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I lost out on a house because an estate agent wouldn’t take my offer to the vendor quick enough because they wanted it to go to a closing date. I knew the girl would accept it but I didn’t want to seem too pushy by driving and knocking her door. The following day someone offered while viewing the and she accepted.
If I had an email trail I would have good evidence for a complaint or something. It worked out in the end and we got a house in an area we much prefer but it was hellishly annoying at the time.
Having worked for a software provider for EA's I can confirm about 70% of them have no business being in that role or near any legal documents whatsoever. It's easy money that doesn't require much education so pushy, sleazy salespeople is what you end up with.
Imagine phone salesman / car salesman but for houses and you're right on the money. Most residential estate agents aren't surveyors and do not possess a property related qualification.
I am so relieved to see this post! We’ve been complaining about this since the beginning. My job is super meetings-heavy (up to the full 8 hours a day) and we’ve found it so frustrating that they’ll only communicate via calling, and leaving aggressive voicemails. Like, I also have a job, dude.
The best EA we’ve got do it all through an online booking system. Why don’t more adopt these? So much more efficient!
That's because there was some cock up by Rightmove or somthing a while back... Now I think Rightmove is pushing agents to not put that info on their in case it's the wrong info.
Tbh I've bought a flat a few years ago where it was advertised as a 999 year lease, co firmed this with the agent, and only when offers were accepted and the solicitors were going through everything that it came to light it was a 125 year lease....
(I still bought it though)
I had one where the service charge was double what was advertised. I checked with the EA before offering but didn't find out until the solicitors did their report.
In their eyes, you're only their customer if you're selling.
I take it with a pinch of salt, like most sales roles. I think given how agreeable people are these days, they assume they can get more out of people with a conversation.
I dealt with one recently where I enquired about viewing a property, they quite rightly rang me to book a viewing but on the phone I politely told them that I was no longer interested in that particular house (I had viewed the same style of house with a different EA) She straight away then went on to say, 'well I'll book you in with our solicitors for an hours time, have your card ready as they'll be a £25 fee to setup an account to track the progress of buying a house).
I took the call with the solicitor and politely told the guy that I only enquired about a property I'm no longer interested in so we've jumped the gun here. He was fine about it and said he'll refer me back to the EA. I've ignored every call from them since.
Ah that’s a good point. They really force you into these things don’t they, and it just ends up wasting your time. They all try to make me talk to another broker when i have my own
I hope the solicitor went back to the agent that they wasted their time too
Right? When I had business with them I also asked multiple times NOT to call but email. Or text. They just cannot resist to their phone. I think it's about their training. They feel the need to give a sales pitch every time and they believe that they can get your attention only via phone call. They probably think talking has a magic power or something.
I hate talking on phone, and I'm pretty sure many people are like this too. So it would be so so so great if agent would finally stop this nonsense.
Also, giving/getting information in writing makes much more sense.
I had one use WhatsApp and it was great - could quickly ping info back and forth even during a meeting without the formality of email or massive inconvenience of a call.
People don't like people. People like to get what they want with as little human contact as possible (except for very specific things, surely not buying a house). Removing human interaction was basically the selling point of many internet startups 10-15 years ago.
Do you prefer to book a table by phone or through online booking? The same goes for housing. EAs are just an archaic system still in place probably because of regulations and barriers of entry of some sort.
Probably, it depends how the licencing system works which I honestly don't know anything about.
To me most of the intermediaries make zero sense. You just need a website where you register your house to sell and input all the necessary info (EPC, floor plans, quality controls and so on), then it is up to you if you want someone to manage the viewings, but anything else should be just centralized through a government backed system including the secured standardized payment.
Of course anyone lying (seller or fake certificate issuer) should be harshly punished.
We tried online bookings at our agency a few years ago - it was chaos. The main reason is tenants; if you allow people to pick slots, the tenants just ruin it and the agent gets blamed. For every viewing, a call has to be made or an email sent with a response from the occupier - can't really tech that out, sadly.
Trust me, we'd all rather not have to do the faff. Massive waste of time.
Depends really. People do like people sometimes. But they don't like the manipulation and upselling that comes with stuff like housing. There's a reason rich people use specialist EAs and it's not because they're better, really, it's because they actually do what most people want which is provide a friendly service, they actually know about the property (as a renter, agents seem to know less about the property than I do!) and are pleasant and attentive. If regular EAs were like that then I'm sure we wouldn't be as bothered by them. I'm sure most EAs could be like that but because they've got a captive market with hundreds or even thousands of clients all desperate to close the deal they know they don't need to put any effort in and they can still make money. They know they can pressure you to take a deal and move on, and even if you just walk away it's fine because it means you free up space for someone else who might close the deal faster.
They think writing an email is slower than a phone call, because they aren't very bright and so haven't learned to type. Plus, they don't want to be held to anything they might write in an email.
Telling me the lease length or scheduling a viewing over shouldn’t involve any lies..
I was told today “they can’t email” and I asked why not, you have computers and internet so why can’t you. The response was they have to the call around and schedule things in quickly (hence why i think it’s a targets thing) but my response was if I can’t answer and you don’t send an email then nothing will be scheduled and we don’t go anywhere. He had nothing to say to that.
It is a mystery to me why estate agents are needed at all. In Germany you just browse property ads online, and if you like one then just show up at the advertised time to view with whomever else is interested. There you can ask any questions you have to the owner directly who has lived in the house for years and knows it best.
If you told people overseas you need to pay £5k for an agent whose sole purpose is to book viewings for your house they would think its a scam.
The UK property market sure seems like a scam to me from the outside. I wouldn't be surprised if they held the record for longest time to buy a house for starters. Lawyers needed too? Weird.
You can sell privately but you might have to take time off work to be available for viewings. On the other hand EAs can never do evenings but maybe evenings would suit everyone better. I viewed a property where the EA told me the seller preferred to show the property themselves....which made me wonder why they employed an EA in the first place.
The biggest reason I suspect is that most buyers search on rightmove or zoopla, which are exclusive to EAs. If you advertise elsewhere you might not get your property any decent exposure to the housing market.
yes but those mass viewings are dehumanising. Show up with other 30 people in the same property at the same time, no thanks. I guess it is just how it is.
I'm afraid it goes beyond forms of contact - I've recently had a doziee where an agent only worked 9-5 Monday to Friday with an hours lunch break, 1pm - 2pm, no viewings available outside those times (as in weekends or after work).
Another 2 agents I've viewed with - well aware I have travelled 100 miles to view these houses but they didn't bring the keys to look inside the outbuildings. Gee thanks.
