Fooking Carp Estate Agents!

jec · 03-02-2007, 12:39

I AM SOOO ANNOYED

Cannot believe this, we put our house up for sale last week, the first couple to view offered full asking price and are first time buyers, so we accepted, then we found a house with no chain so we are all raring to go. At 4pm last night, received a 'phone call from the estate agents to say that the first-time buyers cannot raise the mortgage, we asked the estate agents if there had been any other interest, "NO" they said.

Now, a couple of days ago, the man who owns our next door neighbours came and spoke to us and asked if we had had much interest in our house, we said it was under offer and he said he would be interested in buying it if anything went wrong. Well this morning, we rang him and he is coming round this evening to view it, but his wife said that last week, she left her details at the estate agents in case it was available again!

Now why did the estate agents tell us that there had been no other interest when they had been

I am sooo annoyed and I know it is only the weekend staff on today, but come Monday morning, I am going to kick up a right stink

Now if we don't sell our house pretty fast, we are going to lose the new one we've seen, I now have a raging headache and want to cry

devonutopia · 03-02-2007, 12:45

Three things in life that give the most stress in this order:

1) Death
2) Divorce
3) moving house

I hope everything works out for you. Have an aspirin and see if the off-topic section on here cheers you up.

pixi · 03-02-2007, 13:02

Thankgod you have the weekend the calm down! If I were you I would give the estate agent a good talking to, telling them what you know and that it's not good enough.

I just hope yours is nothing like the character on Tittybangbang

ScoobyChris · 03-02-2007, 13:13

Quote:

Originally Posted by devonutopia

1) Death
2) Divorce
3) moving house

I would personally put moving house above divorce!

Chris

phillip · 03-02-2007, 13:33

I agree with Scooby Chris....moving house is definitely the most stressful thing I have ever done (although I haven't tried the divorce one yet....the wife might get a bit upset !!!!!).
I don't want to upset you jec, but it took us 18 months, 3 estate agents, 1 lost deal, and some ancillary building work to finally sell ours and it wasn't exactly a basket case beforehand.
I actually ended up suffering from stress and had 2 weeks off work to recuperate...well that's what I told my boss anyway !!!!!

heresmo · 03-02-2007, 17:02

It can be a nuisance once signed up with estate agents since even if you get a private sale, they are still due their commission if still signed up with them. Might be an idea to check carefully the contract you've signed with them.

FWIW When I was selling a previous house, I received an offer at the full asking price and was asked by the estate agents if I wanted to accept it. "Why wouldn't I? I asked. They said, "Because you might get another offer from a better quality buyer." (Meaning one who already had a mortgage sorted, a buyer lined up for their house etc.) I've learned over the years that "first time buyers" sound great (no chain) but can change their minds when they see something else.

Lots of hugs.

Mo

ScoobyChris · 03-02-2007, 17:38

Quote:

Originally Posted by heresmo

I've learned over the years that "first time buyers" sound great (no chain) but can change their minds when they see something else.

It also amazes me how many first time buyers put offers in before getting mortgage quotes. The "delightful" couple that bought my last house had decided to keep on their 1 bed studio flat *and* buy my house which came as a bit of a shock to them when their IFA told them there was no way in hell they could actually afford to do that.

Fortunately, the estate agents acting on our behalf were very good at kicking **** (with a bit of prompting) and they got a buyer for their flat within a week!

Chris

johnjohnhealy · 03-02-2007, 17:44

It's rarely the agents fault, my parents have been running their own Estate agents for over 40 years.

Unfortunately the Estate agents are always the fall guy that takes the flack, it's normally the solicitors that hold everything up un-neccessarily!

You shouldn't have taken your home off the market until you had a concrete offer, unfortunately a first time buyer with no mortgage in place is not a concrete offer, your agent should have advised you to keep it on the market, and it's not always a good idea to accept the first 'full asking price' offer either if it happens very quickly, people will pay what the house is worth, so if it's been undervalued people will offer over the asking price if they have too. (obviously they wont have to bid if you accept straight away).

All the tales of gazumping etc that always get blamed on the agent are b*llocks too, the agent is required by law to put all offers forward to the vendor even if it happens just before exchange of contracts, so if you've been gazumped at the last minute, its the person sellling the house who is to blame for cancelling and accepting a higher offer, not the agents.

The agents will only be due commision if they sell your house, if you sell privately or through another agency then they dont get any commision, most agents will charge you higher commision for a sale if you go to multiple agents, which is why you see lots of 'Sole agent' add's in the papers as they charge less commison if they are the only ones selling it!

