Estage "agents" - seriously?!?
Discussion
Looking at houses currently, 1st time in many years. Last (this) place I found online. This week we decided to visit some actual agents in town. Thought they could give us more nuanced suggestions, put us on a list when that "right" place comes up for sale.
1st agency - 18 year old girl (at most) with inch thick makeup (those eyebrows are just sooooo distracting) and fake smiles, asked me what I was after and as I reeled of my requirements I could see wshe was ticking the same website filters that we all can, so I added the bits you can't seemingly filter out. "No estates", "Not overlooked", "no new builds", "no square boxes with a postage stamp fenced in lawn". "no probs", "no probs" she kept saying. "What's your post code?, "Its XXX.XX", "no probs"....
I asked about a property on the wall. "Thats under offer", "oh, it doesn't show that, and the other property I called about is also under offer, don't you mark them as such? I wasted time lookig into google maps, neighbourhood, locality to shops etc etc", Nope, I was told thats what the vendors want.
The emails started rolling in, toally ignoring ALL my filters. I got so many yesterday, that all 40+ of them went straight to spam. New builds, apartments, estate houses the lot.
The second agent was no different other than she had "brushed upwards" eye brows. She thought when I asked about a south facing garden that I didn't want one. When in fact I told her it was vital.
An absolute waste of time - and they take several % from the vendors - the mind boggles.
I guess it will be web based only, and I'll just have to get used to researching houses that are under offer, without being aware that they are.
1st agency - 18 year old girl (at most) with inch thick makeup (those eyebrows are just sooooo distracting) and fake smiles, asked me what I was after and as I reeled of my requirements I could see wshe was ticking the same website filters that we all can, so I added the bits you can't seemingly filter out. "No estates", "Not overlooked", "no new builds", "no square boxes with a postage stamp fenced in lawn". "no probs", "no probs" she kept saying. "What's your post code?, "Its XXX.XX", "no probs"....
I asked about a property on the wall. "Thats under offer", "oh, it doesn't show that, and the other property I called about is also under offer, don't you mark them as such? I wasted time lookig into google maps, neighbourhood, locality to shops etc etc", Nope, I was told thats what the vendors want.
The emails started rolling in, toally ignoring ALL my filters. I got so many yesterday, that all 40+ of them went straight to spam. New builds, apartments, estate houses the lot.
The second agent was no different other than she had "brushed upwards" eye brows. She thought when I asked about a south facing garden that I didn't want one. When in fact I told her it was vital.
An absolute waste of time - and they take several % from the vendors - the mind boggles.
I guess it will be web based only, and I'll just have to get used to researching houses that are under offer, without being aware that they are.
That's pretty much the norm. It's the basic non sales model of delivering the defined set of worthless platitudes and then just doing what the company crib sheet says to do.
The actual value of the EA is to protect you from the abject insanity of the f
knugget selling the house that you find yourself.
The actual service you want is that of a buying agent. Just find a good one and task them with shortlisting and even negotiating. They do genuinely make life easier and ensure you have no contact with the people that can't do as asked.
The actual value of the EA is to protect you from the abject insanity of the f
knugget selling the house that you find yourself. The actual service you want is that of a buying agent. Just find a good one and task them with shortlisting and even negotiating. They do genuinely make life easier and ensure you have no contact with the people that can't do as asked.
It's that time of year.
Tourist get cold on the beach, look around the village, exhaust the delights of the tourist tat shops, then wander in to the estate agents.
A big percentage of people who walk into the office are timewasters.
Were those houses really under offer?
My house is under offer, but I'd still take viewings from serious punters.
The office staff often won't know any of the things the OP cares about.
A standard listing will have very little information about e.g. the garden.
There won't even be a rough sketch of the plot.
Why does every house in South Devon need its estate agent particulars to tell me there are ferries from Plymouth to Spain and a railway to London?
I suspect it's to do with improving the ratio of facts to hyperbole?
Tourist get cold on the beach, look around the village, exhaust the delights of the tourist tat shops, then wander in to the estate agents.
A big percentage of people who walk into the office are timewasters.
Were those houses really under offer?
My house is under offer, but I'd still take viewings from serious punters.
The office staff often won't know any of the things the OP cares about.
A standard listing will have very little information about e.g. the garden.
There won't even be a rough sketch of the plot.
Why does every house in South Devon need its estate agent particulars to tell me there are ferries from Plymouth to Spain and a railway to London?
I suspect it's to do with improving the ratio of facts to hyperbole?
When I was first flat-hunting 35 years ago, the local papers used to have pages and pages of estate agent ads with photos of dozens of properties, sometimes special property supplements, as well as standalone papers like Property Weekly. But when I phoned up enquiring about a particular listing, I was told, "No, that one's already gone. You might as well ignore those listings, we have to go to press weeks ahead with that supplement, so most of the houses featured are sold, and we only do it to show people how many properties we deal with."
Seems like the technology has changed but the attitudes are pretty much the same.
Seems like the technology has changed but the attitudes are pretty much the same.