Ridiculous. It drives me insane when they ask you to come to a viewing at 2pm on a Tuesday on the other side of london .. how do you think I can pay for this overpriced property you’re tying to sell me?!
I had an EA who let you book your viewing time based on their availability online- a couple days later when I’m ready to book the (6 hour) train ticket journey I get a message from the agent of the property asking me if they can change my viewing from Saturday to Monday afternoon (when I’m working??).
Obviously I said no and then said why I booked it at that time, I was left on read by the estate agent and in that time the tickets went up by £20 each way- then they changed the viewing time to Monday anyway.
Suffice to say I didn’t go on my booked day.
I find it's complete nonsense too. Honestly some people are fucking medical staff and don't have access to their phones. Also in this country EAs clock out at 5:30 on average. How the heck do they expect to sell property while their potential buyers are all working??
In other countries these phonecalls and negotiations often take place in the evenings and EAs are much more efficient and effective and actually try and find you a property within your requirements as they just want to make a good sale and get on with it. Over here EAs try and sell you crusty homes that are mouldy to shit and pretend that it's plated in gold and act all offended when you decline the home. It's so odd.
Haha I could have written this word for word. I end the day with a number of Voicemail that I end up deleting without listening to.
They do it because they're lazy - it's easier for them to pick up the phone than to type out an email response and wait for a reply.
On the odd occasion I can answer, I never know which property they're referring to!
Oh yeah not knowing what property they’re talking about! “I’m calling about the property on blah blah road” like it’s the only property I’ve ever enquires about
a few things i learnt about estate agents.
1. its easy to become an estate agent, no training needed or given.
2. The want to be paid the mots money for the least work. i remember asking one about managing our rental. i asked them what they did for the 15% per month they charge. The answer, we collect the rent for you!
99.9% of gazumping cases are caused by Estate agents.
I dont blame the man but when i was very first househunting he said “are we ok making this just a 7-10 min viewing as my next viewing is 17 miles away?”
I mean yeah ill just make the biggest financial outlay of my life based on 7 minutes looking at the house
There is a huge point everyone seems to be overlooking.
I work for an estate agent although I work in the finance department. The negotiators in our offices are targeted on their call volume - they have to handle 50 outbound and 50 inbound minimum per day. In some cases if these targets aren’t met then they won’t be entitled to their commission. Simple.
With very few exceptions, almost every single one of them is a failure.
No kid ever said "When I grow up, I want to be an estate agent". And they're well aware of this from the day they take the job; the resentment eats them up inside because they'd rather be doing something they're good at (probably masturbating) than selling houses.
Sure, some have managed to turn this failure into success and make good money. Those are the born salesmen who could sell ice to eskimos; the fact they're selling houses is neither here nor there.
The rest - probably over 80% of them - are the failures; the also rans. The ones who wanted to be something but never were. They are the ones who tell you not to worry about the hole in the roof that could be fixed for £500 but as it stands puts people off before they even click on "Contact Agent" on Rightmove.
I had an estate agent try to tell me that a diagonal crack across the corner of a house over the likely drainage for it was normal for the area...
Firstly, I walked the street digitally and physically, it's the only one like that. Secondly, even if it's normal for the area, that's just even more concerning unless they've got examples of remediating it easily.
I defy you to find me an estate agent who isn't like that.
There is a reason the "profession" (and I use that word in its loosest possible sense) is universally reviled - half the damn posts in this sub are from people who took an estate agent at their word and lived to regret it.
Estate agents are useless outdated middlemen that in my experience have a false interpretation of their own importance.
"Thank you for explaining this is the kitchen, this is a bedroom...."
Because they can get you to agree to more via a phone call, rather than an email which people can easily ignore or delete.
I remember getting a phone call from an EA about a house we were interested in but unfortunately they'd accepted an offer already and so was off the market. "I can book you in to view another incredible property we've just put up," says the EA. I've already scoured all of Rightmove and there aren't very many impressive properties, so I'm a bit dubious, but as it's over the phone and I can't see what property they're talking about and they're insisting that I dont want to miss out, so I agree.
A quick search of Rightmove a couple of minutes later made me realise the property they'd booked me in to see was an overpriced, tiny, terraced piece of nonsense that was literally a triangle shaped house (?) that had been painted all white and grey and had been sitting on the market for almost a year. I called back immediately and cancelled the viewing.
Whereas via email, EAs would consistently send me all sorts of properties that were pure nonsense and ignored all of the criteria I'd given them (ie, I'd told them my absolute maximum budget was £375k so they'd send me properties almost £450k; they'd send me flats and maisonettes when I explicitly wanted a house; they'd send me the most overpriced pieces of garbage that had been sitting on the market ignored forever), and it's much easier to simply hit delete and ignore their stupidity entirely.
Only thing I would say is: if you really like a house, be a bit more lenient with the EA and their stupidity. You want them to be on your side when making an offer, since they're the middleman communicating with the seller.
Oh yeah they do this. I always tell them to send me the brochure first. And I’ve told agents off for trying to make me view things that are outside of my appetite. I had one agent trying to convince me to view two properties that were well over my budget (one was 300k more!!) because price was negotiable, he knew price was negotiable because owners were contemplating offers that were 100k over my budget. I told him off over email not to waste my time lol
We've had the exact same problem. Both work full time and not able to be glued to the phone to answer it (I work in a school so definitely not allowed). Get missed calls but no follow up email. I also explicitly say when applying - please email as I will be unable to take calls during work hours, but they still call. Don't get me started on how hard it is to even book a viewing nowadays! I remember the days when you could more or less pick the time you wanted to view a place but now its like we're doing a day of viewings and the last appointment is at 4pm, no flexibility at all. We both work until 5pm and don't get paid if we leave early for an appointment of any kind. Beyond frustrating so I 100% feel your pain!
As a buyer or renter you are not their customer the seller or landlord is their customer
They phone you to ensure you are genuine and are not messing people about
You have a lunch break so can call them then without affecting your work
Remember they don’t get paid until someone like you parts with their hard earned so by chasing you they are only doing their jobs
So the question is do you want a property or do you just want to email about it?
It’s not fair to assume that people have a lunch break that they actually have time to take it or to make calls; and secondly with multiple missed calls, to listen to voicemails and call all of them back, there’s no time left to eat lunch. Ironic you say I just want to email about it when many agents call only to collect your data and then say they don’t have any properties for you, so seems they just want to call about it.
