The role of an estate agent in my eyes has always been a very unique one, particularly since it brings challenges that are often misunderstood by clients – especially buyers.
Unlike a lawyer, an agent does not work for one side 100%.
Furthermore, we do not sell our own product, but rather a product on behalf of someone else.
Additionally, unlike a financial advisor, we do not sell a product that everyone can have, we sell a product, a property, that there is only one of. This can create fertile ground for misconceptions to sprout.
Multiple offers on the same property and the potential finger pointing at an agent that can arise from this is a prime example.
If handled correctly and communicated well by a seasoned agent, there should not be any issues.
But handled badly where the buyer ends up on the losing end – there will be a valid reason to be unhappy with the process.
But sometimes, even if the situation was handled well and the buyer does not get the property, the buyer can claim the agent did something unethical or has not been fair in the dealings of the offers or situation.
Invariably this feeling from the buyer is because they do not understand how an agent is legally required to act.
This is what I want to point out.
Agents are governed by the Estate Agency Affairs Board, constituted by an Act of Parliament, and a code of conduct.
The code of conduct is a very clear set of rules that we as agents must abide by and we cannot deviate from.
These include, but are not limited to, duty to disclose; duty to protect the public’s interest; mandates; duty to not misrepresent; duty to not discriminate; confidentiality and duties in respect of offers.
This last one is what we are discussing here.
Agents will have been in situations where a buyer who saw a property first but are now competing with another buyer says they saw the property first and should have the first right of refusal and we, the agent, should agree and honour that.
Even if an agent agrees with that theory, the Code governs that we cannot favour one buyer over the other and explicitly states no agent who has a mandate to sell a property shall wilfully fail to present to the seller any offer to buy received prior to the conclusion of a contract of sale in respect of such property.
It goes on to say that no agent shall present competing offers in a manner to induce favour of one over the other and furthermore, an offer that is not in writing, simply put, is not an offer.
So, my advice to a buyer is quite clear. If you see a property that you like, do not delay and put the offer in writing.
Until you do so, any other buyer can make an offer at any time and it can be accepted irrespective of how interested you have said you are and any promises you have made that you will be making an offer.
It is not in an agent’s interest to have two offers on the same property but if you leave the door open for another buyer to make an offer – then understand that the agent will have to handle that offer with no bias to the seller because those are the rules we are obliged to play by.
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