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Purple bricks vs high street estate agents

hifinutt

hifinutt

hifinutt
Big fan of high street agents normally , helping through the difficult process . Just recently found some will NOT accept your mortgage in principle unless they have done it. High pressure tactics to make commission

Never dealt much with purple bricks but so far I am well impressed, booking appointments online anytime, being able to message vendor direct and make offers anytime even late at night

In contrast high street agent took days to arrange and not untill consented to having their mortgage

Not all are like this but one chain is !!
 
Buyers misled into using estate agents' mortgage brokers, Which? claims | This is Money

I don't think they can legally insist you take their mortgage, but they may try and indicate it is the case. In that case, they are inherently dishonest, so not worthy of your business anyway.

A bit like the old days when you 'had' to get your buildings insurance through your mortgage lender, or pay a fee for them to 'check it was adequate' (usually £25, which most insurers refunded). That scam was knocked on the head years ago.
 
Totally shite.

I have tried to arrange viewings of properties for sale via PB a few times.................................... worse than useless, no mater how cheap they are. Plaiting piss would have been easier.

Jamie said:
I don't think they can legally insist you take their mortgage
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Who are you kidding? Unless part of a contract, they absolutely cannot. Anyone signing such a contract needs their bumps felt.
 
Jamie said:
Buyers misled into using estate agents' mortgage brokers, Which? claims | This is Money

I don't think they can legally insist you take their mortgage, but they may try and indicate it is the case. In that case, they are inherently dishonest, so not worthy of your business anyway.

A bit like the old days when you 'had' to get your buildings insurance through your mortgage lender, or pay a fee for them to 'check it was adequate' (usually £25, which most insurers refunded). That scam was knocked on the head years ago.
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yes it's against the code of conduct but when 10 people or more are desperate to see a house then they control it by not allowing viewings unless you have their mortgage. I read the reviews of this estate agent which is part of a chain. Loads of people complaining that they refused to consider their mortgage in principle. Makes a mockery of the system

No wonder the mortgage companies are on their knees if they have to issue a mortgage in principle several times over. It took about 3 weeks and many many hours to get a mortgage in principle and these guys refuse to allow it

I will be sending these comments to the housing minister as they need to get these rogue estate agents in line
 
I don't understand what an estate agent has to do with whether or not you have a mortgage or who it's with. It's none of their business - that should be a matter for the conveyancing solicitors. What you describe is not legal and if you have evidence you should definitely do something about it.
 
Estate agents also try to get you to use the solicitor of their choice. If you agree you'll almost certainly find yourself using a conveyancing "factory" many miles from where you live. These factories pay a commission to the agents, and rely on high volume (which usually means poor service) and inexperienced staff to make a reasonable profit for the partners.
Find yourself a local firm recommended by friends or family, somewhere you can go in to and sit down with the person doing the work.
I say this as a former factory owner.
 
kensalriser said:
I don't understand what an estate agent has to do with whether or not you have a mortgage or who it's with. It's none of their business - that should be a matter for the conveyancing solicitors. What you describe is not legal and if you have evidence you should definitely do something about it.
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most estate agents I know have a mortgage broker in the branch and they get a commission if they refer you to their mortgage broker. I think it's a way of making extra money out of you. The estate agent told me in no uncertain terms that vendors like it all in house and they would not allow an offer unless you used their own broker .
 
My wife does mainly conveyancing and groans when there is a ‘bucket shop’ conveyancing firm on the other side or part of the chain. Generally they are pants and often responsible for chains collapsing due to their structure, where you can’t actually talk to anyone who has the first inkling of property law. Many of them quote low fees but then charge for everything as an extra. The final bill is much higher. Even the estate agents who are forced to recommend them would prefer not to. There is also the issue of how independent they are when they take back handers. With regard to PB my daughter sold through Zoopla, never again. All over you like a rash initially but once you have paid the enthusiasm seems to wain somewhat.
 
Purple Bricks sold a place up the road from us
Looked them up out of interest.
Good photos and description - PB or vendor ?

PB or similar has to be the coming thing.
Wrinkles to be sorted
Estate agents are a byword for the worst industry around

Could a tech savvy vendor set up their own details and make it work ?
The search site/s might be all you need, EG Rightmove
 
We are potentially looking to move, maybe this year, but there's a lot of uncertainty out there and some buyers are getting hard-ons and causing price hikes. Maybe that will calm down.

Interesting reading. I'll keep tabs on this thread as I'm massively out of the loop when it comes to house buying.
 
