Your property questions answered.
Agent took on neighbours
Our house has been on the market for seven months in an
area of Dublin where this time last year a seller could expect a
three-week sale.
About four months ago our agent took on another house in our small estate and last week took on yet another house across the road from us. All the houses are similar. Is this a major conflict of interest? Are there are rules preventing this? They now have three salesboards in a 300m radius. Surely this reduces the chances of selling our house. As it is we have had to drop our price by nearly 10 per cent. How do we tackle our agent about this?
There is nothing to stop an agent taking on several houses at one time. Have you asked your agent what impact he or she feels these other houses will have on your ability to sell yours and how your sales campaign is going to be managed now that there is competition on your doorstep? How is the agent differentiating the houses when talking to potential buyers? Are all three houses close in price? If yours is significantly more expensive than the others then you will have a problem, unless you have done some major home improvements such as adding an attic or conservatory. After seven months on the market you are probably very tired of the whole process - but it could be that your house is also on the tired side. Go over the main selling points with the agent, ie size and orientation of the garden; good built-in wardrobes, wooden flooring, whatever. Make sure these are being emphasised to buyers. Then take a fresh look at your house: selling in winter is different from summer. At this time of year the garden comes into its own. Have you an attractive seating area outside? It might also be worth painting the hall, livingroom and kitchen just to freshen them up. Go and view the other houses. The agent wants to sell all three and competition is not necessarily a bad thing - just make sure that your house comes out best when compared with your neighbours.
Vendors took the taps
After a long drawn-out "sale agreed" process we finally closed on our new house. There was a lot of toing and froing about the contents: at first they were going to leave everything but this got whittled down to just curtains. That was fine by us. However when we looked over the house last week we noticed that the sink and taps in both the bathroom and en suite have been changed and replaced by much cheaper, ordinary ones. They were particularly nice designer ones, highlighted in the sales brochure. Can they do that?
No - not without explicitly telling you because the bathroom fittings would normally be assumed to be part of the house. As high-end fittings are now so expensive this column has seen cases where a Philipe Starck bath, for example, was excluded from the sale - this being duly noted in the brochure so everyone was clear. The brochure is - as the small print on the back always states - not to be treated as binding fact. But as your case involves expensive bathroom fittings, it's one for your solicitor to chase.
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. Unfortunately, it is not possible to respond to all questions. The above is a representative sample of queries received. This column is a readers' service and is not intended to replace professional advice. No individual correspondence will be entered into.
