Peter Clarke Estate Agent and Letting Agent
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I will never invest another penny in…
I will never invest another penny in buying a house from someone that is represented by this agency. The way that we’ve been treated stinks of underhand, immoral and dishonourable practices. Days away from exchanging after investing thousands of pounds and tens of hours of effort on a purchase, the transaction, without notice or introduction to the person concerned, was handed to a ‘partner’ who told us a third party has offered a “significant” amount more than us (when in fact it was a fraction of the agreed price). The facts are: 1. We’d agreed a purchase about 2.5 months before and were ready to exchange having just days before received a local search that we’d be waiting almost the whole time for; 2. I had shared the local search with the agent as confirmation that it had been received. Upon being aware a day or two after that there was a third party involved, I immediately emailed the individual the search had been shared with asking for confirmation it would not be shared with anyone else. Confirmation was deliberately withheld and I was told simply that the file had been handed to a ‘partner’; 3. The ‘partner’ initially introduced the third party as someone who’d previously viewed the house and now having sold their house was in a position to proceed with cash. Subsequently, I was told the third party was actually a builder when I queried whether they were aware of the condition of the house (which was a big project). Why wasn’t the third party described as a builder from the outset? If it’s a builder’s business to buy, destroy/rebuild/renovate homes of the value we are taking about (c£1m+ just for the plot) it makes no sense to me that they wouldn’t have financial arrangements in place that would facilitate the purchase just a few months before the making of this new offer. 4. As above, I was told the third party made an offer that was a “substantial” increase but it was in fact just 1.78% more than the amount we’d agreed to pay and we were ready to exchange! My understanding was that the vendors were actually inheriting the proceeds from a deceased father and in real terms, less IHT I think they’d have been about £5k better off per person. I spent more than that getting to the point of exchange! 5. In reality the agents knew I could never really compete by increasing my offer given the timeframes. The bank had already valued it at the agreed purchase price and any variations would have all needed to be agreed with the bank who would have taken days to respond and approve it. As for the vendor concerned, I can only hope that one day someone treats you the way you have treated us.