Can I sack my estate agent?

T

toffblue

Registered User
Messages
19
I put our house on the market a few weeks back. EA deals in the area and is familiar so went with them. They said plenty of potential buyers lined up. Since then 2 viewings (compared to 7/8 as promised). EA rang last week to say the the 3 viewings for Sat had all cancelled last minute. I smell Bull in a big way.

Has anyone come across such probs and also what is the story with sacking EA (re: sign, myhome postings etc)

Thanks.
 
They may have exagerated the amount of viewings they had but who's to say the next won't be the same either?

Hold tight for a while. The main thing you want to do is sell the house. If people want to come see it they will.

Don't forget the agent is probably feeding the the punters a lot of 'bull' about your house so it works both ways

Is the EA an independent or part of a chain?

Also you don't sack them, you change them.
 
Excuse the emphasis on sacking......I was only enquiring..... Mod changed title of the post. (Please note Mod!!!!)

I will be having a face to face with EA. I don't mind exaggerating, it's to be expected. I do mind Bull... as we are dealing with my principle asset here....(3 viewings all pulling out at last minute is not exaggerating)

I was more enquiring into the logistics of actually "changing" the EA. Also haven't rulled out selling on the privatesellers website or such.
 
Seriously OP! The responses you are getting to your question is exactly why EAs are treating their clients like rubbish and potential buyers with contempt.

You will be paying the EA a large commission and as such they need to do an excellant job.

Of course you can dump the EA and make it very clear why. If the EA protests and says they can do it, tell them to put their money where their mouth is and drop their commission rate.

Take a serious look at the EAs marketing campaign for your house, your house valuation compared to other houses and ask to see their booking register. For Legislative and accounting purposes EAs are required to record all potential viewings. So you will be able to see just how many people have booked a viewing. If they don't agree, its BS.


Don't be afraid to play hard ball with what is your finances.

Never mind the wishy washy 'dont upset the EA' attitude.
 
I doubt anyone cares less about the EA. The point is whats realistic in the current market, for that property in that location. A sales person (the EA) is always going to give the most optimistic spin on things. You could chat to other sellers and see what their experiences have been.
 
Aircobra,

I have not ruled out the possibility that 3 potential viewings all pulled out 24 hours before a Sat viewing. But there are 3 points to this that make me smell a rat:

It was a Sat viewing: traditionally house viewing day

There were 3 cancellations

It all happened within 24 hours of the viewing.

It just makes you think.

And yes it is a lot of money. EA must treat their clients with the respect that this money warrants....
 
Slinky,

Thanks for the advice re: Booking register. I certainly wasn't aware of this....
 

I certainly didn't say don't upset the agent. I would change at the drop of a hat if I felt I was getting inadequate service.

But the OP is making judgements on little fact. So I would say hang on, in current climate I'm sure agents are more motivated to sell. When he gets proof then by all means discuss with EA. Certainly your point re scope out the local market is a worthwhile thing to do.

I guess its easy to make generalisations like to say EA are treating their clients like rubbish and buyers with contempt.

OP regarding how to change, afaik it's pretty easy especially if there is no contract in place.

Slinky - Can you explain the comment re needing to record all potential viewings for accounting purposes and under what legislation does this come under?
 
People cancelling appointments last minute in Ireland? Hardly surprising. Thats why people like Dentists charge you for it if done within 24 hrs. If this was a on going issue with the same EA then fair enough. You've higher expectations of EA's than I do, and of the current market.
 
In the event that someone puts in an offer on your property and you dispute that an EA introduced them to you. The EA can produced their appointment book as a means of verification that they introduced the buyer to the vendor.

They are also required to document this interaction for Sarbanes Oxley Legislative purposes.

If your EA cannot produce the appointments as recorded when the viewer made it, then they are telling porkie pies.
 
I arranged to view some apartments this weeked, and set up appointments 10 days in advance. The day before viewing one EA rang to say the time I had originally booked didn't suit him. Apparently he had someone viewing the property earlier in the day and wanted me to view at the same time so he wouldn't have to come back to the property later in the day for me. Since going earlier would have mess up all my other appointments I told him where to go.

Clearly he wasn't acting in his clients interest!

Why not get one of your friends to make an appointment to view your property, get them to see how good he is, how well he sells your property, etc.
 
document this interaction for Sarbanes Oxley Legislative purposes
Click to expand...

At the risk of going off-topic, SOX only applies to public companies listed on a US stock exchange.

There are plausible reasons an agent might not be able to show you their appointment book, such as data protection.
 
Sorry I stand correct regards SOX. But in terms of Data Protection an EA is actually obliged to show you any information regards your property. They can easliy cover the other references.
 
slinky said:
Sorry I stand correct regards SOX. But in terms of Data Protection an EA is actually obliged to show you any information regards your property. They can easliy cover the other references.
Click to expand...

No, they're required to show any information relating to "you" not "your property". An appointment made by a third party to view your property does not come under this act. A good EA will record appointments for his own purposes as you describe above.
 

Seems to me from your post, that you're a little highly strung in regard to selling your house. Houses generally take a few months to get a sale agreed not a few weeks, even at the best of times. That's not to say that some houses don't get a sale agreed in a few weeks. Takes another couple of months after that for sale to go through.

EA's are in the sales business. They'll promise the sun moon and stars to get your house on their books. Most people give their house to the most optomistic EA who quotes them the best price and the shortest time to sell.

In the current market you would generally need to bide your time if you want to sell at a good price.

What's the rush?
 
i was also in the same position.But my estate agent was telling people there was bids on the house when there wasnt.I told him to take the sign down and put it in a letter to him that i was cancelling his service.I lost the ad fees but new estate agent didnt charge me.You are well within your right to changw estate agent if your not happy with service
 
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