AnilS said:
We are potentially looking to move, maybe this year, but there's a lot of uncertainty out there and some buyers are getting hard-ons and causing price hikes. Maybe that will calm down.

Interesting reading. I'll keep tabs on this thread as I'm massively out of the loop when it comes to house buying.
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I think the market will “calm down”, especially as potential buyers lose the “ carrot” of the stamp duty saving.

Doing some reading around, the general opinion seems to be that the market will fall this year.

We have sold our house and are presently trying to decide if we should buy now, or go in to rented for 6 months, in the expectation that prices fall.
 
People seem to be ignoring the "Agent" bit of the name - Estate Agents are the agent of the seller and as such are obliged to do everything they see appropriate to smooth and facilitate the sale of the seller's property.

I have never not been asked about my mortgage arrangements by an Estate Agent that is selling a house that I am interested in buying, they have also always offered "help" and over the years I have known MANY people who could not have managed a house move without the help of an Agent in sorting finances.
 
Take5 said:
We have sold our house and are presently trying to decide if we should buy now, or go in to rented for 6 months, in the expectation that prices fall.
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They will have to fall a lot to offset the costs of living in rented - two removals, 6 months rent, and loss of the stamp duty holiday, unless you have little to move and/or rent a hovel.
 
Vinny said:
They will have to fall a lot to offset the costs of living in rented - two removals, 6 months rent, and loss of the stamp duty holiday, unless you have little to move and/or rent a hovel.
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I think the stamp duty thing has gone now really, for us. ( and for others who are not already down the legal road at least a little bit ! )
Even if we found something this week, the chances of completing by end of March are slim.

But yes, you are right re removal and rental costs. That is part of our “ sums”
 
AnilS said:
We are potentially looking to move, maybe this year, but there's a lot of uncertainty out there and some buyers are getting hard-ons and causing price hikes. Maybe that will calm down.

Interesting reading. I'll keep tabs on this thread as I'm massively out of the loop when it comes to house buying.
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give us a shout if you need any help anil . I must say its extraordinary to be able to message the vendor directly [ via purple bricks] however many sales get VERY nasty with compalints about delays and gazumping etc. i can see a lot of pitfalls as well as advantages in this system

overall i rather like a really good high street agent who know the area well and you can pop in and have a chat and they can kick some butt with dozy solicitors when needed !!!

i will be writing to the director of the company about this mortgage business
 
mikemusic said:
Estate agents are a byword for the worst industry around
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along with hifi dealers claiming special properties for expensive cables

Next door sold recently through a local agent. They started with PB, but said they were pants. I suspect like all these things, the people locally are important to making things work correctly......
 
As with all things, there are good and bad Estate Agents. I've experienced both in over forty years of buying and selling houses. The good ones are excellent, liasing with your solicitor/conveyancer throughout the process and making one of life's more stressful processes much easier. The bad ones are no better than spivs and cowboys.

We used an online estate agent, Yopa, when we sold our last house. Money up front, excellent price, good website, promised the earth plus excellent service after the sale.
Luckily, the first person to see it bought it, because the promise of after sales help went up in a puff of smoke, and our solicitor said they were the most incompetent bunch of chancers she's ever had to deal with. YMMV.
 
Take5 said:
I think the market will “calm down”, especially as potential buyers lose the “ carrot” of the stamp duty saving.

Doing some reading around, the general opinion seems to be that the market will fall this year.

We have sold our house and are presently trying to decide if we should buy now, or go in to rented for 6 months, in the expectation that prices fall.
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i have done some reading and they may not fall , the demand for houses is massive !! flats here seem not to be selling so well . People have loads of money as they have not be able to go to the seychells :D and they are spending it on home improvements and houses [ according to tradesmen i have met ]
 
narabdela said:
As with all things, there are good and bad Estate Agents. I've experienced both in over forty years of buying and selling houses. The good ones are excellent, liasing with your solicitor/conveyancer throughout the process and making one of life's more stressful processes much easier. The bad ones are no better than spivs and cowboys.

We used an online estate agent, Yopa, when we sold our last house. Money up front, excellent price, good website, promised the earth plus excellent service after the sale.
Luckily, the first person to see it bought it, because the promise of after sales help went up in a puff of smoke, and our solicitor said they were the most incompetent bunch of chancers she's ever had to deal with. YMMV.
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yes i went to a viewing with a company like that with a company based in London and local agents, she was useless too . relied on text to discuss offers which is pathetic and never got back to me
 
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