Self-Sufficiency in Style
Understanding estate agents!
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Self-Sufficiency in Style Understanding estate agents! |
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Estate Agents are people too! |
Whether you are buying or selling property
it helps to understand how the professional handling the sale operates. Despite the sometimes bad press, Estate Agents do not have horns, in many ways they are more sinned against than sinning. |
| The writer bought, sold and
rented many times before he suddenly woke up to the fact that he had done
exactly the same job....with ships not property. The realisation made things very much easier. Sales and purchases became much more efficient and cheaper. The reality is that the Estate Agent is often at the mercy of unscrupulous, unreliable and unrealistic buyers and sellers. Whether buying or selling, if you behave with integrity, you can achieve much more than you ever can by trying to be devious. |
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No Sale - No Pay |
Both the buyer and seller must realise that although a house is priced at a
certain level, it does not mean that this is a realistic price. Poor estate agents will over value in the hope of adding the house to their portfolio. Good estate agents will not do that, but will price according to their client's ideas, even if privately they think that unrealistic. To be in business, an estate agent must have a portfolio of properties to sell. They won't make any money until some are sold, but without some to sell, they are not even on the starting blocks. Common sense really! |
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Now, we take a look at the best way for a purchaser to proceed. |
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Don't throw your weight about. If you need an ego trip to restore your self-confidence, go to an psychiatrist, not an Estate Agent. It will be cheaper and more effective. The Estate Agent will also pick it up and think you a total idiot...whilst still smiling sweetly... |
A cheaper alternative? |
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Educating junior "negotiators" is a civic duty. |
..on the other hand, don't put up with any nonsense. Don't be dragged 500 miles to view a property that is totally unsuitable. Over enthusiastic juniors paid by commission usually pull this stunt. Retaliate by handing out a vicious rollicking at the top of your voice. The miscreant will survive the experience, but you will feel better. |
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Then realise that your wasted journey was entirely your own fault. If the printed details don't say "detached garage", the property does not have a detached garage. Don't live in hope. Learn to read between the lines. The written word carefully prepared by a senior and experienced Estate Agent is more reliable than casual words. |
You can save a lot of travelling by a cynical reading of the printed details. |
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Actually, we won't be round a table. Most buyers and sellers are more comfortable negotiating through an intermediary. A good Estate Agent will be able to make "I'm not paying that" or "I'm not taking that" more acceptable to the other side. |
Then one happy day, you are going to find the place of your dreams. Maybe, it will be Hangman's Cottage - and we will be on opposite sides of the table. You want to buy it - at the right price. The writer has to sell it - at the right price. Actually our real objectives are not so different, we both want a deal. We do not want an expensive, time consuming, failed deal. |
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As a buyer, if you are a good reliable purchaser. Prove it! In recent years, whenever buying a property with ready cash, the writer showed the evidence and provided photocopies of all the securities and bank deposits. |
Get yourself taken seriously straight away! |
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The writer has done this twice. In both cases, he got the house quickly
against stiff competition. In both cases, it cost him an extra £5000, just to show willing. Well worth the money. One Estate Agent said he had never dealt with a more honest and straightforward buyer. But he was used to saying what his buyer wants to hear. The other broke a written agreement and failed to take the property off the market as promised. They have forgotten; the writer has not. It cost them very dear. They lost a top quality employee and any chance to sell Hangman's Cottage. |
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In future articles, we will tell you why you cannot avoid the "crunch" moment - and why it should come sooner rather than later. We will also be making some suggestions about checks a potential buyer can make for themselves before even thinking about making an offer. In
the meantime, if you are so inclined, you can return to
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS which deals specifically with Hangman's
Cottage or |
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...playing it straight from - the inappropriately named Hangman's Cottage, just to the south of Misery Corner. |
