would class myself as one of those FTB sitting on the fence, waiting for that one house to reach a price ,which I would deem value for money. About 12 months ago we had our first round of viewing and I was left far from impressed by the EA's that I encountered. Last month we decided to try the market again with an additional 4 viewings arranged with 4 different EAs. Only 1 turned up on time and turned on lights etc to prep the property, but could not answer a question on the house. All other EAs, from family run business, left us waiting for them to show at the arranged time ,for up to 20 mins without an apology. One even just walked through the house "bedroom down there , bathroom there, if you have any questions just give me a shout" and went and sat in the kitchen while we looked around. What are vendors paying these people for.
I accept in todays market they do encounter a lot of people like myself just checking the water, but is that not part of the job spec? For the others I honestly think that they have had Zero experience of having to sell. After a decade of buyers throwing money at them in the crazy days, many of these EA's never had to put a sales pitch together.
The one house that I was interested in, and asked the EA to get back to me with an answer to some of my questions. 1 week later no response I called back a week later and got a story that the vendor was on vacation. The vendor was a little surprised at this news when I contacted them directly, the following day. Negotiating direct from here