Not all agents are bad

Hello Smiley,

I completelly agree with you.... I am not an advocate...I just try to see things from a different point of view and add a bit of my personal experience.

As I told you, I was also affected, I wish I had that money, it will certainly balance my accounts now...... but not all was that bad.... there were 10 fantastic years adn two terrible ones.... I agree with you that mincing words would be pointless on this matter. We will talk in person one day.

Cheers my friend !

Juan

I absolutelly fancy a cofee, we have an appointment unless I am with clients.... I am going out tomorrow afternoon with a Swedish client in search of the € 200,000 walking distance to the beach as best as possible apartment. Around La Cala...... I say this because I HAVE to be with the client until I find what he is looking for and that might include Friday morning. I will send you a PM with my Ph number. Today I bought my lunch at Tricky and asked the lovely lady of short brown hair if she knew you and she said she would introduce us as soon as she se us there at the same time. She seems to like you.

If you like, I can show you the company, how we work introduce you to the team and all. So you can see some of this side.

Cheers,

Juan.

Oh JUan that should be a walk in the park - 200k in La Cala - I would have thought they would be expecting front line beach at Palm Beach Los Monteros for that money....Good luck! They all like me at Tricky's - one of their most valued customers - dont know why I like it so much there really - never into that type of food or establishment in the UK but its just such a friendly place and it got under my skin when I was here on my own before the family arrived three years ago and most of the staff have become friends - when the ladies of my house go back to the UK for weeks at a time I am there a lot for a bit of TLC (tender loving care) - the Highlander at Calahonda is under the same management. Will pop round to your gaff on Friday morning after my back has been wrenched back into place for another month - if you are there great if not then no sweat we can do it another time - there is absolutely no doubt that at some time on Saturday I will be in there for at least one if not three coffees. Will PM mine to you too. Seriously - the best of luck on Thursday I hope you find them something they love.

Rgds

Smiley,

Thanks for the good wish ! I think I will sell them an apt on the area for 195,000. They are such nice people that I am sure will become friends! Paper- working now !!!

Cheers,

Juan.

Hi everyone,

New to the forum and have been reading with interest the messages below, of course there are always two sides to a story and just had to post about a recent situation I experienced.

I work for a small REA on the CDS, I am office based. I had a client last year, April time let's call him Mr X I spent many times talking with him about his property requirements etc and he seemed like a very nice family man. He had me spending lots of time finding right properties etc and as I am self-employed pay for all the phone calls myself, I attended to every e-mail he sent and after about 3 months of contact he just disappeared off the planet.....did not answer my calls, never replied to my voicemessages or e-mails. Now, in my opinion as a person and working for a company that is very customer focussed, I take this personally. What does it take to simply e-mail back if you are not in the market anymore, out of courtesy to send an e-mail or make a quick call to say, "Thanks for everything but we are not buying anymore" FINE, I can accept that but don't just not respond leaving me wasting effort...I'm not telepathic. That is just rude, whatever happened to good old fashioned manners....they cost nothing.

So I decided to put him out of my active clients and not call him again.

What do you know but just after Christmas, Mr X goes to our website again and I receive his details. It was bugging me that I remembered his name so well. I am a very organised individual (people have called me retentive at times) so I looked at my old clients and there he was, the same Mr X! So, I called him...again and twice with no answer on his phone. Hello - if you leave a phone number that means you want to be called. I sent him an e-mail recognising that we had been in contact last year and because I had difficulties in speaking with him could he e-mail me back a landline and let me know when it is convenient to speak (I always call clients when it's better for them i.e. if they can't speak at work, I don't ask for a work number). Mr X left his mobile which indicates he can speak most times...isn't that the point of them, they are 'mobile?' Anyway to cut this short I eventually spoke to him and refreshed his memory, that we spoke last year and he said, "Ah yes, you're the lady with the good memory"  Of course I am, I get to know my clients by phone very well, it's my job and I like building a rapport with them. At this point I would like to say that I did not highlight to him that he was plain rude last year, i just treated him like every other client, with respect and listened to him.

