It seems the practice is rife in the UK, are we to assume its no different in Ireland?
In a recent article in the Telegraph it was highlighted that estate agents (or the old fashioned name in Ireland, Auctioneers) has been accused of hiding the best offers from sellers. The question then arises whether that practice is alive and well in Ireland. One would never know, says Raal Nordin of URBAN LINK and a good guess is why would it not? There certainly in no control over the discussions between potential buyers and the agency. Although Estate agents in Ireland are regulated through the PSRA (Property Services Regulatory Authority) and a “record” of all bids must be in the property file for whenever the PSRA does an inspection once every two years per agency, there certainly seems ample room for total manipulation of any of these records. So, lets assume the practise of not submitting all offers is happening in Ireland, what can a seller do to prevent this? I don’t think anything can be done to prevent this says Nordin, other than to stick to larger estate agencies or sell your property through auction. Now when we say “through auction” the only honest and transparent auction will be through a company that has a fully fledged audit trail auction system. Our company does have that very system and all our auctions are 100% transparent, ethical and void of any possible price manipulation. The Daft auction platform, amongst many others are mere bidding platforms and can be open to manipulation. In closing, it is best to avoid one man band estate agencies in smaller towns, see article in recent media regarding pretty common tricks of these guys. “read here” so remain vigilant. Raal Nordin www.urbanlink.ie