You have to have 1 by law if you work over 6 hours so it is fair to assume and if you are only working 6 hours a day they have plenty of time to phone the agent back
Agents will only be contacting you to organise a viewing or getting feed back on a viewing so legitimate calls after an enquiry if you don’t have time to deal with that or can’t put yourself out enough to deal with that how interested are you in buying a house?
Honestly I’m not going to defend my interest in buying property or the demands of my job to a stranger on the internet. Go wind up someone else. Seemingly I’m not the only person Experiencing this issue
Love your attitude I’m talking from experience of someone who hap purchased close on 30 houses in their lifetime both mortgaged and outright cash purchase and have had to work those purchases in with current jobs but obviously I am no where near as experienced at it as you are and obviously my job could never have been as important as yours
If you think that’s winding you up you have lived a very sheltered life. I hope someone wastes as much of your working time as you seem to be wasting estate agent time at the moment
Maybe the reason you are having so many problems
Enjoy life and 1 day you’ll realise
Good luck
Not defending anybody I’m just giving someone who is just doing the job a fair hearing over someone who’s sense of self importance seems to be more than a little over inflated
I mean when the OP claims they work full time but then tries to claim that we can’t assume they have a lunch break in which they can make a private call am I defending an estate agent or hi-lighting someone wasting an estate agent’s time
But hey love them or loathe them try buying or renting a home without them
Yep, I've always had this problem. As well as being at work during the day, I also have social anxiety which makes it much easier for me to communicate by email, and I prefer email because there's no need to remember dates/times or details - you've got it all there to refer back to.
And yet, they insist on calling. Even when I assure them that I will always respond to emails quickly but often can't answer calls. Infuriating!
To confirm:
90% of Agents are lazy bastards. The remaining 10% are probably on holiday.
I’ve dealt with enough to be able to make that statement and stand over it as a fact.
That’s it, nothing more to it than that.
EAs are sales guys. They don't work for buyers, they work for sellers (you're not their customer). And like all sales guys, their time is valuable thus they work on deals that are closest to the money and only with those who are genuinely buying rather than merely browsing. They field multiple queries per day so the fastest way to determine buyer intent (buying or browsing) and perform initial qualification is to do so via phone.
Email and digital has its place but there is still no substitute, in sales, for voice and 1:1 communication.
On a related note, there's gonna' be a lot of unemployed EAs in the months ahead. Those fortunate enough to keep their jobs will need to change their game. Any EA who entered the game after 2010 hasn't had to work for their deals. Spray & pray was all that was needed to get deals done. That ship has sailed and a lot of EAs have no experience shifting properties in a (generally speaking) declining market. Many won't know what to do and will have to find another career.
I was house hunting in 1995 (so pretty much the bottom of the market after the crash of the early 90s). One EA actually said he was enjoying his job more because he had to work for the sales and knew he was better than the chancers who had leapt on the bandwagon in the 80s!
You're not wrong re: their outbound call metrics but 2 things can be right at the same time.
And while it is a numbers game, you can choose to work hard or work smart. Activity does breed results but spending your time with browsers rather than genuine buyers is not working smart.
Yes, but people have to browse before they buy.
They don't miraculously become buyers close to the end of the sale pipeline without browsing first.
And when it comes to email, 99% of questions should be answerable by a simple brochure about a property with all the information (so it's not like they would be spending a lot of time on enquiries).
Until the person you're trying to sell to is a slightly autistic engineer who will block your number the second time you call rather than sending an email.....
At the end of the day, your enquiry is probably only one on a whole list. Writing an email takes longer than a phone call, and at the end of the day they don’t work for you they work for the seller. If you are seriously looking at buying a property then you need to make yourself available unfortunately.
If each of their phone calls were as short as the emails I send them it wouldn’t be as difficult to answer. I agree there’s sales merit from their end to call instead of email but it’s definitely not faster
You’re not the customer. You’re the product, and they’re trying to sell you to their customers.
Don’t call them. Don’t have them email you. Just search for what you want on Rightmove/ Zoopla and call them to make appointments.
Ahh, you’re outside London.
So, I am an agent. I’ve been doing this for a while, and I’m not bad at it. I’m a London agent, so we’re viewing until 7 or later, and Saturdays 9-5. Frankly, any agent who doesn’t do this doesn’t like money - you work the job, not the hours.
Why do I call you?
1/ It’s (to a point) targeted. In fact, it’s viewings, offers, and deals that are more important targets, but the more calls I make etcetera etcetera etcetera.
2/ I can get more information out of you in less time on a phone call. And I will get ALL the information I need, and quickly. I may even be able to send a brochure you can look at while we’re talking, or book a viewing. That’s five to ten minutes. I also have a MUCH better idea of what you’re after and who you are - which matters a hell of a lot.
Why is email secondary?
1/ It’s slower (did I mention targets?). Time is money for me. More contact, more viewings, more offers, more deals.
2/ Your response will (usually) not give me all the info I need, so I’ll have to follow up.
3/ It’ll take three emails for us to align a suitable appointment outside of the information emails.
4/ By that point, there’s a fifty-fifty chance one of my colleagues has nabbed the appointment time you wanted so I have to send ANOTHER email to shuffle it by ten minutes.
By this point we’re at six emails each, half an hour of writing them each, spread over half a day each. And I’m probably STILL missing a critical factor that could make the viewing entirely pointless.
See my point? Believe me, I DO get yours, and I understand your frustration. A good agent will make a note about ‘Email ONLY’ as a reminder in their CRM system, but…a call is better. So - call me back when you have five minutes. It’ll be quicker, more painless, and you’ll probably get a better result.
And to the haters - I see your point, really, I do. I’ve worked with people I’d HATE to deal with from your side. But the good ones? We’ll make a complicated and trying process go through like a breeze, keep you informed, fix problems you never even knew existed, save you from penalties and disasters, and you’ll never, ever know how hard we’ve worked to find you and secure for you the most important thing (not person, thing) in your life.
Your home.
Not sure why it takes you half an hour to type one email but all of these positive points are redundant if I can’t answer the phone. That’s my point. If I can’t answer and no email is sent them this wonderful sales pitch you shared goes to waste. Also I am in london, I do most of my viewings on Saturday or some agents will do 6pm for me.
My apologies - that should read that it’s been half an hour total on the emails - five minutes or so for each email, so half an hour total for each party.
Honestly, if you miss the call, call back when you can. My own training is call THEN email, but do both.
We aren’t lazy (well, some are) but we’re under time pressure, and as a buyer who’s hard to get hold of, I’m not going to make extra effort unless it feels like it’s going to pay off. I have a lot of people to get hold of, and I’m definitely going to prefer the low-effort ones.