So why was he contacting us again.....ah the story unfolds...last year when he went AWOL he actually bought a few properties in London. Now his partner is pregnant in her first three months and they really wanted to buy a particular apartment in a specific development. I asked him all the questions...I ask a lot about what is important for him as I always make sure we can have the best property to show...more productive, we don't waste clients time, what is the point of an estate agent showing a client a property that doesn't suit them....nobody's happy then! I asked him many questions...what level do you want to be (knowing that his partner has a baby on the way) and he told me he must have a 2 bedroom apartment on the ground floor in this particular urbanisation because where the ground floor apartments lead onto the gardens they would put a little baby gate up for when the baby is bigger, he said he has rented a lot of times in this urbanisation so he knew that he only wanted there. Now for the part where I nearly fell off my chair....Mr X said thay have the cash in the bank, told me what his budget was and that he instructed us to find him something as they want to buy their apartment sooner rather than later. He even said that because his partner is in her first trimester that if we find something, he would fly on his own and make a decision!!!! I must say that HE told me this, I didn't ask him to come over immediately even though he can buy straight away because I knew there was no point in asking him to get on a plane until we find something that is right for him....like I said I hate wasting people's time. Having many years experience in this industry I know at this point most other REA's, particularly the large ones that are robotic and all follow the same pattern would get him on a flight and try to sell him something else if they didn't have anything for him.....yes this is how they work. What is the point of that? If I were a client that would just p*ss me off having someone mess me about when I am a busy person.

Now any REA's reading this will say and I know in this market we hardly ever get clients..."Wow cash in the bank, view without wife/partner/in position to buy...a hands upper" BUT STOP, yes sounds easy doesn't it.....the story unfolds.

Having listened to EVERYTHING the client wanted, I instructed a valuer to go the urbanisation to see if we can get some properties for Mr X. So the valuer, with his own phone bill to pay, own car fuel, own time spent the last 3 weeks doing just that. This is where things get interesting. The particular urbanistion hardly ever has properties for sale because it is very nice, people don't buy in there to speculate, they can afford it, they like using for holidays, people like renting in there and people can afford to sit on their properties despite the crap that is happening in other parts of the coast. Getting into the urbanisation is like fort knocks (which I think is a great point for buyers), because we are professional and know our stuff, the guard let the valuer in and he started to speak to some of the residents. There are no 'for sale' signs allowed in the urbanisation and no letter boxes so you cannot post a letter telling the owner that we have a buyer waiting. The art of telepathy.....hmmmm more a case of being professional and meeting owners face to face. Our valuer got talking to a lovely couple from Enlgand that invited him for a coffee on their terrace but unfortunately they did not want to sell but would let us know if they hear of any for sale. Then the valuer got talking to a man sunbathing on his ground floor terrace. Politely speaking the man was apparently a bit of an Arthur Daley and flippantly said to the valuer, "I'll sell mine if the missus lets me!" He spoke to his wife and obviously she wore the trousers (don't we all girls?!) and no, he is not allowed to sell but he has a friend in a corner ground floor that wants to sell. Great...a corner apartment, even better for our client. After a few hours, our valuer got a call from a completely different man saying that he had been marketing the corner one for his friend in England through his estate agency and that he wanted £10,000 on TOP of the asking price ....wait for it......for just giving us the phone number of the owner. Wow, I wish I could make money by just giving out phone numbers. We told him, politely, to get stuffed and that we would instead share our commission with them. OK pretty common in today's market but for a phone number and doing nothing else....then the plot got even worse. Our valuer asked  the 'Estate agent' for his registered business number and his company details becuse if splitting the deal we have to pay IVA and provide an invoice from the company we are splitting with (I don't handle this said of things so don't ask me any tax q's please - I just know that we do it all properly with accountants etc) and here goes the funny part...I say funny because if I don't laugh about this I will cry...the man on the sunbed and the 'estate agent' from england all know each other as 'golfing buddies',' the wives are friends etc. and they know the owner of the corner one, there's about 4 that all know each other all an the ground floor and they all bought at the same time!! The 'estate agent' is not an estate agent merely a 'friend' of the owner, he could not give us his business number or registered company details but he did give the valuer the owner's phone number. Our valuer spoke to the owners  (let's call them Mr & Mrs Y) and they apparently were lovely, really nice people and honest in telling us that they are not in any hurry to sell at all but if we have a serious buyer they will consider it. So our valuer arranged to meet another day the cleaners of the corner one, went in, valued it, photographed it etc and the owner wanted to sell it furnished so we did a full inventory etc...all this I might add without having a sale selling form in place at this stage. Later on, the valuer spoke to the owner to advise of his realistic opinion of the apartment and to get the owner's head right about price...the owner wanted €50K more than it is valued...these owners, they really have a lot of experience in the market don't the??!!! The owner would not sign a sales form as they didn't want it on the 'open market' so we're now doing all this work with no protection. So we rode with this, it was my job to send all the photographs to Mr X and all the sizes, valuation etc, basically everything and anything about the property, the only thing more for Mr X to do is to fly to see it. Buyers do not understand that there is only so much you can see from photos, sizes, orientation and if they know and like the urbanisation, what more can we do until they actually see it????

