75ZT Community

Estate agents, you gotta love 'em....

Had a phone call from the one we used 2 - 3 years back (house didn't sell so took her off the market in the end). Would we be interested in selling? Eh?

They have a cash buyer from the village who has seen nowt in the area she likes, could she view ours? Told them how much the house had changed since they had valued it...the guy does an instant valuation over the phone...riiiiight...£15k less than three years ago after having £25k spent on it (FOOL that I was..)...when all similar houses on the market remain much the same in price as they were three years back.. So, we said yes, she can come and view...(ARE we selling? No idea!)...they call us back having talked to said lady, give us her name, and arrange for her to view today..... and here is the funny bit...
THEN they tell me they are going to send me some papers to sign because, of course, if we sell, they will want paying by us for introducing the buyer....so a retrospective contract based on the fact that they gave me info and made arrangements when I have no contract whatsoever with them???

The question is....who is a bit fik? They obviously think I am and that I will sign their paperwork....

I just wonder what price they have told her ours is 'on for'.....

'Course, a)the chances of her being a 'cash buyer' are remote. b)the chances of her buying are even more remote c)the chances of us paying £5k or thereabouts for one phone call....absolutely zero..

Zeb - was reading the other day that the number of cash buyers is extremely high. I presume that the agents think that your house fits her requirements or just chancing their arm to get it back on the market. Unless you live in a huge mansion then you need to negotiate the agents fee - perhaps 1%. In addition, specify how much you want for the house she can then make up her mind based on that.

Please, I am not defending estate agents - my house is on the market and on the second lot of agents. The first were absolutely horrendous. The sales patter to get us to sign on the line was good, apart from when they tried to con me in to signing for their conveyancing service. The second lot are so different and a joy to use.

At the end of the day you could show the house subject to the commission being at the right level and decide whether to sell on the offer received assuming one is.

Paul. I take your points...they may well just be trying to get the house back on the market...however, the fact that they cannot even be arsed to come and value the place but are happy to expect money should a sale occur has not endeared them to me. I have no contract with them so why would I be negotiating any sort of fee with them? Thus far we have simply said that if the lady wants to view then she can, that is all...anything after that is a different thing altogether...but will still be on the basis that we are free agents, with no contracts with any Estate agents... now if they wish to tap said lady for a 'finders fee' should she buy, that is their prerogative but as things stand , nothing has been negotiated between ourselves and the agents. To be honest, it is all just a bit funny....we are not really taking any of it seriously as we were not even on the market and there is not much we like available in places we would like more than where we are now! But, I am interested to see what said buyer thinks of the place after all my efforts..

Hi Zeb, if you goto the Rightmove web site, you can put your postcode in to search for properties for sale and sold prices.

Estate agents work on the comparable method of valuation. Not unusual for some to do just a 'desktop' valuation. Some banks use the 'desktop' method, another unwelcome American import.

Mike

Only one down from the 'Drive By' valuation we had done on ours last time we re-negotiated our mortgage.

They just looked up what similar properties had gone for in the area and literally drove past the house to see it's general condition. No consideration given to the condition of the interior etc at all.

On a TV prog recently an estate agent said they use "Google Earth streetview" to view most properties now...
...

A driveby valuation is usually carried out when a full mortgage valuation was done previously. A mortgage valuation is valid for 6 months, so it is not unusual for a driveby valuation to be instructed by the bank just after the 6 month point to ensure the valuation is current.

Using Google to value a property is lazy and open to negligence claims.

Mike