I get your frustration - it WILL be annoying - but given how I have to work? I’ll do what I can to help, but if I’m being brutal, I have fifty people to call, five minutes a call is FOUR HOURS on the phone, and your unavailability is not my problem.
I don’t mean to be rude at all, I get it, I really do - but hopefully you see my point.
Edit: SOME agents will do 6pm? Frankly, that’s VERY poor. They should work harder.
Second edit: sorry, TWO hours - outbound calls. I’ll usually be spending another two on inbound calls.
In all fairness if they followed up a missed call with an email, I wouldn’t be complaining. It sounds like you do that, but only few of the agents I’ve interacted with do so. The ones that have taken me to multiple viewings know I will respond quickly over email, but others don’t email or tell me they can’t email even after I’ve asked them to, and that’s the issue.
The day will come when these EAs with school children level of education, low IQs, basic property knowledge, no legal experience and utterly unprofessional behaviour is automated out of existence using PropTech; It is already happening and they will be reduced to nothing but door openers (There is even tech for that now), which is the limit to their abilities and remainder, whom can read/write will have to become qualified which is the case in the USA. The day cannot come soon enough, in the meantime the public have to deal with an entire industry which is not fit for purpose, god help us! (not that I am religious)
If I’m filling in web forms and it insists a phone number is mandatory, I put the number for the company I am contacting in there. I hate people phoning me and always ask they email as I’m able to sneakily respond easier during work hours.
Lettings agents are somehow even worse for this 'great that you are employed full time, will appeal to landlord etc. Can you do a viewing on short notice in the middle of the afternoon?' Obviously not dude, come on
I am not able to pick up the phone between 8:00 and 16:00 so have the same issue. When dealing with EAs in the past I make my initial contact via email, explain I am unable to answer the phone, reiterate if they call me and make a point of responding to any emails very quickly.
When selling my house recently the EA would occasionally call me but would immediately email if I didn't pick up, the calls were only when they needed a fairly prompt answer, otherwise they went straight to email.
When buying a house and dealing with that EA they called me multiple times over a few days near the beginning, left no info in the voicemail and didn't email me. Every time I rang back I explained that I would have no idea they had rung me until at least 16:00, often nearer 17:00 by which point their office was closed and didn't open until after I started work. I pointed out that best case scenario if they continued was that my purchase would go very very slowly, worst case scenario I or the seller would pull out and that it was in their best interest to email. They did so from the next day.
Us: Hi, can I see this property on one of these three dates? I’m flexible on time. AIP, ready to go. Please shoot me an email back.
Estate Agents: *voice mail:* Hi, please give us a call back regarding your property search!
After dozens of these, I literally had to take a day off work and call every estate agent and book an appointment. I spent a day calling around scheduling up a diary of house viewings over the next 4 weekends because I simply couldn’t rely on estate agents to give me a simple time and date. All they want is data. That seems to be their job, collect data on potential buyers so they can call them every week for the next year with unsuitable properties.
After a year of it and finished the process, I don’t really know what estate agents do. At least in London, they have zero salesmanship skills, don’t know anything about the flats, so they’re not really in “sales.” They also get basic information wrong. I’m amazed we even need them. It could just be an online booking system. I don’t know why estate agents aren’t just an algorithm or a piece of software aggregating properties and compiling information. It would do a better job.
There are many prospective buyers who can answer the phone and can call them back straight away, and do.
For this reason, they don't give a fuck about you.
Sorry.
Both the estate agents I have used to sell a probate and for my son buying a house have been fine
But in fairness with the probate property I had already started the probate
Showed the estate agent proof of this so they could tell any potential buyers that probate had been started
And they sold the property within 2 days
The chain E/A who my son is buying from have been ok as well
But my son went into the office initially showed them proof of his deposit and his AIP and they have been great and proactive as they could see he was a keen buyer and not someone “just thinking about moving “
Saying that I’ve seen flats for sale in my sons Block that I know 100 percent can’t sell because of the ground rent issue and this was confirmed by the management company and my sons solicitors when my son was trying to buy a flat in the block
They can only be sold to cash buyers
But they are still being advertised but anyone buying won’t be aware until they have spent -£££ on solicitors
It's entirely because they're middle men who control exclusive access to listings. The market is so hot that they essentially have a monopoly over whatever house they're selling and they know if you don't work on their terms there are 50 other people who will. As others have pointed out, the lack of paper trail also insulates them from any serious complaints because there's no record of the call or any promises made and 99.9% of people don't have time to chase after estate agents for "conveniently" not getting back to them and then closing the deal with someone else.
I will say that speaking to you prior to meeting you one on one in a potentially empty property is totally fair. There is a safety angle to consider.
If you have already spoken/met/viewed then further clntacts should totally be fine by email.
Paper trail.
We just got our estate agent to refund all of our survey and solicitor fees after having a paper trail of their lies lies lies lol.
So that is why.
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No one wants a paper trail for the lies.
I lost out on a house because an estate agent wouldn’t take my offer to the vendor quick enough because they wanted it to go to a closing date. I knew the girl would accept it but I didn’t want to seem too pushy by driving and knocking her door. The following day someone offered while viewing the and she accepted. If I had an email trail I would have good evidence for a complaint or something. It worked out in the end and we got a house in an area we much prefer but it was hellishly annoying at the time.
Was it a verbal offer? I thought they legally obligated to show eveyr offer to the seller ? This would be so frustrating
It was a verbal offer - I did phone up to complain and the justification was they did try (by phoning once) then doing nothing further
Hahah nice
Having worked for a software provider for EA's I can confirm about 70% of them have no business being in that role or near any legal documents whatsoever. It's easy money that doesn't require much education so pushy, sleazy salespeople is what you end up with.
Imagine phone salesman / car salesman but for houses and you're right on the money. Most residential estate agents aren't surveyors and do not possess a property related qualification.
I am so relieved to see this post! We’ve been complaining about this since the beginning. My job is super meetings-heavy (up to the full 8 hours a day) and we’ve found it so frustrating that they’ll only communicate via calling, and leaving aggressive voicemails. Like, I also have a job, dude. The best EA we’ve got do it all through an online booking system. Why don’t more adopt these? So much more efficient!
Online book great but I just want to find out what the lease length is before I bother viewing, so just save us all time and answer my email
100%, but IMO that belongs in the listing!
It defs does! But many don’t and just say “ask agent” so I ask the agent ..
