Mustn’t grumble. Mustn’t grumble? Yes, indeed, we must. For too long we as a nation have endured poor service in shops, substandard fare in restaurants and poor communications from estate agents. And it looks like the national worm is turning: in 2010 the Property Ombudsman received 1338 complaints about estate agents.
1338 might not sound much, but it’s the most complaints he’s received in a single year since the scheme started over 20 years ago, so it’s a definite sign people have learned that making a complaint is no longer ‘something we just don’t do’. And when it comes to making complaints about estate agencies, they were almost equally divided about sales agents (646 complaints) and rental agents (672 complaints). And those complaints were about … ?
Counting down to the top of the complaint charts, in at number five was duty of care, down to number four was fees and commissions, steady at number three was marketing and advertising, still at number two was the way estate agents handled complaints and once more at Number One … poor communications.
Poor communications could be anything from deliberate misdescriptions, like referring to a bodge-job loft conversion with no regard for building regulations being described as a ‘habitable room’. Or just a little slip of the pen describing single-glazed windows as being double glazed. Or not verifying what the seller has said, as in the (non)availability of parking outside the property. And at long, long last, people are starting to complain about those poor communications en masse.
But now it’s time to give Christopher Hamer, the Property Ombudsman, and everyone else working with him a bit of respite and some time to catch their breath, because complaints are never taken lightly in his department and dealing with them can be quite a lengthy process. And it’s also time to clean up the popular image high street agencies have inflicted upon themselves for such a long time. But how to do that?
Now is the time for traditional estate agencies to take a leaf out of an online agent’s book. Let’s say that online agent is eMoo Although it’s internet-based, eMoov staff have been thoroughly trained in all aspects of traditional estate agency, with particular attention paid to the Property Misdescriptions Act 1991. They’re approachable (any time between 8am and 8pm, seven days a week), knowledgeable and will answer whatever questions you need answered, whether they’re as general as a rundown on the property market these days, or as specific as how to find the best mortgage for your new home.
They’ll also liase with people who want to view your property … receive offers from them … negotiate with them for you … correspond with all parties when the deal is done … and all for a fraction of that you’d be charged by a traditional high street estate agency – and with a lot less room for any communication errors. No cause for complaint there, then.
Going to High Street estate agents means paying high estate agents fees. Using eMoov, the UK’s leading online estate agents instead will get your property sold by showing it to 170 million web users each month. No extortionate commissions, no percentage fees, no sole agency tie ins. Just a range of fixed, low cost estate agents fees which might even make you start to like estate agents again. Well, some of them.
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