My view of estate agents may be tainted by the fact that my last one took us to the small claims court (they lost), but they do seem to be largely clueless and useless.
A good solicitor is far more valuable in ensuring a smooth and successful transaction than a 19 year old in a cheap suit and pointy shoes with a Rightmove account.
I'm sure there are some decent ones out there but I've certainly never met one.
A good solicitor is far more valuable in ensuring a smooth and successful transaction than a 19 year old in a cheap suit and pointy shoes with a Rightmove account.
I'm sure there are some decent ones out there but I've certainly never met one.
Well, it seems I'm not alone! :-)
I particularly like they way the "boss lady" sat silently whilst the kid dealt with me, then only intervened when I question listing items that are under offer (and no, they would not let me view them). Cash buyer (actually in the bank), no chain, nothing to sell (keeping it). Hey ho! I'll do the work myself.
I particularly like they way the "boss lady" sat silently whilst the kid dealt with me, then only intervened when I question listing items that are under offer (and no, they would not let me view them). Cash buyer (actually in the bank), no chain, nothing to sell (keeping it). Hey ho! I'll do the work myself.
I'm currently looking, popped into a few to register details but not much to be gained from doing so. One had a couple of potential options coming to market but when I asked for more details they just told me to wait till it hits rightmove next week. Vast majority of properties seem to go up on rightmove then you can do your own research
Estate agents don't have the slightest interest in what you want, they just want your contact details to push whatever they have on their books.
I know this first hand.
Many years back, when Rightmove was still in its infancy, I designed and built a commercial property portal shared by local estate agents. At the time, we happened to be looking for new office space ourselves, so we had a very good idea of how it should work from a customer point of view. The estate agents wouldn't listen - all they wanted was to get people to call them so they could push whatever they had available. Unsurprisingly, the portal crashed and burned.
I know this first hand.
Many years back, when Rightmove was still in its infancy, I designed and built a commercial property portal shared by local estate agents. At the time, we happened to be looking for new office space ourselves, so we had a very good idea of how it should work from a customer point of view. The estate agents wouldn't listen - all they wanted was to get people to call them so they could push whatever they had available. Unsurprisingly, the portal crashed and burned.
nickfrog said:
I would just use Rightmove to find a property and then call the agent to view it. This isn't 1987.
Just a shame you can’t search by garden size, local housing density, square footage etc.Ok hidden gems might be missed… but you go looking there as a last ditch once you’ve covered the obvious stuff.
Mr Whippy said:
nickfrog said:
I would just use Rightmove to find a property and then call the agent to view it. This isn't 1987.
Just a shame you can’t search by garden size, local housing density, square footage etc.Ok hidden gems might be missed… but you go looking there as a last ditch once you’ve covered the obvious stuff.
Sq ft appears on the floor plan in the huge majority of cases (95%?).
98elise said:
I'm amazed estate agents are still thriving. I've bought and sold many properties and where an agent has been involved they have added zero value beyond putting the advert on rightmove
Our local parade of shops must be 25% estate agents.
Low barriers to entry, relatively high commission…Our local parade of shops must be 25% estate agents.
They don’t seem to last long though.
When we bought our current place, I just used Rightmove to find it and contacted the agent once we wanted to view.
My main experience was with selling, but I must admit it felt like they were more keen to keep the buyer happy than us. The most effort they seemed to put in was taking the photos (questionably) and putting the ad online. Was probably the fact that our buy was a cash buyer with help from mum and dad. The parents were looking to sell their £1m+ property and it felt like they were keen to keep them happy so they could likely handle that sale.
My main experience was with selling, but I must admit it felt like they were more keen to keep the buyer happy than us. The most effort they seemed to put in was taking the photos (questionably) and putting the ad online. Was probably the fact that our buy was a cash buyer with help from mum and dad. The parents were looking to sell their £1m+ property and it felt like they were keen to keep them happy so they could likely handle that sale.
They are useless.
We also got an online cheapo estate agent .We did all of our own viewings, so literally all they had to do was provide a description (was terribly worded, and described as a 3 bed 1 bathroom terrace when it was a 3 bed 2 bathroom semi), take photos (they were really bad and I had to replace most with my own), add to Rightmove (they managed this!), and manage bookings and offers (we got 3 offers and they mixed them all up, telling us the wrong amounts and conditions for each buyer). They also informed us a viewer was a 'Cash buyer' - when we spoke to them they were getting the 'Cash' from selling their (as yet unsold) house and a mortgage!
And they were surprised when we complained and left them a poor review!!
We also got an online cheapo estate agent .We did all of our own viewings, so literally all they had to do was provide a description (was terribly worded, and described as a 3 bed 1 bathroom terrace when it was a 3 bed 2 bathroom semi), take photos (they were really bad and I had to replace most with my own), add to Rightmove (they managed this!), and manage bookings and offers (we got 3 offers and they mixed them all up, telling us the wrong amounts and conditions for each buyer). They also informed us a viewer was a 'Cash buyer' - when we spoke to them they were getting the 'Cash' from selling their (as yet unsold) house and a mortgage!