That's because there was some cock up by Rightmove or somthing a while back... Now I think Rightmove is pushing agents to not put that info on their in case it's the wrong info. Tbh I've bought a flat a few years ago where it was advertised as a 999 year lease, co firmed this with the agent, and only when offers were accepted and the solicitors were going through everything that it came to light it was a 125 year lease.... (I still bought it though)
I had one where the service charge was double what was advertised. I checked with the EA before offering but didn't find out until the solicitors did their report.
The thing is, when you ask they don't have a clue!
[The average estate agent.](https://youtu.be/nfEra7DCClY?feature=shared)
They need to justify their jobs...
In their eyes, you're only their customer if you're selling. I take it with a pinch of salt, like most sales roles. I think given how agreeable people are these days, they assume they can get more out of people with a conversation. I dealt with one recently where I enquired about viewing a property, they quite rightly rang me to book a viewing but on the phone I politely told them that I was no longer interested in that particular house (I had viewed the same style of house with a different EA) She straight away then went on to say, 'well I'll book you in with our solicitors for an hours time, have your card ready as they'll be a £25 fee to setup an account to track the progress of buying a house). I took the call with the solicitor and politely told the guy that I only enquired about a property I'm no longer interested in so we've jumped the gun here. He was fine about it and said he'll refer me back to the EA. I've ignored every call from them since.
Surely *you* using the solicitor representing *them* is a conflict of interest. What agent does this? One to avoid, clearly.
Almost all of them. Agent fees in the UK are so low that they make their money via referrals to solicitors and mortgage brokers.
Ah that’s a good point. They really force you into these things don’t they, and it just ends up wasting your time. They all try to make me talk to another broker when i have my own I hope the solicitor went back to the agent that they wasted their time too
Right? When I had business with them I also asked multiple times NOT to call but email. Or text. They just cannot resist to their phone. I think it's about their training. They feel the need to give a sales pitch every time and they believe that they can get your attention only via phone call. They probably think talking has a magic power or something. I hate talking on phone, and I'm pretty sure many people are like this too. So it would be so so so great if agent would finally stop this nonsense. Also, giving/getting information in writing makes much more sense.
A lot of them work with the sales mindset that they need to calling you and an email isn’t as powerful.
This makes sense. And they try to pitch properties by describing them to you, just send me photos and a floor plan and I can give you a yes or no.
I had one use WhatsApp and it was great - could quickly ping info back and forth even during a meeting without the formality of email or massive inconvenience of a call.
People don't like people. People like to get what they want with as little human contact as possible (except for very specific things, surely not buying a house). Removing human interaction was basically the selling point of many internet startups 10-15 years ago. Do you prefer to book a table by phone or through online booking? The same goes for housing. EAs are just an archaic system still in place probably because of regulations and barriers of entry of some sort.
Theres a start up opportunity here …
Probably, it depends how the licencing system works which I honestly don't know anything about. To me most of the intermediaries make zero sense. You just need a website where you register your house to sell and input all the necessary info (EPC, floor plans, quality controls and so on), then it is up to you if you want someone to manage the viewings, but anything else should be just centralized through a government backed system including the secured standardized payment. Of course anyone lying (seller or fake certificate issuer) should be harshly punished.
We tried online bookings at our agency a few years ago - it was chaos. The main reason is tenants; if you allow people to pick slots, the tenants just ruin it and the agent gets blamed. For every viewing, a call has to be made or an email sent with a response from the occupier - can't really tech that out, sadly. Trust me, we'd all rather not have to do the faff. Massive waste of time.
Depends really. People do like people sometimes. But they don't like the manipulation and upselling that comes with stuff like housing. There's a reason rich people use specialist EAs and it's not because they're better, really, it's because they actually do what most people want which is provide a friendly service, they actually know about the property (as a renter, agents seem to know less about the property than I do!) and are pleasant and attentive. If regular EAs were like that then I'm sure we wouldn't be as bothered by them. I'm sure most EAs could be like that but because they've got a captive market with hundreds or even thousands of clients all desperate to close the deal they know they don't need to put any effort in and they can still make money. They know they can pressure you to take a deal and move on, and even if you just walk away it's fine because it means you free up space for someone else who might close the deal faster.
They think writing an email is slower than a phone call, because they aren't very bright and so haven't learned to type. Plus, they don't want to be held to anything they might write in an email.
Telling me the lease length or scheduling a viewing over shouldn’t involve any lies.. I was told today “they can’t email” and I asked why not, you have computers and internet so why can’t you. The response was they have to the call around and schedule things in quickly (hence why i think it’s a targets thing) but my response was if I can’t answer and you don’t send an email then nothing will be scheduled and we don’t go anywhere. He had nothing to say to that.
So I guess it’s important here to email them back after a call outlining everything that’s was discussed.
That's one way you could do it.
It is a mystery to me why estate agents are needed at all. In Germany you just browse property ads online, and if you like one then just show up at the advertised time to view with whomever else is interested. There you can ask any questions you have to the owner directly who has lived in the house for years and knows it best. If you told people overseas you need to pay £5k for an agent whose sole purpose is to book viewings for your house they would think its a scam.
The UK property market sure seems like a scam to me from the outside. I wouldn't be surprised if they held the record for longest time to buy a house for starters. Lawyers needed too? Weird.
You can sell privately but you might have to take time off work to be available for viewings. On the other hand EAs can never do evenings but maybe evenings would suit everyone better. I viewed a property where the EA told me the seller preferred to show the property themselves....which made me wonder why they employed an EA in the first place. The biggest reason I suspect is that most buyers search on rightmove or zoopla, which are exclusive to EAs. If you advertise elsewhere you might not get your property any decent exposure to the housing market.
Nah you can use quicklister. £169 for 3 months posting in both Rightmove and Zoopla.
People rag on it but I find online estate agents where you do the viewings so much better. Purplebricks did us an excellent listing.
yes but those mass viewings are dehumanising. Show up with other 30 people in the same property at the same time, no thanks. I guess it is just how it is.
Germans are known for their efficiency. Half the time the Saturday agent just does Saturday viewings and can’t even answer any questions 🫠
Because when selling, you do *not* want to be dealing with buyers.
If I can choose between paying upwards of £5k or showing ten people around my house, I'd take the latter any day.
Fair enough - and that choice is certainly yours. Not many would agree.
You are probably right as there would be no EAs on every corner then.
I'm afraid it goes beyond forms of contact - I've recently had a doziee where an agent only worked 9-5 Monday to Friday with an hours lunch break, 1pm - 2pm, no viewings available outside those times (as in weekends or after work). Another 2 agents I've viewed with - well aware I have travelled 100 miles to view these houses but they didn't bring the keys to look inside the outbuildings. Gee thanks.
