Equus....an estate agent? More of a InAState Agent

The world has gone mad. We now have estate agents like Equus who not only work from a virtual office (in other words, from home) but they also think they are financial advisers.They want to run security and financial checks on you and put you through Anti Money Laundering checks as soon as you make an offer for a property.

Equus are a complete joke. We don't know anyone who would put up with the bullshit they come out with.

This prize specimen is Alisdair Brown who cannot read an email and understand the contents. He emails again and asks the same questions when he has already been given the answer.

Estate Agency is not a difficult job. They take photographs of a property that someone wants to sell and they upload them to a website and Right Move. They call the vendor to tell them that someone wants to view the property and if they can they will get the vendor to show them around. Then they get back in contact with the purchaser for feedback and pass over any offer to the seller for them to agree or disagree to and then...thats it. They kick back and put their feet up waiting for their 3 to 5 percent.

DVM offered £1,375.000 on a property with the proviso that, should the seller wriggle, he would go to £1,400.000. A very clear instruction?

This idiot was told they wanted £1,450.000 and negotiated on DVM's behalf with no authority or any notice to him, to £1,425.000 and emailed DVM to say: Agreed! They wanted 1.450 but I got them to 1.425!!!!

This android was waiting for 5% of £1,425.000 I reckon......No chance.
He actually, through his behaviour, lost his client the sale. Shame on you Alisdair Brown of Equus

He sent an email saying that as he could not get in touch with DVM to get his bank details to do the anti money laundering check (this is prior to any agreement or even getting solicitors and accountants involved). DVM had given the address of a property he owns that has no connection name wise to him because he knew from experience that Estate Agents are busy little bastards who believe that they have powers or rights to do things outside of their capabilities. Not only that but he knew that this particular specimen would be a tosser from the get go. DVM was completely sincere in purchasing the property but didnt want an estate agent floating around asking for things that were of no business to them.  This one was a real turd in a swimming pool.  Even worse: he overstepped his mark. 

Here is an email which DVM replied to by inserting answers within each paragraph. There is no educational requirement and no authority or regulatory body required to be an estate agent. Just look at the audacity of this unregulated, untrained, estate agent. DVM's responses are in red. He even mentions that it has been three weeks since DVM viewed the property and made an offer. The fact that 2 and a half weeks were taken up by the sellers piss ballsing about by waiting for an inspection on the care home they run and the wife getting the husband to not push for a completion in June,2018...seven months away!!!


What a cunt.

Sent: Friday, November 03, 2017 at 10:17 AM
From: "Alisdair Brown" <alisdairbrown@equusproperty.co.uk>
To: XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Subject: Equus and the sale of The Barn Robertsbridge

Dear David

Alisdair

I did not receive any telephone calls from you yesterday as you indicated you would after 1200 hrs.

I called you at 12:22 but your number was not available.  I assumed you would call me too but you were obviously at your appointment in Ashdown Forest, or roaming the streets of xxxxxxxxx.

I also have not received any emails informing me that you would purchase the property at the £1.425m price my client wishes and you are happy to proceed in purchasing the property.

The reason you have not received any emails from me to say that I would purchase the property at the £1.425m price your client wishes is because I agreed £1.375m with the option to go to £1.4m.  You have negotiated down to £1.425 from their £1.450 with no agreement from me and then you emailed me with the information "All good news, it's an Acceptance"expecting me to say 'well done' to the £25k increase from my updated maximum offer!  

I have no solicitor’s details from you.

You dont need them yet.  Estate agents only want Solicitors details so they can call them three times a day and look busy when the solicitor only needs to speak to the vendors solicitor and not the agent. My solicitor says one of the biggest time wasing things is a call from an estate agent asking if they need anything.  What's more, you told me the vendors do not even have a solicior at all! You also told me that they have NEVER taken your advice regarding solicitors over the last few months.

I have no formal identity with your date of birth and current home address on it in order for me to carry out the AML (Anti Money Laundering) which I am legally bound to do otherwise I face a hefty fine.

I have not authorised you to make any such checks yet.  If you do make or attempt to make, or have indeed attempted to make checks on me then under the provision of the Data Protection Act I will will have to sue for invasion of privacy.  Estate Agents have no legal or Financial regulatory association or accreditation so giving financial details to someone with all the financial clout of a milkman is no different than giving a scan of my passport to someone working in a kebab shop.  It would be overseen between solicitors and accountants only.

Yesterday I had an appointment to value a property in the Ashdown Forest late afternoon; on my return through xxxxxxxxxxx I went to your address which you gave Equus and we have on the system. 100 xxxxxxxxxxxx. There is no number 100! I spoke to a local person and they confirmed that. I even tried xxxxxxxxxxx.

One simple phone call would have been simpler.  For an estate agent to believe that they can just turn up at a potential buyers house 'on spec' and unannounced or without previous arrangement is overstepping the mark and an outrageous practice which I am certain that the relevant Ombudsman for your unregulated industry will be very interested to hear about among other things.

I get a phone call from a tunbridge wells code yet I get your calls from a Sevenoaks code.  Having visited your office address in Tunbridge Wells I see it is a serviced/ virtual office and not a shop window estate agency like 99.9% of the others in the industry. I can only construe that you work from home. 'Highly unusual'.

We are now over a week since your offer, a week since my clients decided they would move at the speed you wanted and over 3 weeks since you viewed.

Are you referring to my offer on a property that has been on the market for 14 months, for clients that have no solicitor and nowhere to move to and who wanted to complete in June 2018 even though you thought it acceptable (and more convenient to you no doubt) to exchange as soon as we could. Also they are not 'deciding to move at my speed' but merely moving at the normal speed between exchange and completion.

All highly unusual; if you wish to proceed with the purchase please let me know via e-mail and answers to all the above.

What is highly unusual is your behaviour. 

Acting like a poor mans Inspector Clouseau just turning up and asking questions in my neighbourhood when you have my phone number.

Assuming that you can just run checks on people without their authorisation.

Expecting to turn up at my home unnanounced,  and no doubt expect a warm reception.

No. 

Neither my wife or I have any faith that the details and timings of the sale will stick. 

My solicitor has expressed some concerns about the arrangement they originally requested and also feels there is no certainty in the completion date being adhered to irrespective of the repercussions and I agree that it would be foolish to get locked into an arrangement. 

Your email has also raised another issue that I am not happy with and have no faith in, and that is you. 

The deal to purchase the Barn in Robertsbridge is off.

Replies to this email will not be opened and read, they will be classified as spam.  Remove me from your email list as I do not want to receive any property information from you, especially if it is like the one you sent yesterday

By the way.....only two people work there. One of them is an IT consultant and the other is a Marketing Consultant