An agency owner has publicly hit out at probate and divorce solicitors misusing his free valuation service.
Neil Robinson, managing director of Neil Robinson Estate Agents in Skelmersdale, Lancashire, took to social media platform LinkedIn to air his grievances after “the last straw” of visiting a property for the third time when a solicitor’s client failed to turn up for the previous two appointments.
“When we got there, she openly admitted she was only after the figures,” Robinson told Property Industry Eye.
The experience prompted a furious post addressed to probate and divorce solicitors where Robinson pointed out that “estate agents’ free valuations are there for genuine clients who want to sell their houses” and are “not there to be misused, and are certainly not there just so you can milk us for figures”.
The post continued: “It’s not just my time you’re wasting. Each valuation, done properly, takes about 90 minutes when you take into account the phone calls, research, travel there and back, time at the property, and putting the report/letter together. There is obviously associated time and costs with this as well.
“More often than not, you want valuations from three companies, so it stands to reason that you’re also wasting two other estate agents’ time as well as mine. Each property you need valuations for steals half a day from this selection of agents. Yet I bet your client is paying you to organise this.”
Robinson added: “These estate agents you’re using are often small businesses who have overheads and staff to pay, and every free valuation they do for you is time they cannot spend on earning the valuable money they need to pay those bills.”
The MD told EYE that such instances of solicitors misusing free valuations used to be “a minor annoyance every so often” but that the frequency had significantly increased recently.
“It now means we’re committing more time than we would like to cases that simply aren’t going to go anywhere,” he said. “The annoying thing is that, despite the questions we’re asking, we’re being actively lied to in many cases. We’re professionals and we don’t work for free.”
While acknowledging that estate agents have a part to play by asking the right questions when booking in the valuation, Robinson believes the solution is for solicitors to “respect the fact we are small businesses”. He added: “If it’s literally only figures they want, then they at least compensate us for our time and cost in the same way that they themselves would expect to be compensated themselves for their own time and costs.”
Comments (9)
I’m an RICS Registered Valuer. I used to be an estate agent.
You want the business, because they might sell. You’ve got to be in it to win it, so you do the valuation anyway.
Usually they don’t sell though- well, at least not for a few years. After all, there’ll be kids involved, etcetera.
At the beginning of the process, the solicitor recommends agents because the cost is minimal or perhaps zero. Also, as the market moves, it is more of a guide at that stage rather than anything else.
If the divorcees can agree figures based on the agent’s valuations then both parties win. But if the agent hasn’t charged for the valuation then the agent definitely loses.
The problem is knowing which valuations to charge for. As an agent, the number of times that I discovered that a couple were going their separate ways after having been told explicit details of their “together” moving plans boggles my mind.
For context, and why agents get abused, if the case becomes contentious then you end up needing something like a Joint Expert Witness Report, which is where the surveyor values the property for both sides of the divorce. Depending on the size of the property this can cost well over £1,000. The reason for the charge is the format of the report and the insurance liability.
Having been on both sides of the fence, these companies (asset managers including) have no loyalty to any agent, unless they have paid the company for these rights, on a yearly subscription to bolster their own income.
Unless the solicitor has a working relationship with the agent, with mutual referrals the likelihood of being remembered is next to zero. Have having been on the other side, it is becoming more apparent that agents are aware of this and more & more are refusing, making the jobs of the solicitors/asset managers a lot more difficult, who reap the rewards of obtaining the free expertise from agents.
Asking the right open questions when booking in the valuation, confirming by email the appointment type ( 1.Market Appraisal For Sale purposes or 2. ‘professional valuation’ for Matrimonial or 3. Insurance valuation etc is simple to ask but so often overlooked by sales negotiators. We usually charge, but offer to deduct the charge from our sales commission. we explain that our Professional Indemnity covers us and that we will spend several hours of our professional time to produce the written valuation they want. sometimes they walk away – am I bothered?
Don’t hate me for saying this Simon, but I’m not convinced there is an excuse for not asking the question.
New team members may need it to become a natural and habitual part of the booking process, but beyond a couple of months I would be worried if anyone forgot to ask why they require a valuation coupled with how soon are you looking to list the house.
Easy to say Ric… perhaps… but also surely very easy to ask the question. Most people are probably expecting it and many volunteer it just before or just after the request for the valuation. (Especially those who are fibbing, as they tell the fib first to justify the request)
We have a solicitor in our town, who also sells houses, who is constantly doing this. I have actually been told, by the vendors, that the solicitor told them not to mention who their solicitor was and to pretend that they were looking to sell through an agent, when in fact the solicitor was going to sell the house all along. Sometimes you can catch them out, sometimes you don’t. If they say it’s a probate valuation I make a charge and say that it will be deducted from the final sale fee if they go on the market with us. Suprising how many walk away from that offer and then weeks later we see it for sale with the Solicitor!
Being in the business for over 25 years, seems this is more about the built up trust and relationships between agents and solicitors. Asking the right questions and servicing appropriately is what a good agent does.
Also, agents are not yet “professionals” in a sense that no formal qualifications are required to operate or own businesses in the industry as yet. We use our own professionalism to build up trust and demonstrate our integrity, but we are still open for less scrupulous individuals to operate within it, so some people will want to get more than 1 agent out to ensure they have taken enough risk mitigation.
it would seem a simple solution, stop offering free valuations or accept that by doing so, some people will take advantage of that service.
1. YOU offer them as a free service, and if you dont ask questions behind the reason for valaution – in case you would want a fee – that is up to you
2. A valuation is a chance to impress / secure a future seller
Missing an appontment though is a waste of everyone’s time, and so build in a charge upfront with a warning about that.
1. People lie to get the free service.
2. Go to all Valuations as Great PR opportunities – said nobody ever.
We as Colin says, explain a charge which will be refunded on instructing us to sell (They usually walk away).
We also insist on being able to write and communicate with BOTH parties, as doing it for one without question is dangerous!
You could be doing the PR job on the person who is about to move 200 miles away after causing the divorce and other person could be a local celeb with the parents on the school playground or vocal in the various “we love, iLove village” Social media groups and they now feel you have gone against them as advisor for the Ex.
My opinion a local agent needs to be able to write to both parties (and include both solicitors if at that stage) then everyone feels fairly treated.
Thanks for highlighting this as it’s an issue that has frustrated me. When we book an MA, we now specifically state of its for appraising for a split or separation, they should employ the services of a RICS survey. In the event of one of the parties retaining the property and paying off the other, the RICS survey could be used to support a remortgage.
Having a RICS survey means only one agent need visit and can be used in the event of the split going legal.
Solicitors and other entities shouldn’t demean our businesses by asking for 3 agents to work for nothing and telling clients to get 3 agents out. It’s lazy and not best practice. It also creates ill feeling between our industries.