Buying a Property Woes.

I've had horrendous experiences with estate agents playing games. The worst of whom was an estate agent who was selling her house through the same estate agent she worked at. She was forbidden from handling her own case, but there was no doubts her mates at the agents were playing games telling us lies to help her get a better price.

We walked away and never looked back. Found a better home with a more reasonable estate agent.

FYI - we've always had viewings with the seller. Only once did we have a viewing with the estate agent because the owner didnt want to do it due to being away at the time. So that seems perfectly normal to me.

The deposit bit seems odd however, as far as i recall when we bought our last two houses, we made our offers, had them accepted and that was that.

The one occasion we did get asked for a deposit, it was the above estate agent selling her own house that her colleague fabricated "another buyer" who mysteriously put in another offer on the same day as us and wanted a £1000 deposit to secure the House. We agreed but only if that took it off the market there and then and ended all discussion. The response to that was that the owner (her colleague) would have to check what the other buyer said in response to that so we just ran a mile. He was obviously going to offer more and then they'd come back to us to bump it again. So when she hesitated we pulled out right there and then and didnt pay a penny.

Sounds like your estate agent are doing the same sort of game.
 
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It is too late to go into any detail, however the surveyor would be yours, not theirs, so if you wanted to raise an issue you could do so easily enough.

The question is - why would you risk paying nearly £15k to take it off the market?
 
The_Abyss said:
It is too late to go into any detail, however the surveyor would be yours, not theirs, so if you wanted to raise an issue you could do so easily enough.

The question is - why would you risk paying nearly £15k to take it off the market?
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Thanks for the reply MrLOL, we're thinking the same.

And that's what I was thinking Abyss, why pay nearly £15k so they can take it off the market? It just seems suicide to me. And surely there would be a for sale board, for a property that has been for sale for a month.

Just at the moment we don't know where we stand, we've told both seller/estate agent we're interested, have agreed to the price the seller has said, been in contact with our solicitor. Neither has the estate agent contacted us or seller.
 
i viewed my house with the current owner but viewed others with an estate agent, i didn't have a problem with either, so that part is not suspect, the deposit bit is. don't be pressured into anything, you don't need to put a deposit down, you put your offer in (£148k - only £2k off the asking price? i'd advise you go lower) if they accept your offer then it is still subject to a survey carried out for you, if that picks up anything dodgy either walk away or use it as a bartering tool to knock the price down more. don't put a deposit down, £15k is a lot of money! get a good survey done for £1000-£1500. find out if it is leasehold or freehold.
 
Property is freehold, he said he wouldn't go any lower. Estate agent said there were offers for over £150k, this was listed in the advert as well. I tried to see if they were FSA registered. Nothing is written on their website about it, however has some registered number, put it in on the FSA website, but nothing is brought up.

They were pretty keen for us to come and put the deposit down, however we inclined, as we rather have it go through solicitors just as we always have done. Never have we done a direct deposit, seems too risky for our liking.

But is it normal for estate agents to ask for 10% of the asking price as a deposit?
 
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define "normal"

It doesnt have to happen, and just because they are doesnt mean they are a bunch of cowboys as it isnt unheard of.

But it does seem to me that they are playing games.

I'd walk away personally.
 
It would be very risky to pay a deposit in those circumstances. Even if the survey goes through, there could be a whole host of other reasons you wouldn't want to buy - local searches disclosing problems with access rights, easements, obligations to support. Not clear if the property is freehold or leasehold - if leasehold, your solicitor would need to fully review the terms first. Were they proposing a contract be actually signed, as otherwise my understanding is that the deposit would be returnable in any event (since any contract for a sale of land must be in writing, or is voidable at either party's instance). Your solicitor should be able to confirm if this is in point here. Bear in mind that to pay a deposit, there needs to be a contract and consideration, part of which is represented by the deposit.

The downside of not having it in writing is of course it doesn't really protect you, since contract would still be voidable at seller's instance.

P.S. - whilst I am a solicitor, I specialise in corporate tax rather than property law, so check all of the above with your own solicitor and do not rely on it!
 
cm1179 said:
yeah. course there has, that's why they're willing to accept your £148k :rolleyes:

walk away. somethings not right.
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Yeah seems like the best thing to do at the moment. I don't understand why some estate agents advertise offers over a certain amount but then accept lower offers :rolleyes:.

Another is the seller not returning our calls. Weird.
 
as the buyer, it's important to remember you are in the driving seat. it's easy to feel like you might be missing out on a good deal and that you'll never find something as good as the current offer but 9/10 times you will and you'll know when it feels like the right move.
 
cm1179 said:
as the buyer, it's important to remember you are in the driving seat. it's easy to feel like you might be missing out on a good deal and that you'll never find something as good as the current offer but 9/10 times you will and you'll know when it feels like the right move.
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Thanks for your replies. It's quite a new experience for me, I've never had anything like this happen. Normally, everything has been straight forward little ups and downs, but a lack of communication like this, never!
 
Vita said:
Yeah seems like the best thing to do at the moment. I don't understand why some estate agents advertise offers over a certain amount but then accept lower offers :rolleyes:.

Another is the seller not returning our calls. Weird.
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This is the thing i hate most about estate agents

the games they play. They're all the same.

If i were you, i'd go looking elsewhere and pull out of this deal. Give them a ring in a week or two and see if its still for sale.

If it is still for sale - take it as a sign this property is meant for you and get back into the deal knowing you have the moral high ground after calling their bluff over the antics last time.

if it isnt available, then its not meant to be.

That house that the estate agent was selling through her work mates ? we were gutted we didnt get it. Felt like we were never going to find another house as good and were mortified

We found our current house a few weeks later and couldnt be happier with it. These things work out in the end ..
 
Tbh if it were me, and I was an estate agent for 12 months when i first moved to notts. You can make an offer based on what ever criteria you want, you can make an offer based on no deposit whatsoever and they have to put that to the vendor, if it's rejected I would express an interest and tell them to call you if it doest sell but your not interested in any form of non returnable deposit nonsense. Then walk away and see what happens.
 
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