PLEASE READ RESPONSE!
Dear Junaid
It is obvious you are unhappy at the events that took place during your purchase of home. That's not what we set out to achieve however I don't believe your review either reflects the other reviews on the site or our reputation as agents in the area.
Having identified yourself by name our intention if you are amenable will be to discuss the issues you have raised directly. However as you have posted on a public forum we feel it is important to respond to your review as we have the documented facts available via our sales reporting system.
Firstly I think it is important to set the background to the transaction. The house as you were aware had previously been on the market with another agent for three months prior at a higher price before we commenced marketing at the end of Feb 2016. The vendors reluctantly accepted the valuation of the house but it was clear it did not meet their initial expectations.
You first viewed the house on 1st March and on 9th March made your first offer which was rejected and this was confirmed to you in writing on the same day. You increased your offer on 19th March and this was also rejected as documented in a letter sent to you on 22nd March. Ashley maintained dialogue with you over the next three weeks and maintained your interest in the property. The vendors finally accepted your offer on 8th April and we sent letters confirming this on the same day.
As the vendor requested you promptly arranged a survey as the vendors had requested at the point the sale was agreed a speedy transaction. We were unable to send out sales letters until the 13th April as we were waiting on the vendor's choice of solicitor. The results of your survey highlighted some issues relating to the house and you requested a significant price reduction on 3rd May. This request was refused by the vendors and Ashley (exercising considerable skill in my opinion) persuaded you to continue with the purchase.
At this stage the vendors had still not formally instructed their solicitors and were expressing reservations that would be inappropriate for me to mention here about continuing with the sale of the house to you. We held a meeting with them to resolve the matter and they finally instructed their solicitors on 9th May. Our records indicate the contract was received by your solicitors on 16th May. In effect we had already incurred a five week delay in commencing the legal process.
From this point until you exchanged contracts on 15th July eight weeks passed which is not an unusual time for a conveyance to proceed to exchange of contracts. Our notes suggest there were frustrations raised by you at the speed of reply by the vendor's solicitors and further frustration at the vendor's position towards the transaction. There is also evidence of us communicating with you when we had been made aware of the reasons the vendors were somewhat ambivalent to their own sale. As you have accused us of being dishonest, unprofessional and misogynist I feel it is relevant to include the contents of an email you sent us on 17th June.
Many thanks for getting back to us.
Thank you for explaining the situation and explaining the position of the vendors. I would, however, like to raise the following points:
1. When we made the offer on the property, which was accepted at the end of March, we were told by yourselves that as a condition of the sale we would be working towards a completion date of between 6-8 weeks, yet now we are being asked for a completion date of almost 17 weeks.
2. We were informed when making the offer that there is no chain with the property, and now we are being told that the proposed completion date is to be moved on account of Mrs Rodriguez's requirement to move into a property on the 25th July.
3. We have strived very hard to reach the original deadline by organising a survey, instructing our solicitors, lining up our mortgage and organising additional drain surveys all within three weeks of the offer being accepted. However, on the vendor's part it took them four weeks just to complete the forms in order to instruct their solicitor, and since the end of March it appears that no progress has been made on the vendor's part at all.
4. Our buyers have also worked extremely hard to meet the original timetable, and have been in a position to complete since the end of May.
5. Despite your reassurance that the vendor's solicitor is now responding, we are still awaiting the answers from them regarding the fixtures and fittings which we enquired about 3 weeks ago.
With the above facts I hope you appreciate that we are not particularly happy with the current situation nor how things have been handled by the vendor. I appreciate that the vendors have personal difficulties and it is a difficult time for them, however, it is not fair on any of the other parties to have dates moving indiscriminately whilst at the same time suffering from a complete lack of responsiveness from their side.
I hope you also appreciate that we are currently relying purely on the goodwill of our purchaser to complete and we need to be conscious that our mortgage offer is also time-limited.
Given the above, there is absolutely no assurance from your side that the vendor will be able to meet their own schedule. However, as a gesture of goodwill and in sympathy of their situation, we would be willing to accept a completion date of 25th July at the very latest on the condition that we exchange contracts by the first week of July.
In addition to the above, I would like to raise some additional points:
1. We have been informed that we would not be able to visit the property until contracts have been exchanged. This is not acceptable. I would like to visit the property before exchange of contracts, and, as and when is necessary. I am available Tuesday and Wednesday next week for a viewing.
2. We have been informed of the vendor's wish to take the washing machine and the dishwasher with them. However, the property was advertised with a fully fitted kitchen and as such the offer was made including these fittings.
We remain committed to progressing with the purchase of this property, however, as you may appreciate the way this has been handled by the vendor so far has been disappointing and has all but exhausted our goodwill.
Please convey our response to the vendor as well as the other points raised. Please also let me know which of the suggested days next week would be convenient to view the property.
Many thanks
Junaid

In conclusion this was a challenging transaction to get through. Our vendors had issues relating to their perception of value of their property which can be seen by the time it took them to finally accept your offer. The seventeen viewings we conducted in a month eventually demonstrated our opinion of value was correct as you were the only party that expressed an interest at the level you purchased. They also had an ongoing personal situation we had not been made aware of until midway through the process and at our clients request we made you aware. We managed to maintain your interest from early March through to exchange of contracts in mid-July some four and a half months later! Throughout this time we represented as accurately as possible our clients demands, provided them with it seemed almost constant reassurance they were doing the right thing to continue with the sale to you (although we did at one point inform them if they wished to withdraw from the sale we would not re-market the house and they could move to another agent), dealt with the changes they imposed upon the chain and also managed your request for a substantial price reduction. Whilst doing this we have documented evidence of chasing all relevant parties and providing updates despite your allegation of a complete breakdown in communication (I'd suggest the content of your email above also contradicts this).
Given the above I'd suggest it is almost a miracle you are in your new home! If our skill as agents getting this challenging sale through is interpreted by you as us being unprofessional, dishonest, misogynistic and a reason for others to avoid us is correct then I'm afraid I'm left scratching my head about what role an estate agent can provide. I think because of us this transaction happened not despite us.
In respect to the misogynistic comment allegedly made by Karl I have spoken to him and unsurprisingly he cannot recollect making this comment but apologises if he said anything offensive. He did point out to me that the house does not have a basement to do any ironing in!
We trust you enjoyed the chocolate cake and champagne provided along with the keys on completion and are now enjoying life as a new family in the house.
At that stage we recollect you seemed extremely happy to be finally collecting the keys and despite the frustrations of a difficult transaction you had not expressed any criticism of our actions.

Mark Leese
Director.