The Ors · 04-02-2007, 00:51

First rule of house buying/selling:

TRUST NO-ONE!

(to do their job properly; more a 'chase them up continuously' than a 'dishonesty' thing)

neilwilliams · 04-02-2007, 12:56

I'm in the process of changing agents at the moment. The first one said they advertise on five websites but when I finally tracked the sites down the house was only listed on 3 of them and none of them mentioned the small fact that there is no upper chain!!!

Interestingly in the three weeks since I gave the agent the four weeks notice their contract requires they've shown 2 sets of people round - that's 2 more than in the past 2 months!!!

Roll on next Monday when the next agent has a bash.

heresmo · 04-02-2007, 15:37

That said, actual house buying and selling is really about all parties involved, not just estate agents, so they tend to get the rough end of the stick IMO.

Meaning, questions:
- Whether buyers/sellers are serious or "See what happens".
- Proactive or reactive solicitors.
- Quality of the house as reported by the survey.
- Quality, as seen in the buyer's eyes after two or three visits (neighbourhood, parking, sun coming in through which windows, local school, shops , station or bus stops, nearest hospital etc etc.
- How quickly a buyer or seller himself wants to reach completion.
- Buyer might do a double take to see if they can really afford their dream house... Etc.

Finding that one elusive buyer is more likely if many come through the door IMO. It does mean keeping one's house in a state of Ann Maurice perfection to be viewed at the drop of a hat, but we all do that anyway, don't we?

Best
Mo

jec · 05-02-2007, 13:24

God, wot a ****e start to the week, after the fiasco of the house, I set off this morning after spending 20 minutes defrosting the car, only to notice that it seemed to be handling very strangely, stopped and had a look around and I've got a flat tyre! Great, late for work, gotta walk home, taken day off tomorrow to fix it, dunno how I'l go about that, will try and inflate it enough to drive to garage.

I am bit worried now as I drove a short way with a flat tyre, could this have caused damage to my wheel

oh, and received an email about our flights for summer, we have to pay this extra tax so more bloody expense

andy2407 · 05-02-2007, 13:35

Just a thought to try to cheer you up.
Going back to your original post, if the agent really has no record of the "chap who owns next door's" wife expressing an interest, can you take it off the market and then do a deal directly.
I assume you are only liable for agents fees if they can prove that contact was initially made through them while it was on the market.
Of course, there is a chance that they will miraculously find a note of the contact that had slipped down behind the desk / got lost under a coffee cup / was mislaid by the Saturday girl etc etc
Oh - and be very careful driving with an underinflated tyre - definitely wont do your wheel any good. Can you not change to the spare (or find someone who can)

PJW -VRS · 05-02-2007, 13:42

Quote:

Originally Posted by ScoobyChris

I would personally put moving house above divorce!

Chris

So would I .... been there done that got the t shirt

ScoobyChris · 05-02-2007, 13:45

Quote:

Originally Posted by jec

God, wot a ****e start to the week, after the fiasco of the house, I set off this morning after spending 20 minutes defrosting the car, only to notice that it seemed to be handling very strangely, stopped and had a look around and I've got a flat tyre! Great, late for work, gotta walk home, taken day off tomorrow to fix it, dunno how I'l go about that, will try and inflate it enough to drive to garage.

You could always put the spare on

Depending on how flat the tyre was, you may have damaged the wheel too, but it all depending how the car was being as well. The tyre place will be able to tell you

Chris

ScoobyChris · 05-02-2007, 13:46

Quote:

Originally Posted by PJW -VRS

So would I .... been there done that got the t shirt

At least you got the t-shirt - I lost custody of mine!

Chris

jec · 05-02-2007, 13:48

I am soo dumb, I wouldn't know where to start to change a wheel, and have no tools. Also it was -2c this morning so probably would'nt of been able to anyway

ScoobyChris · 05-02-2007, 13:50

Quote:

Originally Posted by jec

I am soo dumb, I wouldn't know where to start to change a wheel, and have no tools. Also it was -2c this morning so probably would'nt of been able to anyway

If your car is still under warranty, you should have AA cover

Chris

heresmo · 05-02-2007, 13:55

I know nothing about cars, but I did learn from experience once that if I hadn't driven on a flat tyre, it could have been repaired instead of needing a new tyre. I guess it will always depend on where the damage is though.

Big

and

as well, especially since it's Monday. Things always brighten up on Tuesdays

Best
Mo

johnjohnhealy · 05-02-2007, 13:57

He he, taking a day off work because of a flat tyre!