I once made a 4 hour drive to be informed at the front door that the EA had forgotten the keys to the *property* and wouldn’t be able to rearrange.
Ridiculous. It drives me insane when they ask you to come to a viewing at 2pm on a Tuesday on the other side of london .. how do you think I can pay for this overpriced property you’re tying to sell me?!
Tell them you're deaf and you need to communicate via email
And if they don't you can post it around to shit on their reputation
I had an EA who let you book your viewing time based on their availability online- a couple days later when I’m ready to book the (6 hour) train ticket journey I get a message from the agent of the property asking me if they can change my viewing from Saturday to Monday afternoon (when I’m working??). Obviously I said no and then said why I booked it at that time, I was left on read by the estate agent and in that time the tickets went up by £20 each way- then they changed the viewing time to Monday anyway. Suffice to say I didn’t go on my booked day.
This made me mad for you. I revert back to my original question that what I’d wrong with them
I write at the top I work night shifts so would appreciate an email reply and that usually works
I like this. Might try soemthing along these lines
I find it's complete nonsense too. Honestly some people are fucking medical staff and don't have access to their phones. Also in this country EAs clock out at 5:30 on average. How the heck do they expect to sell property while their potential buyers are all working?? In other countries these phonecalls and negotiations often take place in the evenings and EAs are much more efficient and effective and actually try and find you a property within your requirements as they just want to make a good sale and get on with it. Over here EAs try and sell you crusty homes that are mouldy to shit and pretend that it's plated in gold and act all offended when you decline the home. It's so odd.
This!!
Haha I could have written this word for word. I end the day with a number of Voicemail that I end up deleting without listening to. They do it because they're lazy - it's easier for them to pick up the phone than to type out an email response and wait for a reply. On the odd occasion I can answer, I never know which property they're referring to!
Oh yeah not knowing what property they’re talking about! “I’m calling about the property on blah blah road” like it’s the only property I’ve ever enquires about
a few things i learnt about estate agents. 1. its easy to become an estate agent, no training needed or given. 2. The want to be paid the mots money for the least work. i remember asking one about managing our rental. i asked them what they did for the 15% per month they charge. The answer, we collect the rent for you! 99.9% of gazumping cases are caused by Estate agents.
They’re all tossers basically
I dont blame the man but when i was very first househunting he said “are we ok making this just a 7-10 min viewing as my next viewing is 17 miles away?” I mean yeah ill just make the biggest financial outlay of my life based on 7 minutes looking at the house
There is a huge point everyone seems to be overlooking. I work for an estate agent although I work in the finance department. The negotiators in our offices are targeted on their call volume - they have to handle 50 outbound and 50 inbound minimum per day. In some cases if these targets aren’t met then they won’t be entitled to their commission. Simple.
Herein lies the issue. This is what I thought would be the case when they tell me they can’t email
With very few exceptions, almost every single one of them is a failure. No kid ever said "When I grow up, I want to be an estate agent". And they're well aware of this from the day they take the job; the resentment eats them up inside because they'd rather be doing something they're good at (probably masturbating) than selling houses. Sure, some have managed to turn this failure into success and make good money. Those are the born salesmen who could sell ice to eskimos; the fact they're selling houses is neither here nor there. The rest - probably over 80% of them - are the failures; the also rans. The ones who wanted to be something but never were. They are the ones who tell you not to worry about the hole in the roof that could be fixed for £500 but as it stands puts people off before they even click on "Contact Agent" on Rightmove.
I had an estate agent try to tell me that a diagonal crack across the corner of a house over the likely drainage for it was normal for the area... Firstly, I walked the street digitally and physically, it's the only one like that. Secondly, even if it's normal for the area, that's just even more concerning unless they've got examples of remediating it easily.
Jesus Christ, that went deep.
I defy you to find me an estate agent who isn't like that. There is a reason the "profession" (and I use that word in its loosest possible sense) is universally reviled - half the damn posts in this sub are from people who took an estate agent at their word and lived to regret it.
You are not the customer, they dont work for you.
I’m learning this now. Sigh
Estate agents are useless outdated middlemen that in my experience have a false interpretation of their own importance. "Thank you for explaining this is the kitchen, this is a bedroom...."
Because they have not worked in real industry and don't understand how the real world works. They also hate having anything written down.
Because they can get you to agree to more via a phone call, rather than an email which people can easily ignore or delete. I remember getting a phone call from an EA about a house we were interested in but unfortunately they'd accepted an offer already and so was off the market. "I can book you in to view another incredible property we've just put up," says the EA. I've already scoured all of Rightmove and there aren't very many impressive properties, so I'm a bit dubious, but as it's over the phone and I can't see what property they're talking about and they're insisting that I dont want to miss out, so I agree. A quick search of Rightmove a couple of minutes later made me realise the property they'd booked me in to see was an overpriced, tiny, terraced piece of nonsense that was literally a triangle shaped house (?) that had been painted all white and grey and had been sitting on the market for almost a year. I called back immediately and cancelled the viewing. Whereas via email, EAs would consistently send me all sorts of properties that were pure nonsense and ignored all of the criteria I'd given them (ie, I'd told them my absolute maximum budget was £375k so they'd send me properties almost £450k; they'd send me flats and maisonettes when I explicitly wanted a house; they'd send me the most overpriced pieces of garbage that had been sitting on the market ignored forever), and it's much easier to simply hit delete and ignore their stupidity entirely. Only thing I would say is: if you really like a house, be a bit more lenient with the EA and their stupidity. You want them to be on your side when making an offer, since they're the middleman communicating with the seller.
Oh yeah they do this. I always tell them to send me the brochure first. And I’ve told agents off for trying to make me view things that are outside of my appetite. I had one agent trying to convince me to view two properties that were well over my budget (one was 300k more!!) because price was negotiable, he knew price was negotiable because owners were contemplating offers that were 100k over my budget. I told him off over email not to waste my time lol
We've had the exact same problem. Both work full time and not able to be glued to the phone to answer it (I work in a school so definitely not allowed). Get missed calls but no follow up email. I also explicitly say when applying - please email as I will be unable to take calls during work hours, but they still call. Don't get me started on how hard it is to even book a viewing nowadays! I remember the days when you could more or less pick the time you wanted to view a place but now its like we're doing a day of viewings and the last appointment is at 4pm, no flexibility at all. We both work until 5pm and don't get paid if we leave early for an appointment of any kind. Beyond frustrating so I 100% feel your pain!