Mr X came back to me to say he is very interested and will look in more detail at the photos with his partner....of course, I would too if I was spending money on anything, it took me 6 months to decide about buying a car so I and my company understand people want time. The next day....the plot at this time is turning into a thick stew. The 'estate agent' telephoned the valuer...right on our case as he thinks he's on an easy ride sitting back doing nothing waiting to cash in his chips (these people make me sick when we're running round like headless chickens doing all the work) and he said...wait for this one...."Dont tell Mr & Mrs Y about me splitting the deal with you as they are good friends of ours!!!!!!" FRIENDS.....GOD with friends like that who needs enemies?? If my friend wanted to sell a property and I knew someone who knew someone that wanted to buy I would not even ask for anything. You do things like that to help friends, don't you or am I now morally retentive too???!!!

After Mr X and his partner looked at the photographs....let's add more ingredients to the thick stew (which is now turning into sludge and sticking to the bottom of the pan) Mrs Y (the owner) e-mailed our valuer to ask if we had publicly published their property on our website because Mr X had been in touch with her as...yes you guessed it he knows her too! Here is the family tree now....Mr X (our buyer) knows the brother of Mrs Y's apartment and he recognised it from the photographs because, yup, they regularly rent it from them but they did not know that they wanted to sell it. In all honesty, Mrs Y was very good and didn't backstab us and said, "Is Mr X a client of yours?" We said yes and reitterated that we did not publicly advertis their property on the open market but that we just sent the photos to Mr X only as that's what Mrs Y wanted. Our valuer also spoke to Mr Y (the owner's hubby) and he said he knows Mr X, that he just messes people about and that he made a ridiculous offer last year and told us not to waste our time with him. So, as all you agents out there will be thinking...oh no they're going to be cut out of the deal now....not so, here is what Mr X said about the apartment. He e-mailed me back and admitted that he had stayed there before, he likes the apartment, likes the furnishings and the price is right (come on down!!) BUT...his OTHER friends also rent from Mr & Mrs Y and if Mr X buys it, they will use it a lot so Mr X's OTHER friends wouldn't be able to rent there. Awww what a GOOD FRIEND. Confused???? So was I by this point!!!

So there, we go, away from the golfing buddies, away from the thick stew, we go back to the drawing board, Mr X telling us to keep looking for him. OK, all well said and done, except it's very quiet on the urb. now, the security guard has turned into some descendant of Hitler and should have some form of x-ray machine on arrival to the urb. and has apparently received complaints from 'certain' residents about agents...Fair enough, but our valuer was and is very nice to the residents not causing any disturbance etc no guesses for who complained..yup sunbed man, wonder why? Now he knows though the little circle of trust that his little slice of the pie has gone he can't get his new golf clubs he'd already mentally paid for!!!!!

So we keep looking...and suprise suprise Mr X now tells me they will also look at 1st floor apartments.....ARRGGHHHHHHH - I listen to you so at least tell me all your considerations first, OK this makes this a little more flexible.

As I said back to square one, the security guard let our valuer in because at this point she (and yes I say a she...no there weren't any illicit encounters to obtain access, in fact I think she bats for the other team)  knows he is just low key and doesn't cause any problems.

What are we looking for now, oh yes, preferably a ground floor but will look at first floor. There's a first floor for sale with a for sale sign on....hang on a minute thought for sale signs weren't allowed and yup, it's through another agent that's asking for drug money. No thanks, we're not ripping off clients.

BINGO...the valuer meets a lovely couple with a ground floor property, exactly what Mr X wants - perfect for when their new baby arrives!!! They want us to generally market the property, are happy to sign a sales agreement, they ask for a little more, we say no and tell them the value. We do the valuation, measure, photograph etc. AND including Mr X's purchase costs it's €60K under budget!!! I think the personal bonus on this one is that it's away from the golfing buddies too.

So, back to me again, I dutifully send all the details through to Mr X as soon as valuer gets back in the office and briefs me about the apartment. I send him sizes, photographs, where it is etc..leaving myself completely open because at this stage we know he knows people who know people and can go direct. Anyway, we march on in this battle.

