Estate Agent Cooling Off Period? Advice needed....

[cyberknight]

Sounds horrendous and heres me just putting the house up for sale ....

 

[Crankarm]

Not in my experience - and I dealt with the ones in my town daily for thirty years. Most of the estate agents had been there 50+ years and a few of them 150+ years. They were as businesslike and honest as any other trade, and took staff training seriously.

Unfortunately it is a job you are allowed to do without any qualifications whatsoever. So you get a scruffy undergrowth of small firms which appear on the way up the property cycle and go bust at the bottom. They attract misfits from other jobs - often insurance salesmen who can't pass their exams - and can be picked out by their garish advertising and sign-painted cars. They only pop up in cities and large towns and anyone with any sense would know what service they are likely to offer. But of course they are cheap ..... and a lot of people can't tell the difference between price and value.

Typical estate agent guff. Given that average life expectancy is in the mid to late seventies, I can't see how an estate agent can have been working 70 let alone 150 years! This would make them at the very least 90 and 170 years old. Blimey. This is the sort of exaggeration and lies I am referring to. Estate agents rank lower than politicians, tabloid hacks, police and bankers, right at the bottom of the food chain.

 

[Durian]

Typical estate agent guff. Given that average life expectancy is in the mid to late seventies, I can't see how an estate agent can have been working 70 let alone 150 years! This would make them at the very least 90 and 170 years old. Blimey. This is the sort of exaggeration and lies I am referring to. Estate agents rank lower than politicians, tabloid hacks, police and bankers, right at the bottom of the food chain.

I think they are referring to the companies being there so long, not the individuals who work for them!

 

[Manonabike]

I haven't sold a house in 15 years so I don't know what the rules of the game are these days but back then monthly rolling contract was the standard, if my memory serves me right.

I can't say I was very impressed with State Agencies. I remember putting an offer for a house that was accepted and yet a week later the house still had an up for sale sign. I sent the agency a letter withdrawing my offer.... (I bet they never told the house owner the reason why they lost a buyer)

And while selling they tried all kind of tactics to put pressure on me to reduce the asking price.... I just move agency, until I sold for the asking price, with the 3rd agency and 5.5 months after I put the house up for sale.

In my experience they will try to undervalue your property..... it's not in their interest to keep your house week after week. The profits come from selling properties as quickly as they can.

Property valuation has no scientific foundation at all. 3 state agents can give you quite a different valuation. In other countries properties are valued according to the size of the property in sqr meters.

A friend of mine was selling his house that had been valued at £520.000 - the agent advised him to set the asking price at £499.000 as people would not be prepared to pay the higher stamp duty. My friend said, "how about starting with £550.000 and see what happens" the house sold for £540.000 within 7 weeks.
As I said before I don't know the current rules but if the contracts are still for a month and the cooling period has already expired then he could just run down the contract and move agency afterwards. He doesn't have to accept any offers if he doesn't want to.

 

[PBancroft]

There's an interesting chapter of Freakonomics which details how it is in estate agents interests to sell your house as quickly and as cheaply as possible, and it all comes down to commission - the price of a house at £350,000 is likely to sell much faster than it would at £400,000, and the difference in the estate agents cut is negligible. It doesn't just come down to the asking price either - the way it is sold, keywords such as "well maintained" have a negative impact, because although it sounds nice to the seller, it comes across as "old" to the buyer.

Similarly a good house with nice views etc. can be offputting to buyers below a certain threshold, as people assume that "something" is wrong with it.

And then, of course, we get to the argument that a house is only worth what people are prepared to pay anyway. Personally I think that they are still vastly overpriced but I can't see that changing any time soon.

I don't know where the OP stands on the issue at hand. My parents have put their current house on the market a couple of times over the past few years (family reasons prevented them from selling each time) and when the photographs, writeup or price wasn't what they wanted they simply told the estate agent to change it. It does mean doing some of the estate agents leg work for them but you might think that worth it if you sell your house for a few grand more.

 

[ASC1951]

Property valuation has no scientific foundation at all. 3 state agents can give you quite a different valuation.

Estate agents aren't being asked to value the property, they are being asked to set a marketing price. That isn't the same thing at all. And just because three agents can give you three different figures doesn't mean that that there is no skill - just that it isn't an exact science. Nor is medicine. Or psychiatry.

In other countries properties are valued according to the size of the property in sqr meters.

No they aren't. The total room area is - usually - quoted, but they are marketed in exactly the same way as here i.e. the expected selling price plus a margin for negotiation.

 

[threebikesmcginty]

Estate agents aren't being asked to value the property, they are being asked to set a marketing price. That isn't the same thing at all. And just because three agents can give you three different figures doesn't mean that that there is no skill - just that it isn't an exact science. Nor is medicine. Or psychiatry.


No they aren't. The total room area is - usually - quoted, but they are marketed in exactly the same way as here i.e. the expected selling price plus a margin for negotiation.

Leave off with the facts please, most of us are happy just slagging off estate agents without letting silly things like factual information get in the way.

We sold our last house without using an estate agent. No fees and no bullshit! [/smug git mode]

 

[asterix]

Typical estate agent guff. Given that average life expectancy is in the mid to late seventies, I can't see how an estate agent can have been working 70 let alone 150 years! This would make them at the very least 90 and 170 years old. Blimey. This is the sort of exaggeration and lies I am referring to. Estate agents rank lower than politicians, tabloid hacks, police and bankers, right at the bottom of the food chain.

There's got to be some kind of tax fiddle going on there IMO.

 

[vernon]

[QUOTE 1836463, member: 9609"]
If somebody truly intends to buy a house in a certain area they will search, and if your house is half findable then there is no advantage in using an estate agent, my photo's were better, the write up was better and I think the buyer enjoyed not being pratted about by a pompous prick in a suit.[/quote]

So what were you wearing instead of the suit?

 

[Archie_tect]

I will contact a solicitors and get some legal on it and decide if I want to put up a fight, thanks for all the comments and I'll update soon.
Jogger

You'll spend as much employing the solicitor... just talk to them first Jogger... life's too short. Speak to Citizen's Advice Bureau if you're really convinced they are useless but do it quickly.

 

[subaqua]

doesn't your union have a legal advice line you can call about non work issues ?

 

[The Jogger]

W

doesn't your union have a legal advice line you can call about non work issues ?

yes,they are getting a solicitor to call me on Tuesday. The ea actually valued it higher than I expected as did another one, so I will put it on a bit under their valuation, they will redo the brochure but now it is a matter of, who is right about the cooling off period.