Agent slams solicitors demanding ‘freebie’ valuations for divorce cases
Skelmersdale-based Neil Robinson tells Neg he’s fed up with solicitors abusing his agency's ‘free valuations’ so they can stack up their figures in probate and divorce cases.
An estate agent has hit out at solicitors abusing his firm’s free valuations policy just so they can stack up their figures in probabte and divorce cases.
Neil Robinson, managing director of Neil Robinson Estate Agents in the Lancashire town of Skelmersdale, took to LinkedIn to berate the practice.
GENUINE
“A quick message to probate or divorce solicitors. Estate agents’ free valuations are there for genuine clients who want to sell their houses. They are not there to be misused and are certainly not there just so you can milk us for figures.”
He blasted: “It’s not just my time you’re wasting. Each valuation, done properly, takes about 90 mins when you take into account the phone calls, research, travel there and back, time at the property, travel back, and putting the report/letter together. There is obviously associated time and costs with this as well.
“More often than not, you want valuations from three companies, so it stands to reason that you’re also wasting two other estate agents’ time as well as mine. Each property you need valuations for steals half a day from this selection of agents you need them from.
“Yet I bet your client is paying you to organise this. In short, stop taking the piss out of us.
“These estate agents you’re using are often small businesses who have overheads and staff to pay, and every free valuation they do for you, is time they cannot spend on earning the valuable money they need to pay those bills.”
HONEST
Robinson told The Neg: “It is not there just so solicitors can get an idea, or determine value, just so one party can settle another. If solicitors want that then they should be honest, and be prepared to pay for it.”
He says that in the 30 years he’s been in the business it’s very rare for these types of properties to go on to sell.
We’re professionals, and we don’t work for free.”
He adds: “It used to be a minor annoyance every so often, but the frequency of it has significantly increased of late, and is now meaning we’re committing more time than we would like, to cases that simply aren’t going to go anywhere.
“The annoying thing is that, despite the questions we’re asking, we’re being actively lied to in many cases. We’re professionals, and we don’t work for free.”
The solution, says Robinson, is for solicitors to pay for both time and cost in the same way that they themselves would expect to be compensated.
He adds: “Estate agents do have a part to play in this by asking the right questions when booking the valuation in.”
We do explain that there is a fee for probate or divorce valuations and that should we go on to be instructed to sell. That the fee will be deducted from our invoice on completion.
Don’t provide the figure until you’ve been paid for your time!
Most experienced agents will find out the reason for the valuation. You can confirm the fee in writing prior to your visit.
If there is a sale to follow, the valuation fee could always be discounted from the sales fee in completion, thus preserving the goodwill element.