YOU HAVE YOUR SAY
EVERY week, Money Mail receives hundreds of your letters and emails. Here are some of the best from our article about how six rogue estate agencies in Burnham-on-Sea, Somerset, struck a secret deal to charge home-sellers high commissions . . .
ESTATE agents are not regulated enough, in my view, and they are abusing that. The only way they will become more professional is if they have to abide by strict conduct rules. N. T., Windsor, Berks.
PERSONALLY, I would always go for an online agent these days, as they are much cheaper. Charging 1 pc for a bit of marketing and drawing up a listing is madness. G. A., Ringwood, Hants.
FIXING commission is bad, but it’s not the worst thing I’ve heard of estate agents doing. A few years back, one in Lincoln was found hiding properties from potential buyers so that a relative who was moving to the area had a free shot at buying it. G. W., Truro, Cornwall.
I NEVER trust estate agents. A lot of them rip off sellers and tell fabricated stories to buyers. And do they get punished? No. The end of the High Street estate agent can only be a good thing. A. L., Yorkshire.
I WOULD argue that 1.5 pc to sell your home is cheap. I wouldn’t want to try to sell my home myself. You can’t expect estate agents to work for nothing. P. S., London.
DON’T tar all estate agents with the same brush. Yes, there are some dodgy ones, but there are good ones, too, as in any trade. The best thing you can do is to make sure you do your homework and shop around for quotes. V. B., Southport, Merseyside.
PEOPLE who do things such as this are not given tough enough punishments. It feels as though there is an incredible amount of tolerance for these sorts of crimes and, despite a fine here and there, they pretty much get away with it. P. F., London.