Expected better....
Well, it was a bad experience. We were very impressed with their valuer who turned out to be a Director as well. The photos were brilliant and they were happy to market the property at 189k for a 4 bedroom detached 20 year old house. This after they valued it in the region of 175 to 185 and told us we should aim for 180k. I decided I would like to go higher given other comparable properties in the area and as we were interested in a bungalow and needed to achieve the 180k as the seller had firm views on their price. Spoke with Whitegates and seemingly the Director agreed and said no harm in trying. Then the fun began. First I had to chase to see if the seller of the bungalow would accept our offer. Second, almost immediately after listing we got a call to say someone wanted to view and was a cash buyer. Great! But, they didn’t show and although promised that Whitegates would call us after speaking with the viewer, again I had to chase up the call. To be told that no reason was given. I expected a reason. Third, the seller of the bungalow reduced their price. But we weren’t told by Whitegates -who had sent us endless new listings of other properties despite being told we were wanting a bungalow and what our upper limit was. We found out through looking on Zoopla. I then contacted Whitegates and we reduced the asking price on our property. Again, almost immediately we were called to say someone from Bradford wanted to view and wished to come on the following Saturday at 1pm. This was on Monday and after speaking with my wife I phoned Whitegates to ask if the person could attend earlier or on another day because we had a prior engagement the Saturday afternoon. I was told they would speak to the viewer and call us back. Eventually, I called them because it was getting late and they hadn’t called us. The woman who answered the call initially said she didn’t know anything about it and the person dealing with the matter was tied up on another call. Then she said there was a note on file that the viewer had rung to say something had come up. I asked if he had suggested another date -or if indeed they had asked him for one. The woman said no, but it would have to be after 1pm. I replied that we have previously been messed around by other viewers who have not turned up, and if he wasn’t interested enough to suggest an alternative date then not to bother.
Weeks passed and then this Tuesday (today is Friday) I again called Whitegates to say we are concerned that we haven’t had any viewings, despite over 1100 hits on the net, and other properties in the area selling for comparable prices. This included an end terrace house that I have been in many times and know it to be not significantly more attractive than our home and a 4 bedroom semi detached. I was told by the senior seller that we had turned away a viewing, and that ours was a 3 bedroom house with us using a downstairs room as a 4th bedroom. Let me clarify. It was purpose built as a 4th bedroom and has only ever been used as a bedroom. The Whitegates valuer advised we market it as a 3 stroke 4 bedroom house as this would make it more attractive to potential buyers.
I felt annoyed with this response and sent an email pointing these issues out. It wasn’t abusive or derogatory. I also raised concerns regarding not being kept in the loop and having to chase up phone calls. I received a response which I felt I had to reply to as again it said we turned a viewer away and we had gone against the valuer advice, with Whitegates marketing it at a higher price on our insistence. I subsequently received an email from the valuer/ Director who said he had witnessed the call and had felt it odd we had refused the viewing. Also, he included a transcript of a written record in their case file saying the same. Why on Earth would I turn away a viewer if a definite date had been given?! But, I will fall short of calling him a liar and say he must have misheard. Anyway, he terminated contract.