Real Estate Agents suck

[gemfyre]

Today's example.

When I enquire about a property online I ask two questions - when is the house open for viewing? And do they allow cats? I give them my e-mail address and my mobile number.

Yesterday I got an e-mail reply telling about a house that was open this evening. Matt was able to go to the viewing. I e-mailed back asking again, do they allow cats. It's kind of important.

Today during the day I rang the agent to ask again - do they allow cats? I got an answering machine and left a message, which I never got a reply to.

I guess Matt went to the viewing after work. Instead of viewing some other houses - because 99% of the houses are (a) open during work hours (I thought they preferred to rent to employed people - when are we meant to view??) and/or (b) they're all open at the same time.

I get home and I read my e-mail, she's replied "Sorry, no cats".

*slams head on desk* If you'd just answered that question the first time around or at least returned your damn phone calls you wouldn't have wasted our time!!

Comments

[pinkjubie.livejournal.com]

Ugh, some people are idiots. It bothers me in general when you email someone with multiple (important) questions, and they only get back to you with one answer. It's as if you have to dumb it down and only ask simple, one-sentence single questions (preferably yes/no) in order to get a valid responce.

[firvulag.livejournal.com]

Not to mention that the agent who actually showed the house thought that cats would be ok and to apply. Oh, and of course have them hold onto your 1 week option fee that they then return in cheque form rather than the cash that you give them, meaning you don't have access to a weeks rent worth of your own money for around a week, and you still don't get the house cos they knew beforehand that they didn't allow cats

[tigernic.livejournal.com]

That is so incredibly annoying. When we were looking at houses, I always made a big point of asking about being allowed to have cats, and I was always given an answer about it whenever I asked, so I knew if the place was worth looking at. I also can't believe that you guys have to pay a fee for applying to be considered for getting the house. They so shouldn't be allowed to do that. I'm really glad I live here in Adelaide cause I've never had to pay a fee for doing that. Good luck with getting a place soon =)

[jet-ski.livejournal.com]

Some agents refund money directly via EFTPOS. I also found that in the higher rent brackets they treat you less like the dirt they found on the bottom of their shoes. Ie the house we applied for that was $430 a week, they didn't require an option fee at all.

Also, in my experience, there's no point in emailing them. Call them, call them and call them again.

[gemfyre.livejournal.com]

It's just awkward to call when you work 8:30-5:30 and barely get any opportunities to call/answer your phone during that time, or you're free on the weekends, when they're closed.

It's easy peasy if you don't have to work regular work hours. Lucky Matt's job is more flexible than mine, so he's able to get to most viewings after 4pm and I just have to trust his judgment.

[firvulag.livejournal.com]

Well it's an option fee, and you get it back if you don't get the house. The trick is that if you get accepted before you withdraw your application cos you got somewhere else, and have to turn it down, you lose the option fee.

Supposedly it's so that only legitimate applications are made, but effectively what it does is limit the number of places you can apply for at any one time. When Jakie and I were looking for a place last july and eventually got this place, we only applied for 1-2 places a weekend as we couldn't afford to apply for more.

I have never actually lost an option fee though either, so it isn't too much of an issue, asides from the inconvenience it causes