Agent’s sadness over ‘angry and confrontational’ clients makes national headlines

A leading Cheshire estate agent who complained about rude and confrontational clients via his Twitter account has seen his unwitting campaign reported in several national newspapers.

Maurice Kilbride, who runs his eponymous agency in and around the town of Cheadle near Manchester, made the comments several days ago, asking “why are some people so angry and confrontational?”.

“The abuse I had of somebody this morning when I told them a property had gone and unfortunately was no longer available for viewing was quite unpleasant and totally unnecessary. It makes me very sad,” he added.

The comment, which is not an unusual topic for discussion on social media mong agents, initially prompted just advice and good wishes from dozens of commentators from both inside and outside the industry.

This included Charlie Lamdin of Best Agent, former agent @hillofwad, and Kristjan Byfield of The Depository.

Gazumping

Estate agent Kilbride answered them all, some of whom pointed out that buyers and sellers are having a torrid time at the moment as gazumping and slow conveyancers complicate matters.

He replied to one, @DamonCarroll_75, saying: “I understand the pressure and it is incredibly tough to buy a house at the moment, but being abusive isn’t helpful or acceptable as you say and certainly doesn’t make me want to go out of my way to help him find a property!”.

But then his comments have taken up a life of their own, initially appearing as a story in regional paper the Manchester Evening News and, yesterday, the Daily Star. Oh, and now The Negotiator.