And they were surprised when we complained and left them a poor review!!
nickfrog said:
Mr Whippy said:
nickfrog said:
I would just use Rightmove to find a property and then call the agent to view it. This isn't 1987.
Just a shame you can’t search by garden size, local housing density, square footage etc.Ok hidden gems might be missed… but you go looking there as a last ditch once you’ve covered the obvious stuff.
Sq ft appears on the floor plan in the huge majority of cases (95%?).
NOTHING on an estate
Nothing with neighbours 6 feet away from my garden
Nothing without ample private parking
Nothing that has access that is shared.
Nothing that is a new build / box
Nothing that has a "courtyard" garden.
But instead, I get to say, "Detatched, has a garage, gas parking, has a garden", and I get to say, "no auctions or retirement homes"
The result is 30 pages of boxes on estates and a few dumps. And when I DO find something that fits the bill, once I inspect googe earth I find that its a proerty where they sold half their garden and are overlooking you from 2 feet away (and took all the parking), or, the access is shared. Funniest one so far has a "garage" but on streetview you can see the vendors built on the garden and their 3-car driveway 100% blocks the garage access. I asked and was told, "yeah, you can't access it with a car", "where is the parking then? "(for a 450k cottage) , "there is none".
I'd at least like to not filter through the "boxes" before having to do due diligence on the remainders.
So far, searching for "cottage" ,direct from google, seems to help with the rightmove results.
Mr Whippy said:
Just a shame you can’t search by garden size, local housing density, square footage etc.
Ok hidden gems might be missed… but you go looking there as a last ditch once you’ve covered the obvious stuff.
That's what Map view is for, set your filters (such as they are) as you require then switch to map view, you can then drill and work out whats what from there, its not as easy as just scrolling a list but it is a better way of working with the various portals such as Rightmove etcOk hidden gems might be missed… but you go looking there as a last ditch once you’ve covered the obvious stuff.
Griffith4ever said:
The problem is, I'm finding, that I don't want to have to asses every single property in detail, I want to filter them out. I want to be able to say:
NOTHING on an estate
Nothing with neighbours 6 feet away from my garden
Nothing without ample private parking
Nothing that has access that is shared.
Nothing that is a new build / box
Nothing that has a "courtyard" garden.
But instead, I get to say, "Detatched, has a garage, gas parking, has a garden", and I get to say, "no auctions or retirement homes"
The result is 30 pages of boxes on estates and a few dumps. And when I DO find something that fits the bill, once I inspect googe earth I find that its a proerty where they sold half their garden and are overlooking you from 2 feet away (and took all the parking), or, the access is shared. Funniest one so far has a "garage" but on streetview you can see the vendors built on the garden and their 3-car driveway 100% blocks the garage access. I asked and was told, "yeah, you can't access it with a car", "where is the parking then? "(for a 450k cottage) , "there is none".
I'd at least like to not filter through the "boxes" before having to do due diligence on the remainders.
So far, searching for "cottage" ,direct from google, seems to help with the rightmove results.
You've got plenty of quite specific criteria (which "most" people won't want to rule out) - No agent that i've dealt with in recent years is going to go to that length for you, certainly not doing regular checks against those critera when new 'stock' comes in. You'll need to do the leg work yourself using Rightmove and Zoopla, then using google street view to do your own due diligence, then potentially using the Land Registry website to purchase the relevant site plans from if/when you narrow down to something you like. You'll probably then get a good feel for the area and specific roads/areas you'd like to live in. NOTHING on an estate
Nothing with neighbours 6 feet away from my garden
Nothing without ample private parking
Nothing that has access that is shared.
Nothing that is a new build / box
Nothing that has a "courtyard" garden.
But instead, I get to say, "Detatched, has a garage, gas parking, has a garden", and I get to say, "no auctions or retirement homes"
The result is 30 pages of boxes on estates and a few dumps. And when I DO find something that fits the bill, once I inspect googe earth I find that its a proerty where they sold half their garden and are overlooking you from 2 feet away (and took all the parking), or, the access is shared. Funniest one so far has a "garage" but on streetview you can see the vendors built on the garden and their 3-car driveway 100% blocks the garage access. I asked and was told, "yeah, you can't access it with a car", "where is the parking then? "(for a 450k cottage) , "there is none".
I'd at least like to not filter through the "boxes" before having to do due diligence on the remainders.
So far, searching for "cottage" ,direct from google, seems to help with the rightmove results.
When my best mate was looking for a detached, semi rural property just outside Totnes a few years back, it was an absolute nightmare. As an 'outsider' (albeit, a doctor who's wife was originally from Totnes) he was certainly given the bare minimal service for finding property. Instead, he decided to wrote a letter explaining his position and contact details and dropped it into houses on roads he was keen to buy in. Low and behold, within a few weeks, an old dear made contact and without much ado, his dream house was his without so much as a penny being paid to an estate agent. It can be done, admittedly patience and effort required.
Edited by MattyD803 on Thursday 22 May 15:33
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