By estate agent Keith Maslin, of Blount and Maslen
Is it better to be a hare or a tortoise when trying to gain an instruction? And are hares sometimes guilty of cutting corners?
Agent Keith Maslin, of Blount and Maslen estate agents in Wiltshire, admits that after nearly three decades in the business, he still gets occasionally annoyed when other agents openly flout the regulations to try and get there first.
He – and we – would be very interested in other agents’ views.
This is my 28th year of selling homes in the Malmesbury area, and like many long-standing and reputable agents, I get annoyed by those in our industry who openly flout the regulations.
As a result I wrote this yesterday afternoon and I can’t help wondering how many other agents feel the same?
We were recently asked to value a property in Malmesbury where the vendor, not unusually, was seeking opinions from several agents.
The first agent in the door, let’s call them the hare, said they thought it was worth £240,000 and had buyers waiting.
The owners who haven’t moved for 27 years were concerned about committing themselves, as they had other agents to see, but were assured by the agent it wasn’t a problem.
The agent proceeded to show two lots of people over without sending the client terms of business, completing the money laundering requirements or ordering an Energy Performance Certificate. All in contravention of legal requirements that have been in force for some considerable time.
We felt the property was worth a little more, £250,000, and advised the client that to achieve the best price, certain works were required prior to marketing.
The owners preferred our approach and duly instructed us to act for them.
While we prepared details and complied with the rules, the first agent was busy trying to persuade the owner to take a ‘low offer’.
Once the de-cluttering and tidying up was completed, we marketed the house within a week of first going to value it, so hardly tortoise timing.
Within 48 hours of going live, we had created interest from more than one buyer, ultimately leading to a sale in excess of the £250,000 price guide.
Comments (4)
This is exactly why agents have such a bad name. Why the rush? It obviously in this case did not suit the vendors to be rushed, they had made it clear that they wanted other opinions. Why would any agent act without instruction and clear terms of business? What would happen if there was a dispute over fees? I’ve been in this business for coming up to 30 years and these slick operators have always been around; generally they don’t last that long – in for a quick buck then onto the next “deal”. My ethos has always been that we work in the vendor’s best interest which may not always be ours but I do fully agree with Keith Maslin; better to be a tortoise than a hare, you may not see instant rewards but you will in time. I am no longer involved in sales, only lettings but believe me the same principles apply and time and again I get landlords coming back to me having tried the hare and not liked it!
The money laundering checks may well have been carried out at the property, they also might of called their EPC guy/girl from the property to book it in and as far as the Terms of Business goes, well that’s more fool them.
It’s quite possible (although probably unlikely) they haven’t broken any laws at all, and that’s a story they will stick too.
I say good on them, they are the type of ‘go getters’ we all want working for us, or am I about to get disliked out the scene! 🙂
I am with you Gump!
Yes they need to do it by the book but you want “Closers not posers!” – The only thing the agent did wrong was neglect to get a sole agency contract signed.
Maybe the Mr Maslin will try and be the first agent through the door next time and sign them up before the others step foot into the property.
Thank you!
You have one agent negotiating offers before the other agent has even taken the photos!
To the dislikers, at least leave a comment as to why!