I've heard it all now!!

vRSLen · 05-02-2007, 14:03

Just ring a mobile tyre fitter?

jec · 05-02-2007, 14:33

Quote:

Originally Posted by johnjohnhealy

He he, taking a day off work because of a flat tyre!

I've heard it all now!!

Was taking a half day anyway, but am now taking the whole day, I'l ring AA as a last resort as it is still covered under warranty

jec · 05-02-2007, 19:46

I inflated the tyre to 33psi, it immediately went down to 28 and is now hissing like a snake

I cannot see anything stuck in the tyre such as a nail, could it be coming from leak around the rims?

and to top a really carp day, I burnt my thumb on the cigarette lighter as I was plugging the foot pump in

johnjohnhealy · 05-02-2007, 20:09

Just stand next to the car holding a jack, looking all forlorn and confused.

Some nice man will stop and help i'm sure!!

jec · 06-02-2007, 18:14

well finally got all sorted, managed to pump tyre up enough to drive to local ATS, its just around corner, they did great job, it was a nail or something that had gone in but as it was close to the edge it could not be repaired, needed new tyre, also when he took it off, it was all damaged inside cos I drove a bit on it! oops

The tyre would cost £120 so we put the tyre off the spare on, which is new and the same kind and bought a cheaper one for the spare at £60, not too bad, I thought, just hope it doesn't happen again any time soon

03-02-2007, 12:39	#1
jec Briskodian Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: * Posts: 1,192 Members Car: * Thanks: 2 Thanked 11 Times in 11 Posts	Fooking Carp Estate Agents! I AM SOOO ANNOYED Cannot believe this, we put our house up for sale last week, the first couple to view offered full asking price and are first time buyers, so we accepted, then we found a house with no chain so we are all raring to go. At 4pm last night, received a 'phone call from the estate agents to say that the first-time buyers cannot raise the mortgage, we asked the estate agents if there had been any other interest, "NO" they said. Now, a couple of days ago, the man who owns our next door neighbours came and spoke to us and asked if we had had much interest in our house, we said it was under offer and he said he would be interested in buying it if anything went wrong. Well this morning, we rang him and he is coming round this evening to view it, but his wife said that last week, she left her details at the estate agents in case it was available again! Now why did the estate agents tell us that there had been no other interest when they had been I am sooo annoyed and I know it is only the weekend staff on today, but come Monday morning, I am going to kick up a right stink Now if we don't sell our house pretty fast, we are going to lose the new one we've seen, I now have a raging headache and want to cry

03-02-2007, 12:45	#2
devonutopia Mongreller Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Exeter / Devon Posts: 30,081 Members Car: Skoda Fabia Mongrel Images: 5 Thanks: 75 Thanked 352 Times in 295 Posts	Re: Fooking Carp Estate Agents! Three things in life that give the most stress in this order: 1) Death 2) Divorce 3) moving house I hope everything works out for you. Have an aspirin and see if the off-topic section on here cheers you up. __________________ Jason - Only a Skoda. Custom Fabia Bonnet Lifter Kits - £45! Click Me. Cheesy bonnet lifter video to "raise me up" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMnGECEi5Oc See the mongrel's 260bhp Dyno Video!

03-02-2007, 13:02	#3
pixi Naughty Pix! Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Writing in these boxes is soooo last year! Posts: 6,307 Members Car: 06 Fabia vrs Thanks: 106 Thanked 93 Times in 51 Posts	Re: Fooking Carp Estate Agents! Thankgod you have the weekend the calm down! If I were you I would give the estate agent a good talking to, telling them what you know and that it's not good enough. I just hope yours is nothing like the character on Tittybangbang __________________

03-02-2007, 13:33	#5
phillip Briskodian Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: west yorks Posts: 202 Members Car: Octavia vRS Thanks: 3 Thanked 6 Times in 4 Posts	Re: Fooking Carp Estate Agents! I agree with Scooby Chris....moving house is definitely the most stressful thing I have ever done (although I haven't tried the divorce one yet....the wife might get a bit upset !!!!!). I don't want to upset you jec, but it took us 18 months, 3 estate agents, 1 lost deal, and some ancillary building work to finally sell ours and it wasn't exactly a basket case beforehand. I actually ended up suffering from stress and had 2 weeks off work to recuperate...well that's what I told my boss anyway !!!!!

