Hi All,
Here’s a little advance on a new press release. It should be hitting your news stands next week. (Don’t say we don’t keep you informed!)
Rip off estate agents – the public must fight back.
AN INDEPENDENT Sutton Coldfield solicitor who specialises in the housing market is warning that the public is being ripped off by unscrupulous estate agents.
Harvey McKibbin, who has been helping clients buy and sell houses for 8 years, says the global recession means people have to be more wary than ever when buying their dream home.
She warned buyers against taking estate agents claims at face value and said getting their own independent advice was now more important than ever.
Her warning came as government research warned that Trading Standards regulations were being ignored by many estate agents while many buyers remained confused about who the estate agent was working for.
Harvey said: “Sadly we find agents acting in unscrupulous ways all the time, and we often have to intervene on behalf of our clients to protect their interests.
“Of course not all estate agents are unscrupulous but that does not mean that even the good ones have the best interests of the buyer in mind when it comes to making a sale.
“The sad reality is that many estate agents only ever seen to look out for themselves and the poor house buyer does not even have a clue that their interests are being ignored.
“Buying a house is the biggest single financial commitment many of us will ever make in our lives and it amazes me that so many people are willing to take whatever an estate agent says on face value.”
She said she has saved clients many thousands of pounds by warning them against the tricks that some estate agents use to frighten buyers into fearing they might miss out on their dream home…whilst also boosting their own commission into the bargain.
Harvey added: “The important thing for buyers to remember is that just because an estate agent says something is true does not mean that it actually is.
“It is not uncommon for estate agents to tell buyers that they must use their own in-house mortgage brokers or solicitors as a condition of making a sale.
“If you are told that then it should set alarm bells ringing straight away as it suggests that the agent is putting their own commission ahead of the needs of the buyer.
“Clients come to me fearful that they will miss out on their dream home if they don’t use the people recommended by the estate agent and they want to know what to do.
“Firstly I tell them that it is against the law for estate agents to block buyers who will not take out a mortgage or other services they offer and then I set about getting them the best deal to meet their needs.
“I am constantly amazed at the numbers of clients who tell me that they ‘simply assumed’ the estate agent had their best interests at heart and it comes as a real eye opener when they learn the truth.
“It makes me very angry to think that buyers are being pressured into taking additional services that earn agency staff commission payments and can often leave the buyer many thousands of pounds out of pocket.
“This simply is not fair and I hate to see clients ripped off in this way – especially in the middle of a recession when money is so hard to come by.”
Harvey said that while it was true that many buyers report being satisfied by the service they receive from estate agents, an offical government survey exposed a high level of ignorance on the part of the house buying public.
She added: “In the house buying process the estate agent always represents the seller yet research published by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) last month revealed that more than half of buyers (53 per cent) felt that the estate agent represented both them and the seller equally.
“Even more worrying is that six per cent felt that the estate agent was working mostly for the buyer which is totally wrong.
“The OFT also asked Trading Standards about enforcement action against estate agents and on average, 24 per cent of estate agents were found not to be complying with the relevant regulations on the first visit from Trading Standards officers.
“The combination of lack of knowledge on behalf of the house buying public and the willingness of many estate agents to put their intetrests first means that people have to be extra wary right from the start.
“Obtaining independent legal advice before any house purchase is not only the right thing to do for buyers to tip the balance back in their favour but it could also save them many thousands of pounds into the bargain.”
Peter Edmonds from Central Financial services agrees that it’s commonplace for agents to mislead buyers. To illustrate this he cited the example of a client selling their property in Redditch to buy an apartment locally.
He said “The agent selling their Redditch property got the client to speak with their mortgage advisor who straight away went over their heads and did an agreement in principle with Halifax. The advisor never bothered finding out if this was suitable or acceptable for the client!
When they came to me for a second opinion I was able to show them why the deal being offered by the agents mortgage advisor wasn’t the best deal for them, and they ended up choosing an offer from Nationwide instead.”
All this suggests to us that if you’re being tempted back into the property market now things are starting to pick up, you do need to be careful.
After all, Consumer Direct, the consumer advice service, received 3,565 complaints about estate agents between January and October this year, a 10 per cent increase on the same period last year. More than one third referred to substandard services, while 22 per cent concerned misleading claims.
The Property Ombudsman, which adjudicates on disputes between customers and agents, has also seen a rise in complaints in recent weeks as well, so this is not an isolated problem only affecting other people in other areas, it could affect you too!
If you’d like some free independent advice then Harvey McKibbin is running a Free Advice Centre for Sutton Coldfield residents in January. Peter Edmonds will also be on hand to offer free financial advice – if you’d like to know more just call 0121 240 9115 to book a place today.
