House Hunting

[tobydog]

I am certainly well aware of all the bad stories out there. I had been the cause of some but a total victim of many more. Bad news always travels further than good. My experience is that on occasions the owners and sellers have been far worse than many agents I've met. I have only bought 3 houses and sold 2 but apart from a personality issue with one of the agents, all parties / deals have been good. I've been out of the business now for over 20 years.

 

[Jellyfire]

My wife was an estate agent, and a very honest, trustworthy, hard working and honourable one at that. There are a few jobs where the whole profession take the flak for a minority (or even majority), estate agents, solicitors, conservation officers! The thing about estate agents is people object to paying them for something they think is unnecessary and easy, so they often go for the one that has the lowest rates and offers you the highest valuation, even if its unrealistic.

In the same way a cowboy builder might offer to build your kitchen extension for five grand, you'd probably be wiser to go for the reputable builder who quoted eight grand. Estate agents are no different, the reputable ones are usually in ARLA or suchlike and suffer from a lack of regulation which allows countless dodgy agents to tarnish there name.

As Tobydog says,it's fine when everything goes well, but some of the stories my wife can tell about difficult vendors, purchaser, landlords and tenants would make you make you gasp in disbelief.

For what it's worth Wobs, my wife agrees a targeted leaflet drop wouldnt do any harm and could lead you to the perfect house. I Can't see what you could lose by it anyway

 

[Flyfisher]

If we ever sell again I won't be using an agent - and for that matter I may not use a solicitor either except for the tiny amount of paperwork that only they can do - as my experiences have been comprehensively bad.

I'd caution about avoiding solicitors for conveyancing work. You may think they don't do very much, but their professional liability insurance might come in very handy if anything goes wrong.

My sister-in-law & hubby bought a flat in London in the 80s. It was a house conversion done by an 'amateur property developer' who bought the house and divided it into two flats. The building work was good, everything seemed OK and the purchase went through without problem.

Except that after about six months or so, they received a letter from their solicitor saying that 'due to complications' it was not possible to register the property in their name. I forget the details but it was something like 'their' flat still having a charge on it by the sellers mortgage company, the seller having disappeared and the mortgage company wanting repossession.

So they had to move out. The solicitor's insurance paid out for all their purchase costs, their mortgage redemption and associated costs, all their decorating & associated costs plus a lump sum for compensation. Imagine the mess they'd have been in if they had handled the sale themselves.

 

[wobs]

Thank you for all replies.

The letter drop could work, might be worth a shot. We used to get them from estate agents in our old house, the day one came through the door just so happened to be the day we finally put it on the market, we went with that agency in the end (not just because of the letter).

I would look into renting. Especially if you are planning on moving area - not sure if that's the case or not? - as then it gives you more of a chance to get to know a place before committing to it. We were going to do this, as we didn't think we'd find a place by our must-move-by date. And the position of being a cash buyer is not to be underestimated. but of course it only makes sense if you can afford to do it and store your stuff.

Best of luck with the process!

We are not moving far. Infact we often walk through the area we are looking at.

Those that think it would be a scam, I can understand such sentiments, but is there anything that would make it seem less like a scam?

We are considering renting as suggested.

We are definitely using a solicitor.

El Greyo: We are praying for a shed.

 

[LadyArowana]

Thank you for all replies.

The letter drop could work, might be worth a shot. We used to get them from estate agents in our old house, the day one came through the door just so happened to be the day we finally put it on the market, we went with that agency

Those that think it would be a scam, I can understand such sentiments, but is there anything that would make it seem less like a scam?
.

If you said you had recently sold ABC address and were currently renting XYZ it would seem a little more genuine because you are sharing something a bit more personal that can be checked.