EA to work in clients best interest ?

[MrCrumbpacker]

Well, yeah, fair enough, they may have been doing a favour for a friend, or may just have cocked up, as their were two agents involved.

What I would really like to know, as much for future reference, is what is the accepted/ legal norm in these situations.

Is it acceptable to offer above the asking? It is something I would do if I liked the place, but also as we have a baby, as some have pointed out here, that could be held against us.

The other point was the aggressive ( and somewhat arrogant) reaction of the agent when I questioned it.

I received a phone call from the twenty something agent telling me (the 50 year old fart) that perhaps I hadn't rented for sometime (??), and didn't understand how things work.

It transpires that falling out with this particular agent is something of a badge of honor round here. Ho hum.

 

[The Y-man]

What I would really like to know, as much for future reference, is what is the accepted/ legal norm in these situations.

I believe the legalities are that agents can choose to do what they want in terms of comminucating your offer to the landlord (and therefore be open to abuse I imagnie - eg favoritism etc)

On the other hand, landlords can pretty much choose whoever they want (they are not allowed to discriminate, but they are allowed to choose)

Is it acceptable to offer above the asking? ....
It transpires that falling out with this particular agent is something of a badge of honor round here. Ho hum.

Definitely offering above the asking is a plan, and was common in Melb when rentals were tight.

With regards to references by the way, I mentioned before - I personally don't put a lot of faith in previous landlord/agent references unless we know the management agency - simply because I have heard of cases where agents/landlord give glowing reports to "get rid" of bad tenants.

I also check through other means claims of employment (through completely legal means). For example, if an applicant claims to work for company XYZ, I call XYZ on the number on the telephone directory - not the number given to me by the applicant - and confirm if the person works there.

(I have personally had cases where someone has claimed to work a particular company, and they did not - bad luck for them they picked a company my wife worked at!)

Finally - a bad agent ... let their business owner/principal know with a letter.

The Y-man

 

[MrCrumbpacker]

Yes, i have often wondered how valid references are.

The current property we ended up dealing directly with the landlord/owner, when they too fell out with the managing agent (rudeness apparently). Although the agent knew we had nothing to do with it, in retrospect perhaps they associated us with the problem in some way.

When letting property in the UK I have never had problems with payment, or tenants (luckily)however I have noted here that with several of the properties we have viewed, the agent has rejected previous applicants due to payment history problems, so it is obviously highly relevant.

Being self employed has been a problem with some agents wanting personal material I am not happy to give, though generally having always payed for the last six years or so seems good enough proof for most.

It interesting seeing things from both sides, and we have even been warned of bad (nosey/irritating) landlords by some agents.