Press Article
METRO - 19 May, 2011
Underhand estate agent practices
By Jo Eccles
Estate agents have long had a reputation for being insincere and deceitful, and although it is unfair to tar all agents with the same brush, I’ve recently been astonished by some estate agents tactics as a result of the current supply shortage. Because there are few new properties coming on to the market, when one does come up for sale, agents are clamouring to get the instruction and sale, and are not always acting in the best interests of the seller or the buyer.
Whilst the more reputable estate agents (and yes, there are some great ones out there!) are standing by their ethics and upholding their reputation, others are being aggressive and using underhand tactics, such as vastly over-valuing properties in order to win the instruction. Sadly, this tactic isn’t exactly a new one, but whereas historically, it was only one or two well known chain estate agents who were renowned for over-valuing, many other trusted local agents are following suit in desperate times.
We’re also witnessing situations where a sales team within an agency, who would usually work well together, are turning on each other to secure a sale before their colleagues. For example, a buying applicant calls to speak to the negotiator they have registered with about a property, but that negotiator is out of the office, so their colleague, who also has an applicant interested in that particular property, tells their colleague’s applicant that the property is already under offer, to sabotage their colleague and try and secure the sale (and commission) for them self. So, if you are currently looking to buy, my advice is to verify things with the negotiator you are dealing with – don’t take a colleague’s comments as verbatim. We have lots of clients who engage our services as they’re frustrated about missing out on properties; I wonder how many of them had genuinely missed out or were simply fobbed off.
This brings into question whether these agents are acting in the client’s best interests – their job is to obtain the best price and best buyer for the property, whereas the focus at the moment is to get a price secured as quickly as possible, even though in many cases the seller would get a higher price (or a preferred buyer, for example, one that suits their moving date requirements) if they kept their property on the market for a week or so to test it.
If you are currently selling, my advice is to ensure you instruct a reputable agent, and ask about their commission structure – pooled commissions are more likely to work in your best interests in the current market because the agency is working as a team to get the best price, rather than working on a an individual basis trying to score commission before their colleagues.