Must we give estate agents so much info?
Q Do you have to give an agent your address at an open viewing or when making an appointment to view? We put offers on a number of properties last year. Since then, our circumstances have deteriorated as a result of me being made redundant. Our loan application is now based on one salary instead of two. We are looking at lower priced houses but I fear that by giving agents so much personal information, they can identify us from their databases and that the higher offers we made last year will now come against us, as the agents will assume we can still bid to the same level as last year.
AYou don't have to give your name and number but agents will request it for a number of reasons, mostly to do with marketing. We talked to one agent who refused entry to a viewer who wouldn't give a name as there was €500,000 worth of paintings in the house and, if they were stolen, the agent reckoned the Garda would want to know who had been in the house! In more normal situations, names and numbers are asked for and viewers shouldn't be surprised to get a call from the agent wondering if they are interested and, if not, if there was a reason. This is a normal sales technique and a seller should demand that sort of service anyway.
Every agent we spoke to said that a new set of rules are in operation this year, simply no one expects buyers to have the same money they had last year. Also buyers are not willing to pay the same as the market has dropped. So, yes, if you are still looking in the same area but in a different price range, a good local agent will remember you and your previous offers, but so what? You’re in a different price range now so things have changed. In any case, you are only going to pay what you are going to pay – no matter what an agent says.
Will renovations up the service charge?
Q My mother is downsizing and has put an offer on an apartment. It has been accepted and the closing date is agreed. I have since found out that there are major renovation plans for the apartment block. It needs new windows and an exterior paint job. Surely this will impact on the annual service charges which my mother has carefully budgeted for? I don’t want to worry her but what should I do?
ADuring this period between "sale agreed" and the final exchange of contracts your mother's solicitor will have sent a "Requisitions on Title" over to the seller's solicitor. It is a sort of checklist relating to the sale and one thing it can ask is if the seller knows of any proposal by the management company to carry out work/incur expenditure which would substantially affect the service charge payable at present. Make her solicitor aware of what you know and ask them to put the query to the seller. Maybe the work has been budgeted for in the sinking fund and all apartment owners have agreed to an increase in future service charges to cover the outlay. You'll only know if you ask and, if it will impact on her service charges, then it would be reasonable to seek to renegotiate the price.
Your questions
Send your queries to Property questions, The Irish Times, The Irish Times Building, 24-28 Tara Street, Dublin 2 or email propertyquestions@irish-times.ie. This column is a readers’ service and is not intended to replace professional advice.
