Recently Estate Agents have been under the spotlight for the wrong reason; money laundering. At the weekend The Financial Times* reported on how HMRC, last week, launched their biggest crackdown yet on the sector with 50 agencies raided, all suspected not to have registered under anti-money laundering rules. Estate Agent Today** reported that both Countrywide, one of the UK’s largest estate agencies, and now defunct online agency, Teplio, were fined £250,000 each for breaches for anti-money laundering procedures. So? I hear you ask, what difference does this make to me, I’m an upstanding pillar of the community who would never think of money laundering, I just want to sell my home legitimately! And, quite right too. An agent who flaunts anti-money laundering legislation should be avoided. In the past I have written about choosing the right agent for you but, this week, I thought it would be good to stick to facts. There are certain credentials an agent must have in order to operate, including anti-money laundering. These include:
- They must be member of a redress scheme. So, if you are unhappy with their service, you have an organisation to officially complain to. Here at Sure we are part of The Property Ombudsman.
- They must act within anti-money laundering regulations. This means that the agent must register their business accordingly. They must then request two forms of identification from you, the seller (one photographic and the other proof of address), to ensure you actually own the property you are selling and keep this on your property file.
- They need to comply with the Estate Agents Act 1979. Most of the evidence relating to this act will be evident in the contract they ask you to sign before marketing your property, which moves me onto the next point.
- They must present you with a contract to be signed and they must NOT market your property online or in person, until the contract is signed. The contract is there to protect you, the seller, and the agent and both parties will have accountabilities which they must uphold, including…
- They must disclose any offers to you, the seller, in writing and within a prompt time frame. Because they may feel the offer being made is way below the market value but you, the seller, still have the right to be aware and make that decision for yourself.
- They must ensure there is a current Energy Performance Certificate in place on your property before marketing. It is not the responsibility of the agent to arrange this for you, although most will facilitate organising an EPC for you. But failure to have an EPC in place prior to marketing the property is breaking the law.
- They must act within consumer law.
- They must act within data protection law, including having a GDPR policy.
There is other legislation that we as agents must be aware of including cancellation of contracts, provision of service regulations, e-commerce regulations, Town & Country Planning Act (in relation to For Sale boards), the equality act but the above are the key facts you need to remember when choosing an agent. Using the above should allow you to choose a responsible, ethical agent to work with to market your property. Of course, sadly (and I would say, it’s very few), agents do not always work in their clients’ best interests. It could be that you run all the relevant checks and get into the process of selling your home but become unstuck when you feel that your agent is not working in your best interest. Here are a few things to be aware of, which might make you think about changing your agent:
- Talking you out of a deal. You feel the offer made by the potential buyer is a realistic one, but your agent is advising you to leave it, they can get you more. If the property has been on the market less than two weeks then, yes, that might possibly be the case. But if it’s been on a while and you’ve had less interest than you’d hoped, query why your agent is advising you in this way. Could it be that they want to earn a bigger fee out of the sale?
- Selling you extra advertising. Your property has been on the market for a little while, twelve weeks or more, with no buyers biting. Your agent suggests that they could, for a fee, come and take some fresh photos and upgrade your property to premium listings on certain property search engines, such as Rightmove. Don’t be swayed. If the property isn’t selling, there is likely to be a reason why, which has yet to be fully analysed. While it’s not illegal to charge marketing costs, most agents include marketing within their fee, so why pay more? If you are concerned that your property is taking longer to sell than it should, then moving agent and having some fresh photos taken by the new agent would have the same effect, and the new agent might have some brainstorming ideas on how to get your property sold.
- Putting pressure on you to sell quickly. Okay, in contradiction to my first point, sometimes agents are so keen to get your property sold and get the sale to go through – let’s face it, agents don’t get paid until the sale has gone through – you may feel under pressure to take an offer. Perhaps you’ve just gone on the market and had a lot of interest, perhaps even two or three offers. Your agent suggests you go to sealed bids, get the best deal you can but, hang on a minute! could you just have a moment to think? The offers might be near the asking price and you might be keen to sell but if you are feeling under pressure from your agent, take a step back. Ask for twenty-four hours to consider the offers you’ve already received and find out a little bit about the people offering them. It’s okay to find the right buyer for you and not just take the highest bid.
If you are feeling concerned about your current agent or are thinking of selling your home but concerned about the credentials of estate agents, please do speak to us so that we can reassure you. We are up-to-date with all our necessary estate agent credentials and experienced on property markets in Gloucester, Stroud, Forest of Dean and surrounding areas. Contact us on 01452 310999, email us at gloucester@surepropertygroup.com or call into our offices in Worcester Street, Gloucester, to discuss your needs further.
We look forward to hearing from you.
Best wishes,
Rob Buckley
Director
Sure Sales & Lettings
* https://www.ft.com/content/15ef0b06-40cd-11e9-b896-fe36ec32aece