I have just read that US estate agency Keller Williams is opening up in Britain. Apparently one of their staff was so appalled at the lackadaisical treatment he encountered while trying to buy a flat in London (lost keys, unanswered questions, agent not getting back to him for days) that he decided the UK was ready for a taste of American real estate agency treatment, where phone calls are answered instantly, even out of office hours, and online enquiries dealt with within five minutes. They offer the full package, sourcing solicitors and lenders and chasing paperwork, and claim to reduce the average 10 weeks it takes to complete, to just one.
Oh, how I empathise with this guy's experiences of UK estate agents! My latest attempt to buy a flat went like this.
Day 1: email agent.
Day 2: no reply.
Day 3: still no reply, so ring agent. Agent claims not to know anything about the property and will get someone to ring me on Monday.
Day 4 - Monday: nobody rings.
Day 5: Tuesday passes and still nobody rings.
Day 6: I ring and get - oh joy! - a human being. He asks if I can come along at 6 pm when he is showing the flat to some other clients. I say no, as it takes me two hours to get there and I don't want to be travelling the two hours back in the rush hour. He asks if I can come at 6 pm the following night instead. Didn't he listen to my objections first time around? He asks if I can come on Saturday. I say no as I have visitors. I request a daytime viewing during the week. He says he will ask the vendor and ring me the next day. I tell him either Friday or Monday are good for me.
Day 11. Monday. Agent never got back to me. I can only assume he received an offer, or several, over the weekend and it's now proceeding to the dreaded 'best bids' stage.
I despair. It's obvious to me that, as there are few properties and many would-be buyers, agents have got lazy and no longer feel the need to make an effort.
Roll on Keller Williams. Expect a call from me!
