“I initially contacted Foxtons with regard to a one bedroom ......”
1 Star Review
Jun 18,2014
By:
'Sophie'
Jun 18,2014
Branch: London, 9 The Grove
Services: Sales (Prospective customer)
Would you recommend?: No
Postcode: E7
Branch: London, 9 The Grove
Sales (Prospective customer)
Postcode: E7
9
people found
this helpful
I initially contacted Foxtons with regard to a one bedroom flat I was interested which was about 10 minutes' walk from Leyton station. I was shown this flat, for which the asking price was £230,000, but informed that there was already a lot of interest, and that offers had already come in over the asking price. On the same day I was shown another one bedroom flat in Forest Gate. It was further out than we were hoping for, and more expensive at £250,000, but the agent gave us the hard sale (up and coming area, original Victorian features, cross rail coming in four years' time etc.), and was a little more spacy than the flat in Leyton with a garden and kitchen diner as well as a separate reception room. After months of disappointment in our property search I was impressed with Foxtons' seeming efficiency we decided to plunge for the Forest Gate flat believing that at least this time we'd have a hope of success if we offered the full asking price. We offered the full £250,000, only to then be told that the flat had been revalued and was now £265,000. After much deliberation, and perhaps rather naively we offered £265,000, London's in a bubble after all, and by now we really had our heart set on the place. A few days after putting in our offer we were informed that we had been unsuccessful as a cash buyer had come in at the same offer. Two weeks later we were informed that the cash buyer had pulled out. In hindsight this really should have sent alarm bells ringing, but being rather too optimistic we decided it might be fate and re-offered our £265,000 offer. The offer was accepted and we swiftly got our solicitor on board and booked a homebuyer's report survey. Two weeks later we received the survey which valued the property at £230,000 ¢â‚¬â€œ £35,000 less than what we had offered. The survey had also picked up on multiple problems with the property (faulty electrical system, bathroom and kitchen fittings needing replacing, rotting window frames, movement in building indicated by a large crack on one of the outside walls). We also found out that there were only 60 years left on the lease (we had been originally told by the agent that there were 999 years left on the lease, which must have been a complete lie). After showing Foxtons the homebuyer's report and attempting the renegotiate the price down to £230,000 we were informed that the seller was unwilling. Foxtons did try to encourage us to go with another bank and get another survey done, but we had already spent £1,250 in surveying and legal fees and thought better of their ¢â‚¬Ëœadvice'. Out of interest I asked whether the sale for the flat in Leyton had gone through and was informed that it had. A few days later I noticed that the Leyton flat had been relisted on Rightmove, and am in no doubt that exactly the same thing must have happened with this flat. To summarise Foxtons outright lie and massively overvalue their properties at the expense of potential buyers who are impressed with their apparent professionalism and naively pay hundreds of pounds for surveys, conveyancing costs and mortgage set-up fees, only to find that the banks will not lend on such overpriced properties. This has been a costly lesson for us to learn, and after doing some research I find that this is a very common scenario for people who have tried to buy through Foxtons. I urge people not to use Foxtons unless you are a cash buyer so don't require a successful valuation and are willing to pay over the odds.
What agent could do to change your mind?
At the very lease please be honest.
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