to make a quick decision on the spot and not go away and think about it which estate agents particularly dont like.

Well if you're not using anyone else and are willing to give them exclusivity you're likely to get a lower fee as they are more likely to sell your property.

They also probably know what other agents charge and how they normally come up in terms of valuations - some agents are notorious for overvaluing etc. It gives them an idea of whether or not they will be instructed I guess.

The man of the house thing would bother me too!

Well, the lovely chap form Your Move has just been and got a good talk on me almost cancelling the appointment for that due to sexism.

He explained that in cases of divorce they get called many times by women who are contemplating divorce, who have not told the husband they are planning to go. In such situation this is absolutely a waste of time. Now I wonder if everytime a man rings them if they ask if the woman of the house is also going to be around.

I feel like a bigamist... ex is now living with another woman, and if he doesn't agree to let me keep the house it would need to be sold, hence why I'm doing the valuations. So I was there reassuring the salesman that he knew about this (which he does), and yes we are very much married (which we are as the separation of assets is moving no faster than a snail), while there was a photo of me and my friend right beside me and another one of DS and ex just opposite. ARGH!!!