03-02-2007, 17:02	#6
heresmo Briskodian Join Date: Jan 2005 Posts: 12,554 Members Car: Thanks: 50 Thanked 143 Times in 123 Posts	Re: Fooking Carp Estate Agents! It can be a nuisance once signed up with estate agents since even if you get a private sale, they are still due their commission if still signed up with them. Might be an idea to check carefully the contract you've signed with them. FWIW When I was selling a previous house, I received an offer at the full asking price and was asked by the estate agents if I wanted to accept it. "Why wouldn't I? I asked. They said, "Because you might get another offer from a better quality buyer." (Meaning one who already had a mortgage sorted, a buyer lined up for their house etc.) I've learned over the years that "first time buyers" sound great (no chain) but can change their minds when they see something else. Lots of hugs. Mo __________________

03-02-2007, 17:44	#8
johnjohnhealy Briskodian Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: UK south east Posts: 2,428 Members Car: Superb 130pd Thanks: 1 Thanked 13 Times in 12 Posts	Re: Fooking Carp Estate Agents! It's rarely the agents fault, my parents have been running their own Estate agents for over 40 years. Unfortunately the Estate agents are always the fall guy that takes the flack, it's normally the solicitors that hold everything up un-neccessarily! You shouldn't have taken your home off the market until you had a concrete offer, unfortunately a first time buyer with no mortgage in place is not a concrete offer, your agent should have advised you to keep it on the market, and it's not always a good idea to accept the first 'full asking price' offer either if it happens very quickly, people will pay what the house is worth, so if it's been undervalued people will offer over the asking price if they have too. (obviously they wont have to bid if you accept straight away). All the tales of gazumping etc that always get blamed on the agent are bllocks too, the agent is required by law to put all offers forward to the vendor even if it happens just before exchange of contracts, so if you've been gazumped at the last minute, its the person sellling the house who is to blame for cancelling and accepting a higher offer, not the agents. The agents will only be due commision if they sell your house, if you sell privately or through another agency then they dont get any commision, most agents will charge you higher commision for a sale if you go to multiple agents, which is why you see lots of 'Sole agent' add's in the papers as they charge less commison if they are the only ones selling it! Last edited by johnjohnhealy; 03-02-2007 at 17:47.*

04-02-2007, 00:51	#9
The Ors Briskodian Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: South west UK Posts: 399 Members Car: Std. 2002 Octavia vRS in Silver Thanks: 23 Thanked 6 Times in 6 Posts	Re: Fooking Carp Estate Agents! First rule of house buying/selling: TRUST NO-ONE! (to do their job properly; more a 'chase them up continuously' than a 'dishonesty' thing)

04-02-2007, 12:56	#10
neilwilliams Techie Teacher Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Hertfordshire Posts: 957 Members Car: VW Golf TDI SE 5door Thanks: 2 Thanked 2 Times in 2 Posts	Re: Fooking Carp Estate Agents! I'm in the process of changing agents at the moment. The first one said they advertise on five websites but when I finally tracked the sites down the house was only listed on 3 of them and none of them mentioned the small fact that there is no upper chain!!! Interestingly in the three weeks since I gave the agent the four weeks notice their contract requires they've shown 2 sets of people round - that's 2 more than in the past 2 months!!! Roll on next Monday when the next agent has a bash. __________________ Neil Williams History: Fabia 1.4 8v, Fabia 1.4 16v, Fabia vRS Now driving a Golf Mk5 tdi Teachers click HERE for free resources.

04-02-2007, 15:37	#11
heresmo Briskodian Join Date: Jan 2005 Posts: 12,554 Members Car: Thanks: 50 Thanked 143 Times in 123 Posts	Re: Fooking Carp Estate Agents! That said, actual house buying and selling is really about all parties involved, not just estate agents, so they tend to get the rough end of the stick IMO. Meaning, questions: - Whether buyers/sellers are serious or "See what happens". - Proactive or reactive solicitors. - Quality of the house as reported by the survey. - Quality, as seen in the buyer's eyes after two or three visits (neighbourhood, parking, sun coming in through which windows, local school, shops , station or bus stops, nearest hospital etc etc. - How quickly a buyer or seller himself wants to reach completion. - Buyer might do a double take to see if they can really afford their dream house... Etc. Finding that one elusive buyer is more likely if many come through the door IMO. It does mean keeping one's house in a state of Ann Maurice perfection to be viewed at the drop of a hat, but we all do that anyway, don't we? Best Mo __________________