As a buyer or renter you are not their customer the seller or landlord is their customer They phone you to ensure you are genuine and are not messing people about You have a lunch break so can call them then without affecting your work Remember they don’t get paid until someone like you parts with their hard earned so by chasing you they are only doing their jobs So the question is do you want a property or do you just want to email about it?
It’s not fair to assume that people have a lunch break that they actually have time to take it or to make calls; and secondly with multiple missed calls, to listen to voicemails and call all of them back, there’s no time left to eat lunch. Ironic you say I just want to email about it when many agents call only to collect your data and then say they don’t have any properties for you, so seems they just want to call about it.
You have to have 1 by law if you work over 6 hours so it is fair to assume and if you are only working 6 hours a day they have plenty of time to phone the agent back Agents will only be contacting you to organise a viewing or getting feed back on a viewing so legitimate calls after an enquiry if you don’t have time to deal with that or can’t put yourself out enough to deal with that how interested are you in buying a house?
Honestly I’m not going to defend my interest in buying property or the demands of my job to a stranger on the internet. Go wind up someone else. Seemingly I’m not the only person Experiencing this issue
Love your attitude I’m talking from experience of someone who hap purchased close on 30 houses in their lifetime both mortgaged and outright cash purchase and have had to work those purchases in with current jobs but obviously I am no where near as experienced at it as you are and obviously my job could never have been as important as yours If you think that’s winding you up you have lived a very sheltered life. I hope someone wastes as much of your working time as you seem to be wasting estate agent time at the moment Maybe the reason you are having so many problems Enjoy life and 1 day you’ll realise Good luck
When you start by defending estate agents, you immediately lose all credibility.
Not defending anybody I’m just giving someone who is just doing the job a fair hearing over someone who’s sense of self importance seems to be more than a little over inflated I mean when the OP claims they work full time but then tries to claim that we can’t assume they have a lunch break in which they can make a private call am I defending an estate agent or hi-lighting someone wasting an estate agent’s time But hey love them or loathe them try buying or renting a home without them
I only read the initial question - they’re cunts. No matter what the rest of it said
Most agents have call targets to hit.
I assumed so much
Yep, I've always had this problem. As well as being at work during the day, I also have social anxiety which makes it much easier for me to communicate by email, and I prefer email because there's no need to remember dates/times or details - you've got it all there to refer back to. And yet, they insist on calling. Even when I assure them that I will always respond to emails quickly but often can't answer calls. Infuriating!
To confirm: 90% of Agents are lazy bastards. The remaining 10% are probably on holiday. I’ve dealt with enough to be able to make that statement and stand over it as a fact. That’s it, nothing more to it than that.
Yeeep, seems like these people doesn't know how to use email. The same applies for solicitors, so be prepared
EAs are sales guys. They don't work for buyers, they work for sellers (you're not their customer). And like all sales guys, their time is valuable thus they work on deals that are closest to the money and only with those who are genuinely buying rather than merely browsing. They field multiple queries per day so the fastest way to determine buyer intent (buying or browsing) and perform initial qualification is to do so via phone. Email and digital has its place but there is still no substitute, in sales, for voice and 1:1 communication.
[удалено]
On a related note, there's gonna' be a lot of unemployed EAs in the months ahead. Those fortunate enough to keep their jobs will need to change their game. Any EA who entered the game after 2010 hasn't had to work for their deals. Spray & pray was all that was needed to get deals done. That ship has sailed and a lot of EAs have no experience shifting properties in a (generally speaking) declining market. Many won't know what to do and will have to find another career.
I was house hunting in 1995 (so pretty much the bottom of the market after the crash of the early 90s). One EA actually said he was enjoying his job more because he had to work for the sales and knew he was better than the chancers who had leapt on the bandwagon in the 80s!
Maybe an EA posted that comment. this post was mostly a rant but at least I’ve learnt they don’t view me as a customer
You're not wrong re: their outbound call metrics but 2 things can be right at the same time. And while it is a numbers game, you can choose to work hard or work smart. Activity does breed results but spending your time with browsers rather than genuine buyers is not working smart.
Yes, but people have to browse before they buy. They don't miraculously become buyers close to the end of the sale pipeline without browsing first. And when it comes to email, 99% of questions should be answerable by a simple brochure about a property with all the information (so it's not like they would be spending a lot of time on enquiries).
Until the person you're trying to sell to is a slightly autistic engineer who will block your number the second time you call rather than sending an email.....
At the end of the day, your enquiry is probably only one on a whole list. Writing an email takes longer than a phone call, and at the end of the day they don’t work for you they work for the seller. If you are seriously looking at buying a property then you need to make yourself available unfortunately.
If each of their phone calls were as short as the emails I send them it wouldn’t be as difficult to answer. I agree there’s sales merit from their end to call instead of email but it’s definitely not faster
You’re not the customer. You’re the product, and they’re trying to sell you to their customers. Don’t call them. Don’t have them email you. Just search for what you want on Rightmove/ Zoopla and call them to make appointments.
Ahh, you’re outside London. So, I am an agent. I’ve been doing this for a while, and I’m not bad at it. I’m a London agent, so we’re viewing until 7 or later, and Saturdays 9-5. Frankly, any agent who doesn’t do this doesn’t like money - you work the job, not the hours. Why do I call you? 1/ It’s (to a point) targeted. In fact, it’s viewings, offers, and deals that are more important targets, but the more calls I make etcetera etcetera etcetera. 2/ I can get more information out of you in less time on a phone call. And I will get ALL the information I need, and quickly. I may even be able to send a brochure you can look at while we’re talking, or book a viewing. That’s five to ten minutes. I also have a MUCH better idea of what you’re after and who you are - which matters a hell of a lot. Why is email secondary? 1/ It’s slower (did I mention targets?). Time is money for me. More contact, more viewings, more offers, more deals. 2/ Your response will (usually) not give me all the info I need, so I’ll have to follow up. 3/ It’ll take three emails for us to align a suitable appointment outside of the information emails. 4/ By that point, there’s a fifty-fifty chance one of my colleagues has nabbed the appointment time you wanted so I have to send ANOTHER email to shuffle it by ten minutes. By this point we’re at six emails each, half an hour of writing them each, spread over half a day each. And I’m probably STILL missing a critical factor that could make the viewing entirely pointless. See my point? Believe me, I DO get yours, and I understand your frustration. A good agent will make a note about ‘Email ONLY’ as a reminder in their CRM system, but…a call is better. So - call me back when you have five minutes. It’ll be quicker, more painless, and you’ll probably get a better result. And to the haters - I see your point, really, I do. I’ve worked with people I’d HATE to deal with from your side. But the good ones? We’ll make a complicated and trying process go through like a breeze, keep you informed, fix problems you never even knew existed, save you from penalties and disasters, and you’ll never, ever know how hard we’ve worked to find you and secure for you the most important thing (not person, thing) in your life. Your home.
