I am really looing for some advice. There is a house advertised on Homegate.ch and Hasler and Partner. My boyfriend and I really love the house, its around the corner from our good friends and we would like to make a bid. The agent would not let us view it because there are tenants and he says he is only organizing 20 viewing slots. Our friends got a slot but had just bought a house so they asked him very nicely to give us their slot, but he refused it. I then requested information about the house ( the normal documents) and he also refused it. Then he even wrote by email "I suggest you look at other properties" – so he is actively discouraging us from even entering the process. I am afraid that if we make an offer he would not even send it to the home owners because he is very rude and perhaps has some other issues for some reason. I can't see any other reason why he would actively discourage a potential buyer as this is actually completely against the interests of his client now. Has this happened to anyone? Is there a way to make sure if we bid it is seen by the owners. Can we contact the owners directly?

by ZookeepergameCheap62

10 comments

  1. Personally, I’d would not like to buy a house from any person who’d treat me like this, but it’s your choice.

    If you really think there is no valid reason the agent is not interested in you, make the owner an offer they can’t refuse (I mean an high offer, not the dead horse head in bed, kinda).

    But again, my gut would tell me to move on.

  2. Yeah, definitely try to find the owners directly and offer them a good offer. The agent usually gets a cut and can forget his cut in case of a failed sale from their side.

  4. Is there anything non-mainstream about you? Queer, POC, Immigrant, foreign names, anything like that?
    Maybe the house is already sold and they have to keep the listing up for a certain time for some reason.

    Maybe he thinks he can sell the house with 19 showings (he probably can), maybe he is an ass.
    The “I suggest you look at other properties” line suggests the latter, to me. A thinly veiled “we don’t want you here”

  5. It sounds like he is bidding himself and wants to control the price, try to contact the home owners directly and just mention your offer they might be surprised to find it much higher than what the agent reported as incoming bids.

    Happened first hand.

  6. The same house has received more than 600 applications to view it – with the interest rates so low everyone is fighting for the same properties. The agency is not rude, they’re simply overwhelmed. You can try to reach out to the owners directly, but remember there’s a reason why they’re using the agency. And this exact house is going into the bidding process which will be wild. Good luck!

  7. Some owners have a very specific list of requirements that they want in buyers, perhaps this is the case with the current owner/seller of the property here.

    The agent isn’t likely to disclose those requirements as they’re kind of silent.

    But for instance it could be things like looking for a young family to buy the house with children that sort of thing. Whilst you are a couple, it doesn’t sound like you fit that particular criteria as you say boyfriend which makes me imagine you don’t currently have children in the picture, if it were the sellers desire to sell to such it’s their choice.

    Perhaps this is more you not understanding what the agent is saying and why they are saying it.

    They don’t always say things verbally a lot just gets done and you don’t understand and it’s completely understandable that you may think they are excluding you, but it’s most likely not meant that way. They are likely just too busy to think about people’s feelings in the process.

  8. Reaching out to the owners directly is an option, but don‘t be surprised if you don‘t hear back. It‘s a seller market right now.

    Also, depending on the actual contract, they may even have to pay a cut to the agent if they sell directly during the period the agent has a mandate.

  9. put a lawyer emails in cc even fake. he will comply

  10. I had something similar happen. The agent never presented our offer. She was trying to get the commission from the buyer and seller. From the tenant, we got the owner’s info and confirmed it.

    There is no real estate license or commission in Switzerland. While what she did is immoral, the fact that there was no financial loss on our side made it difficult to bring to court.

    So hunt down the owner and badmouth the agency.

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