05-02-2007, 13:24	#12
jec Briskodian Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: * Posts: 1,192 Members Car: * Thanks: 2 Thanked 11 Times in 11 Posts	Re: Fooking Carp Estate Agents! God, wot a ****e start to the week, after the fiasco of the house, I set off this morning after spending 20 minutes defrosting the car, only to notice that it seemed to be handling very strangely, stopped and had a look around and I've got a flat tyre! Great, late for work, gotta walk home, taken day off tomorrow to fix it, dunno how I'l go about that, will try and inflate it enough to drive to garage. I am bit worried now as I drove a short way with a flat tyre, could this have caused damage to my wheel oh, and received an email about our flights for summer, we have to pay this extra tax so more bloody expense

05-02-2007, 13:35	#13
andy2407 Briskodian Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Upper Ramsbottom Posts: 5,590 Members Car: Yellow Fabia vRS Thanks: 59 Thanked 223 Times in 180 Posts	Re: Fooking Carp Estate Agents! Just a thought to try to cheer you up. Going back to your original post, if the agent really has no record of the "chap who owns next door's" wife expressing an interest, can you take it off the market and then do a deal directly. I assume you are only liable for agents fees if they can prove that contact was initially made through them while it was on the market. Of course, there is a chance that they will miraculously find a note of the contact that had slipped down behind the desk / got lost under a coffee cup / was mislaid by the Saturday girl etc etc Oh - and be very careful driving with an underinflated tyre - definitely wont do your wheel any good. Can you not change to the spare (or find someone who can) __________________ The future's bright The future's mellow Now with a little zest of Washbrook added

05-02-2007, 13:48	#17
jec Briskodian Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: * Posts: 1,192 Members Car: * Thanks: 2 Thanked 11 Times in 11 Posts	Re: Fooking Carp Estate Agents! I am soo dumb, I wouldn't know where to start to change a wheel, and have no tools. Also it was -2c this morning so probably would'nt of been able to anyway

05-02-2007, 13:55	#19
heresmo Briskodian Join Date: Jan 2005 Posts: 12,554 Members Car: Thanks: 50 Thanked 143 Times in 123 Posts	Re: Fooking Carp Estate Agents! I know nothing about cars, but I did learn from experience once that if I hadn't driven on a flat tyre, it could have been repaired instead of needing a new tyre. I guess it will always depend on where the damage is though. Big and as well, especially since it's Monday. Things always brighten up on Tuesdays Best Mo __________________

05-02-2007, 13:57	#20
johnjohnhealy Briskodian Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: UK south east Posts: 2,428 Members Car: Superb 130pd Thanks: 1 Thanked 13 Times in 12 Posts	Re: Fooking Carp Estate Agents! He he, taking a day off work because of a flat tyre! I've heard it all now!!

05-02-2007, 14:03	#21
vRSLen Briskodian Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: West Yorkshire Posts: 5,423 Members Car: MK11 Octavia vRS Thanks: 169 Thanked 198 Times in 143 Posts	Re: Fooking Carp Estate Agents! Just ring a mobile tyre fitter? __________________ Current car: Black MKII Octavia vRS Combi Previous: Black MKI Octavia vRS Combi Black Fabia Elegance 100 BHP

05-02-2007, 19:46	#23
jec Briskodian Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: * Posts: 1,192 Members Car: * Thanks: 2 Thanked 11 Times in 11 Posts	Re: Fooking Carp Estate Agents! I inflated the tyre to 33psi, it immediately went down to 28 and is now hissing like a snake I cannot see anything stuck in the tyre such as a nail, could it be coming from leak around the rims? and to top a really carp day, I burnt my thumb on the cigarette lighter as I was plugging the foot pump in

05-02-2007, 20:09	#24
johnjohnhealy Briskodian Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: UK south east Posts: 2,428 Members Car: Superb 130pd Thanks: 1 Thanked 13 Times in 12 Posts	Re: Fooking Carp Estate Agents! Just stand next to the car holding a jack, looking all forlorn and confused. Some nice man will stop and help i'm sure!!

06-02-2007, 18:14	#25
jec Briskodian Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: * Posts: 1,192 Members Car: * Thanks: 2 Thanked 11 Times in 11 Posts	Re: Fooking Carp Estate Agents! well finally got all sorted, managed to pump tyre up enough to drive to local ATS, its just around corner, they did great job, it was a nail or something that had gone in but as it was close to the edge it could not be repaired, needed new tyre, also when he took it off, it was all damaged inside cos I drove a bit on it! oops The tyre would cost £120 so we put the tyre off the spare on, which is new and the same kind and bought a cheaper one for the spare at £60, not too bad, I thought, just hope it doesn't happen again any time soon

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