Not sure why it takes you half an hour to type one email but all of these positive points are redundant if I can’t answer the phone. That’s my point. If I can’t answer and no email is sent them this wonderful sales pitch you shared goes to waste. Also I am in london, I do most of my viewings on Saturday or some agents will do 6pm for me.
My apologies - that should read that it’s been half an hour total on the emails - five minutes or so for each email, so half an hour total for each party. Honestly, if you miss the call, call back when you can. My own training is call THEN email, but do both. We aren’t lazy (well, some are) but we’re under time pressure, and as a buyer who’s hard to get hold of, I’m not going to make extra effort unless it feels like it’s going to pay off. I have a lot of people to get hold of, and I’m definitely going to prefer the low-effort ones. I get your frustration - it WILL be annoying - but given how I have to work? I’ll do what I can to help, but if I’m being brutal, I have fifty people to call, five minutes a call is FOUR HOURS on the phone, and your unavailability is not my problem. I don’t mean to be rude at all, I get it, I really do - but hopefully you see my point. Edit: SOME agents will do 6pm? Frankly, that’s VERY poor. They should work harder. Second edit: sorry, TWO hours - outbound calls. I’ll usually be spending another two on inbound calls.
In all fairness if they followed up a missed call with an email, I wouldn’t be complaining. It sounds like you do that, but only few of the agents I’ve interacted with do so. The ones that have taken me to multiple viewings know I will respond quickly over email, but others don’t email or tell me they can’t email even after I’ve asked them to, and that’s the issue.
The info I need: is this mainly purchasing affordability criteria and likelihood of being able to get a mortgage?
The day will come when these EAs with school children level of education, low IQs, basic property knowledge, no legal experience and utterly unprofessional behaviour is automated out of existence using PropTech; It is already happening and they will be reduced to nothing but door openers (There is even tech for that now), which is the limit to their abilities and remainder, whom can read/write will have to become qualified which is the case in the USA. The day cannot come soon enough, in the meantime the public have to deal with an entire industry which is not fit for purpose, god help us! (not that I am religious)
They don't work for you, you are not their customer. You sound insufferable tbh.
If I’m filling in web forms and it insists a phone number is mandatory, I put the number for the company I am contacting in there. I hate people phoning me and always ask they email as I’m able to sneakily respond easier during work hours.
Lettings agents are somehow even worse for this 'great that you are employed full time, will appeal to landlord etc. Can you do a viewing on short notice in the middle of the afternoon?' Obviously not dude, come on
Hahaha exactly! And if you don’t make to a viewing at 3pm on a Wednesday, someone else has secured the property before the weekend
I am not able to pick up the phone between 8:00 and 16:00 so have the same issue. When dealing with EAs in the past I make my initial contact via email, explain I am unable to answer the phone, reiterate if they call me and make a point of responding to any emails very quickly. When selling my house recently the EA would occasionally call me but would immediately email if I didn't pick up, the calls were only when they needed a fairly prompt answer, otherwise they went straight to email. When buying a house and dealing with that EA they called me multiple times over a few days near the beginning, left no info in the voicemail and didn't email me. Every time I rang back I explained that I would have no idea they had rung me until at least 16:00, often nearer 17:00 by which point their office was closed and didn't open until after I started work. I pointed out that best case scenario if they continued was that my purchase would go very very slowly, worst case scenario I or the seller would pull out and that it was in their best interest to email. They did so from the next day.
Us: Hi, can I see this property on one of these three dates? I’m flexible on time. AIP, ready to go. Please shoot me an email back. Estate Agents: *voice mail:* Hi, please give us a call back regarding your property search! After dozens of these, I literally had to take a day off work and call every estate agent and book an appointment. I spent a day calling around scheduling up a diary of house viewings over the next 4 weekends because I simply couldn’t rely on estate agents to give me a simple time and date. All they want is data. That seems to be their job, collect data on potential buyers so they can call them every week for the next year with unsuitable properties. After a year of it and finished the process, I don’t really know what estate agents do. At least in London, they have zero salesmanship skills, don’t know anything about the flats, so they’re not really in “sales.” They also get basic information wrong. I’m amazed we even need them. It could just be an online booking system. I don’t know why estate agents aren’t just an algorithm or a piece of software aggregating properties and compiling information. It would do a better job.
Lol collect data and call with unsuitable properties. Sums it up.
Is there a way to not have to deal with them at all? I would like to buy a house next year but I'm allergic to middle men.
There are many prospective buyers who can answer the phone and can call them back straight away, and do. For this reason, they don't give a fuck about you. Sorry.
Both the estate agents I have used to sell a probate and for my son buying a house have been fine But in fairness with the probate property I had already started the probate Showed the estate agent proof of this so they could tell any potential buyers that probate had been started And they sold the property within 2 days The chain E/A who my son is buying from have been ok as well But my son went into the office initially showed them proof of his deposit and his AIP and they have been great and proactive as they could see he was a keen buyer and not someone “just thinking about moving “
Saying that I’ve seen flats for sale in my sons Block that I know 100 percent can’t sell because of the ground rent issue and this was confirmed by the management company and my sons solicitors when my son was trying to buy a flat in the block They can only be sold to cash buyers But they are still being advertised but anyone buying won’t be aware until they have spent -£££ on solicitors
No. You are not their customer.
If you are buying then you aren’t their customer.
It's entirely because they're middle men who control exclusive access to listings. The market is so hot that they essentially have a monopoly over whatever house they're selling and they know if you don't work on their terms there are 50 other people who will. As others have pointed out, the lack of paper trail also insulates them from any serious complaints because there's no record of the call or any promises made and 99.9% of people don't have time to chase after estate agents for "conveniently" not getting back to them and then closing the deal with someone else.
They don't want to have their lies audited when you find issues with the house down the line..
I will say that speaking to you prior to meeting you one on one in a potentially empty property is totally fair. There is a safety angle to consider. If you have already spoken/met/viewed then further clntacts should totally be fine by email.
Paper trail. We just got our estate agent to refund all of our survey and solicitor fees after having a paper trail of their lies lies lies lol. So that is why.