Does anyone have any tips for acquiring quicker knowledge of houses that are coming onto the market. All too often, details of houses on the Net are already sold STC and likewise even in the estate agents windows. I register with them and they don't contact me. They're useless!
Just wondering if any shrewd people out there can help?
Are there any people who work in estate agents that could help?!
House wanted ad in local paper. Your own leaflet drop. I have done above and caught stuff before it went on the market.
Phil
In message , Ed_Zep writes
I'm an estate agent, and have been for 17 years:
Firstly, calling the people who you need on your side "useless" is a really good start. In actual fact, if they are selling everything, (probably at very high prices compared to only 6 months ago), they are actually doing a fabulous job - for the people who are paying them!!
So.... what you have to do is to get the agents on your side.
To do this you have to go and see them. Open a dialogue. Let them know that you are in a position to buy and make things happen quickly, and that you genuinely wont mess about negotiating over piddling little things in your survey, (like damp proof courses, updating wiring, the odd bit of rot).
I overheard a young lad telling my negotiator how everything we had was too expensive and not in good condition, and then express surprise when she suggested that he didnt have to buy anything if he didnt want to.
We can sell everything we have, as long as it is priced correctly, (i.e. high, but not too high), so it is not surprising that you are not getting calls.
If you are just looking at the net and in windows, and waiting for a call... it wont happen. You have to be pro-active.
I can help people who want to help themselves get what they want.
Wait until the market softens, and it becomes harder to sell stuff, and your phone will ring off the hook - but you may not want to buy then
Your missives generally exude the wisdom that comes with maturity, and in any case you've mentioned retirement a number of times in terms which suggests it's not too far off. Accordingly, it seems highly likely that there was a substantial gap between when you left school (or university or whatever) and when those 17 years began.
Idle curiosity prompts me to wonder what you were before you became an estate agent.
Nothing too disreputable, I hope.
LOL! Of course when the survey comes in, the definition of 'piddling little things' may change.
I'm 43, and became an estate agent at 27, (so I cant add up ).
On leaving school at 17, I was in the Merchant Navy and reached the dizzy heights of 3rd officer before leaving at 24, having acquired a BSc. over those years.. I then became an "Account Executive", (Salesman), for a shipping line before opening the agency from scratch in 1987.
I'm really talking about semi-retirement, with the freedom work on what takes my fancy, rather than feeling forced.
Given the types of things I mention, it is rare that more serious things crop up - they obviously do, but not that often.
We always end up arguing, (negotiating), over things which, if you had lived in the house for years, would not be an urgent issue, (or even an issue), yet they take on mega proportions for a buyer - until, of course, someone else shows an interest in the particular house and, miraculously, the buyer stops negotiating and moves heaven and earth to get the house.
Thanks (I think).
He will be all at sea with that query :]
...and which to the buyer shout out that the seller couldn't be bothered or interested in maintaining the property in his/her care.
Methinks you are being pedantic Do you have a survey carried out on your house every year?
It is very rare that a property which shows "damp" on a surveyors meter, actually has damp or, if it does, it is not serious enough to warrant any, or immediate attention.
A surveyor will recommend an electrical check if a property does not look like it was rewired yesterday. An electrician carrying out the check will quote for bringing up to the latest edition or, if they are not one of the Indians, (as opposed to cowboys), for a complete rewire. Do you have your house brought up to latest specs every year?
Most surveyors will recommend a roof inspection, and most roofers will quote for things which, whilst maybe appropriate as a precaution, are not immediately necessary.
many surveyors will advise an engineers report on structure if they see the slightest hint of cracked plaster or pointing. In most instances, the engineers wonder why they are going.
Like I said - piddling little things.
Fair enough - those are.
So,
In this buoyant market, where I sense that somebody is likely to argue the toss over these, and similar things, I will not be racing to help them buy a house.
Where i am convinced that someone will not argue the toss over these types of things, I will bend over backwards to help them, (as long as they can show the money etc.).
Phil,
Were you buying the property as an investment or as you next home? If as an investment then I would like to discuss further (maybe a new thread or by email).
It is something I had done for simple items like wanting a bicycle, computer stuff and putting an advert in the misc wanted in the local paper. Then when we couldn't find the house we wanted we put the same in for a house and in addition prepared a simple leaflet and put it through doors.
At that stage of life it was easier as we knew the types of locations in which we were interested, the streets and types of houses. But it worked - the drawbacks are a seller who may want to get the house valued which is understandable. Also the seller who may be nervous about cutting out the agent but they don't have to as they can appoint the agent to value and see the sale through and if the agent is getting the deal on a plate they will give a reduced fee.
Phil
On the other hand every £k saved is money in my pocket, so to speak, so if I suspect the agent is qualifying me as a purchaser I will convince him or her that I have finance, want the house badly and won't quibble, but a week or so before exchange will bring up a couple of problems on my survey (which of course I won't let the selling side see as they didn't pay for it) and reduce the offer by £10-20k or so. The agent senses a lost fee and won't hesitate to suggest the purchaser agrees - perhaps to an £10k reduction to save face. Easy to get the agent on your side if it's financially in his interests.
Of course in the end I would have to be prepared to walk away if the purchaser is obstinate, and I've destroyed my credibility with the agent for future offers, but hey, there are other agents and other houses.
This leaves me wondering just what surveyors are for! It sounds like there are some long-standing and possibly outdated demarcation rules being applied.
When you have been doing the job for 16 years, you get a sixth sense. You would stand out like a sore thumb with me.
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