Over the years estate agents have received a lot of criticism for unscrupulous practices.

Whenever I read or hear a story about a ‘dodgy’ estate agent my heart genuinely sinks.

The damage these rogue agents do to the industry’s reputation is appalling and makes it much harder for the vast majority of honest, hard working and professional agents to win the public’s trust.

One sharp practice is ghost gazumping. It’s when a seller agrees a fee with a buyer then a few weeks later raises the price saying they’ve received an offer from another very interested party.

When this higher offer comes in just before completion the prospective buyer is faced with coming up with thousands of pounds more or suffering the agony of losing their ideal home.

That kind of practice is bad enough but often the last minute mystery bidder doesn’t even exist. Some unscrupulous agents are involved in this web of deceit and it sickens me.

If you ever come across this practice please report it to The Property Ombudsman.

At Mundys I can hand on heart promise you we never, ever get involved in these kinds of immoral and dishonest practices.

I remember reading about an example of ghost gazumping in 2008.

A seller, who was a property developer, had agreed a price on a refurbished home with a young family. It was their dream place and they couldn’t wait to move in.

Then the seller took advice from his agent suggesting he could up the price as the property market had risen since their offer.

The seller agreed and said someone had come in with an offer of £10,000 more (no one had) and that he needed them to beat this offer. No doubt he and the agent were banking on the family’s desire for this home.

To cut a long story short the family, as heartbroken as they were, couldn’t raise the extra money and out of principle pulled out of the deal.

Now for the bit that makes me believe in property karma. Just two weeks after the buyers pulled out the credit crash hit wreaking havoc in the housing market. Almost overnight the market dried up like the Sahara.

The greedy seller in question was left with a property he couldn’t sell. Prices in his area tumbled as buyers simply wouldn’t or couldn’t make offers.

With a desperate bank banging down his door calling in the loan he had taken out on the property he was left with no option but to sell for a very low price simply to cut his losses.
In the end he lost more than £150,000 simply by trying to wring out an extra £10,000 from a young family. Good I hear you cry and I agree.

The unscrupulous agent also missed out on the commission and tarnished their reputation (and unfortunately the industry’s).

At Mundys we always act with integrity and advise honestly so you won’t have to fear ghosts or prices that go and jump in the night.

Want to get a SOLD or LET sign outside your property quicker?

Call June and our team on 01522 510044 or email june.stocks@mundys.net for honest, expert and friendly advice.

Book a FREE valuation Find out more about June

At Mundys we know when you’ve made up your mind to sell your property it’s a time to make the right decisions and choices.

You are selling your most valuable asset. It’s important that the people helping you to achieve your goals are the best for the job.

You’ve chosen a great estate agent (hopefully Mundy's).

Now it’s time to instruct a solicitor. Sometimes referred to as a conveyancer or conveyancing solicitor.

Over the 118 years we’ve dealt with hundreds of them. Some very good. Some very bad.

They really can be the difference between a property deal going through or collapsing.

A good solicitor certainly helps everyone involved in the buying or selling the property remain calm and well informed.

The three main things to look out for when picking a solicitor to handle your sale are:

Communication: Will they return your calls? Do they needlessly insist on replying in writing every time?

Clarity: Does their quote include disbursements? These add on fees can really mount up. Be clear on what you are going to pay.

Customer Care: Do they have a good track record? Do they have testimonials they share willingly? Ask your friends and family for referrals.

We work regularly with a company of solicitors who we highly recommend. The only thing we get out of it is the peace of mind of knowing our clients legal matters are in safe hands.

Get in touch and I’ll be delighted to share their details with you.

Want to get a SOLD or LET sign outside your property quicker?

Call Vicki and our team on 01522 510044 or email vicki.wilkinson@mundys.net for honest, expert and friendly advice.

Book a FREE valuation Find out more about Vicki

We had an interesting conversation in our office recently which highlighted just why we believe in getting property in good order before putting it on the market.

Let’s say you have a nice house in a good location, with decent sized rooms and a large garden. There are a few odd jobs which need doing such as replacing a few missing tiles in the shower room and repairing a broken lock on a back gate.

A few other areas also need attention – a few missing handles from a couple of kitchen cabinets, a back door which needed a good pull to get open and some pretty tatty carpet in a little box room.

If you are in a similar scenario our advice would be to get all these little odd jobs sorted before putting your house on the market. It would cost you around £300 to rectify all the niggly little issues we’ve mentioned above.

But many vendors want to leave things as they are because they believe ‘people like changing things when they move in anyway’.

While this is sometimes the case we have people come to us looking for properties to buy which can be moved into straight away without having to do anything.

This is often the situation with older buyers, families with very young children and people with tight budgets.

Also bear in mind the message it sends out if you don’t fix those little things. Potential buyers like to think a property has been well cared for over the years.

Leaving little things undone makes people wonder what else the owner has failed to do around the home. It raised negative thoughts and when buying something as expensive as a home even the smallest doubt can put people off.

By doing the little jobs and taking care of the small details you can be making your house more attractive to a larger part of the market and adding thousands to the value of your property for a relatively small outlay.

Want to get a SOLD or LET sign outside your property quicker?

Call Vicki and our team on 01522 510044 or email vicki.wilkinson@mundys.net for honest, expert and friendly advice.

Book a FREE valuation Find out more about Vicki