Sir, - I have been actively seeking a family home in Dublin for the past 18 months. This has enabled me to observe at close proximity the activities of the property professionals. My reaction has moved through the whole gamut of emotions from disbelief to frustration to outright laughter.
This experience has also led me to hold most estate agents and auctioneers in contempt, which is the level of respect than they themselves show the public. Realistic guide prices would be a start. Any lay person involved in the market at the moment can guess to within 10-15 per cent what a house will make at auction, notwithstanding truly exceptional results. How then do estate agents justify guiding unrealistically low values, wasting all of our time and money? I have personally experienced many occasions when houses have greatly exceed the guide price, only to be still below the reserve price.
Observation of the market has led me to believe that most estate agents must be either incompetent or unprofessional. They are incompetent if they are simply misjudging the market, or unprofessional if they are deliberately setting out to deceive the public. A return to professionalism is to be hoped for. Yours etc.,
Merton Drive,
Dublin 6.
P.S. Can we please have some serious journalism to represent the public interest in this area and banish the copywriters who currently fill property sections?