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09 Sep 2010

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	How to talk to estate agents

Solution Dear Parmdeep Thank you very much for the information that you have been kind enough to send to me over the last couple of weeks. Much of it has confirmed what I thought I already knew but lacked to experience to be confident about. Some of it was extremely helpful indeed and I had not come across some of your tips anywhere else.

Clearly you are a very successful man who has gained much experience. I would be a fool not to defer to your knowledge and practice.

However, there seemed to be one small point where I should like to take issue with you arising from part 4 of your series of emails. You advise
Pretend you are acting for a buyer (e.g. your sister) and ask if they have any similar properties in the area.
and again
Call a minimum of three letting agents this time pretending to be a potential tenant. If your property is a three-bed semi you will call the letting agents and you will say;

"Hi, my girlfriend and I are looking to rent a three-bed semi on London Road. Do you know the area? Great! Do you have anything fitting our requirements: [describe your property]?"
These might be called minor white lies and simple ruse in the name of business. Don't get me wrong, there might be times when I would be willing to lie myself , especially if a human life were at stake but that is scarcely the case here. If you conduct yourself like this you make two small but fundamental mistakes:-
1) First, you deceive an estate agent or a letting agent into giving them your time under the false hope they may earn a crust with you. Not to put too fine a point on the matter that is dishonest, it is theft of their time. Chances are they would never find out and it would never come back to haunt you. After all estate agents themselves are not known as paragons of virtue. There is only one other problem-
2) You have told me. You have just given away two of the things you should value higher than almost anything else in life; your good name and your integrity. You talk to me about win/win deals but how can I go on to trust you in business over something of real value if you are prepared to be dishonest over trifles.
It is possible that you may not have looked upon the practice like this and you may think well that's the way of the world. Well it does not have to be. You can still be a shrewd businessman and gain financial wealth without letting go of the riches which have no price.
If you amend your business practice in this respect and modify your programme, my guess is that you will do better business very quickly.
With thanks and best wishes
Yours sincerely
Jeremy Hi Jeremy,

Good point. Generally this tactic is meant for people I will never speak to again, so I want to get their honest opinion. Lets say you want to sell a property and you want a rough valuation. Some of the agents unintentionally or intentionally give you dishonest advice if they think you are selling the property. If you act as a buyer you get a more honest valuation - you are only playing their game. It's a way to get what I want to know quickly without harming anyone or causing any damage. Obviously, for all continued business dealings upmost honesty is absolutely vital.
Please feel free to contact me if I can help you in any way.

Kind regards

Parmdeep Vadesha
Managing Director, Vadesha Properties Ltd
www.property-system.com

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14 Apr 2007 12:57 PM