On the whole, the estate agent is not blessed with the greatest press of all the professions. It is worth remembering that like lawyers, the estate agent is heavily involved in a process that often misfires and is somewhat messy. A good question to ask would be how any profession would manage to retain a squeaky clean reputation in the quagmire of the property market and the home buying process. As many will testify, the nightmare of buying or selling property is often not the fault of the estate agent; unfortunately however, they often take the flak.
The estate agent is fundamentally a normal person and can be considered a fairly wide and diverse cross section of society. Naturally some will be affable people that will bend over backwards to sell your property or find you the perfect home. On the other hand, there are a number of unscrupulous operators out there who have no quibbles in providing poor services. As the property market fluctuates however, the numbers of unscrupulous agents is reduced as home owners put their faith in the more affable characters.
Market conditions can have a great effect on the way you will be treated by your estate agent. When the market is in a period of boom, often deemed as being 'hot' in terminology, it is more likely you will find an agent who is unsympathetic of your selling needs. This is because at these times the primary focus of the agent is buyers rather than sellers. It is not until times become harder that an agent is likely to focus their efforts on the needs of the seller, this is when the 'good ones' become more apparent.
An estate agent who has been in the industry for some time has seen many customers; both buyers and sellers come through the doors of the agency. As such, those who think it will be possible to hoodwink the agent by using tricks, such as emotional blackmail will find their efforts wasted. Experienced operators have seen it all before and are aware of all the tricks and strategies employed by both buyers and sellers.
It is not just property buyers and sellers who have tricks to employ in the property process. There are a number of scams that the immoral estate agent will happily employ, as a customer you should be acutely aware of these strategies.
Some agents will give an undervaluation in order to achieve a quick sale and a quick profit. In order to remedy this you should ask a variety of agents to give your property a valuation. Another tactic that can be employed by estate agent is to not pass on all of the offers from prospective buyers in order for them to sell the property to a preferred client. To sidestep this tactic it may be worth getting a friend to put an offer in to see if all the offers are making it through to you. The final strategy sometimes used is to lie about the property on issues such as planning permission. By simply asking for written proof of these claims however it is possible to negate the effects of this ploy.
These tactics are in no way employed by the entire estate agent fraternity. There are a great number of operators out there who obey the rules and are generally trustworthy. Like anyone in life, if you treat your agent with respect it is more likely that they will provide you with a good service. By being friendly your agent will work harder for you, remember it is the agency workers who hold sway with buyers and hence having them on side can be a valuable asset.
