house description on estate agent website.

[Frank]

Looking at buying a house and been looking now for a few months.

Got very close on a house, then the survey threw up a few things we hadn't expected.

The vendor would not agree a drop to allow for the extra work.

Even after 6 weeks of being aware of an obvious mistake the description hasn't been updated.

One simple example I noticed is the alleged double glazed windows are single glazed.
Initial claim was that this was a simple mistake, fair enough funny how the mistake always seems to be in favour of the house / vendor.

I appreciate not reprinting brochures but should this not have been updated at least on the web by now.

I know this is only one example but surely this is false advertising?

I am sure I am not the only one with an example like this.

 

[Romulan]

Interesting question.

Can you make a complaint to the Advertising Authority?
They have an online complaints form.

http://www.asai.ie/

The Advertising Standards Authority for Ireland

The Essence of Good Advertising:
All marketing communications should be legal, decent, honest and truthful.

All marketing communications should be prepared with a sense of responsibility both to the consumer and to society.

All marketing communications should conform to the principles of fair competition as generally accepted in business.

 

[CadillacMan]

funny how the mistake always seems to be in favour of the house / vendor.

Hi Frank,

I'm not sure that I understand the level of cynicism toward the vendor unless it's a case of FTB paranoia.

I had a property listed some time back and when I looked at the website I noticed the description read "newly fitted carpets". I informed the EA straight away that this wasn't accurate but I can't recall that the listing was updated. The EA couldn't believe how old the carpets were (except for the fact that we got him to remove his shoes before heading upstairs), so I don't think he was intentionally trying to deceive anyone either.

I often smile to myself when I find end-of-terraces described as semi-d's or duplex apartments described as houses. These descriptions don't fool anyone. I guess a viewing highlights obvious discrepancies before you put your offer in and the survey highlights the hidden ones before you sign anything.

If your survey highlighted issues that would incur significant costs to address then your vendor would have been wise to reconsider a renegotiation of the original offer within reason.

However, as someone who was recently both a vendor and buyer, it's no picnic being a vendor in this market.

 

[Carmel]

Incorrect descriptions by estate agents

I'm a buyer at the moment and I have to say that I am sick of estate agents incorrectly describing houses for sale. A particular bug-bear of mine is that they often inaccurately describe the orientation of houses.

Two examples:

82 South Park is described here as having a west facing garden: [broken link removed]

When you look at it on Google Earth, you can see that it is clearly North West facing.

21 Springfield Park Foxrock is described as having a westerly orientation here: [broken link removed]

Again, if you check it out on Google Earth, you will see that it is north west facing to the rear.

There is a BIG difference in the amount of sun that a West facing back garden will get compared to one that is North West facing.

 

[NOAH]

when you are buying a house bear in mind, a) its your money, b) its the biggest single investment you are likely to make in your lifetime, so tread warily.

Dont believe a word that is written on estate agents blurb, if you have a look at the small print they have a get out clause. They wont change the blurb as they are using it as a cmon.

trust yourself and check everything yourself.

A while back I got a survey done by a Highly Recommended surveyor and I met with him in person to specify items I wanted him to major on but the report back said " I think it has a septic tank!" The septic tank was visible from the back of house. Needless to say I sent him a nice long letter with supplementary questions and he replied a few times.

Buying a house now is more of a minefield especially if it is newish as the building regs were totally ignored, do your homework when you find a place and even chat to neighbours, drive round at odd times, ie late at night, when it rains, etc etc. And view more than once, you will see nothing but good bits on the first visit.

good luck and dont bother making a fuss about house details.

 

[Frank]

Cadilllac

Not a first time buyer and all my cynicism is aimed towards Estate agents.
Shower of you know.

Amazed the amount of them that will let you down on appointments, not call back and try to push rubbish.

Annoyed at the amount of so called for sale houses that are already sale agreed but no mention of that either.

Anyway on with the search.

Will be looking much harder now around houses before paying for another survey, hopefully have learned something of what to look for.

 

[CadillacMan]

Hello again Frank.

Well as a recent vendor, I found that one EA I got an estimate from was so desperate (probably as a result of not shifting, sorry selling anything) that he was almost advising us to give our home away. In the end, we went with a different EA at a slightly higher asking price and achieved an offer of full asking price within a fortnight. So maybe you have a point.

Although as a recent buyer I didn't find the EA's conducting viewings nearly as pushy as during the early to mid 2000's. I did find that when you asked about what the vendor would see as a reasonable offer, you got a spiel about how much the house cost at the peak. Yet when I mentioned to the desperate EA what my home cost at the peak, he told me that nobody wanted to hear about that. He also made a song and dance about having to take off his shoes going upstairs on our 'as new' carpets so we didn't go with him - we went with the pleasant chap who willingly accommodated our request! The good, the bad and the ugly of real estate!

Good luck with your search.

 

[deeheg]

21 springfield

I'm a buyer at the moment and I have to say that I am sick of estate agents incorrectly describing houses for sale. A particular bug-bear of mine is that they often inaccurately describe the orientation of houses.

Two examples:

82 South Park is described here as having a west facing garden: [broken link removed]

When you look at it on Google Earth, you can see that it is clearly North West facing.

21 Springfield Park Foxrock is described as having a westerly orientation here: [broken link removed]

Again, if you check it out on Google Earth, you will see that it is north west facing to the rear.

There is a BIG difference in the amount of sun that a West facing back garden will get compared to one that is North West facing.

21 spring field park I used to live there and it was very sunny always so I would say westerly more so, however it would be north but it is L shape really and thats how the sun got in the back