Great, he likes the property, says it's interesting and despite me doing the financial breakdown including costs/taxes/commission etc. Yes commission - we are transparent and it coming €60K under budget, guess what he asks me....top marks for all those that guessed, "Will they take an offer, will they negotiate" Anyone in the industry will know that a buyer should only put in an offer if they have seen the apartment. We're not going to make ourselves look like idiots but putting in an offer only for Mr X to find something he doesn't like about the property. Anyway, we knew the owner wouldn't as we'd already number crunched them down to the lowest price and what we valued it at. I explain this to Mr X and asked if he prefers to wait until his partner can fly (2 weeks) to see the property and until then we will not make the property active on our website etc. Again any other REA's out there will know that some of the 'big boys' would have given no consideration for this and got him to fly on his own.....again why? If I had a baby on the way I would want to see the property, despite what my hubby/partner says!!!

Here we go again....Mr X has disappeared. It comes the time that now all that remains is for him to actually book a cheap flight on his on or with his Mrs, whichever he chooses and let me know the dates so I can book the viewing in....you know we do like to plan things too. No response.....no response.....no response....no response. I'll just wait and hear from him....balls' in his court now, what more can we do as a company or me personally?

Here'e the ending to my tale - Mr X e-mailed me this morning, great I think as I open the e-mail:

"Thanks for your message and all your help but I’ve managed to find one which is fully furnished which will save me a lot of hassle and have managed to do a deal on that.If the deal falls out of bed for any reason I’ll get back in touch""

I can't tell you what thoughts were running through my head I tell you. WHAT..in the space of 36 hours Mr X has bought. I can't believe this.

So I diplomatically asked him, if he didn't mind telling me which one he bought and cheekily said to him that he must have more contacts than anyone in that urb. to have found one so soon after I sent him the ground floor...after all that work he didn't even let me know he was coming to at least see the one we had grafted so hard to find.

He did reply and here's what he said:

Hi Emzhop - I actually read your full story with interest as I have had the same things happening time and time again.

I reckon we ought to either write a book, set up a website or start a thread on this forum dedicated to these stories - then buyers might feel we are human after all!

Have a good weekend

Hi Rixxy,

Thanks for reading, it took me bloomin ages to type and really didn't want to bore people but I just had to do it, like you, it's one of many daily occurrences but just opening up the e-mail today was the straw the broke the camels back!

It's not just splitting with other agents (who to be fair do put an equal amount of work in) that bothers me, it's a complete joke though that presidents and even gardeners are now trying to control urbanisations and what professional experience or qualifications do they have? We pay for all the advertising, the phone calls, the contact with the client, the negotiation, being there all the time to help 100%, looking after the buyer once they have moved in etc. the list goes on and some gardener turns with his lawn mower (I am not stereotyping any gardeners out there just the ones we have encountered) and wants 50% of our income bingo he gets it for just giving us the owners phone number. Maybe I am naive but I have many yrs experience in the UK market in estate agents and conveyancing and never heard any of this bribery/backstabbing!!  It's a tough market this is evident and any agent that says otherwise is lying and I have to say we work so hard earn every single cent. The amount of enquiries we get on a daily basis also from vulnerable clients that have been 'SOLD TO' from the larger agents 2/3 years ago and they have just 4 weeks to complete now and they call us for an SOS. They have always bought in urbs. that we never sold in in the first place because they are not good quality, in saturated area etc and cry out for help from us. We always ask, "Who sold it to you and what are they doing to help, who is your lawyer?" And I can say 99% of the time it's a large agent, they have done nothing to help the client to re-sell and their lawyers are the recommended agents lawyer!!! Oh give us strength!!! We do what we can to help, sometimes spending hours composing e-mails with a strategy for them, advising them what to do if they have to complete and we get nothing for this. It's like pro bono work...so we're not all bad are we?

Yes, I totally agree, a book would be a bestseller. Especially considering the number of TV programmes that are aired, people pay attention...let's tell our tales.

Good luck with your clients and also have a fab. weekend.

Emzhop,

just read your story and although I'm laffing my pants off, I feel really sorry for you, I get people like this all the time in our business, similar to you, I try and put myself in the mind of the client and gauge their buying requirements and signals, go the extra mile for them but this little tale beats them all, incest, treachery, no happy ending.......better than Danielle Steele novels.

Anyway....I don't suppose you have a 2nd Floor Apartment with a  conservatory on the back !!!!!!!!

Keep your chin up hunny, I'm sure it can't get worse! (or can it)

Mr W

(Darren Ward that is !)

Hi Mr W,

Ha ha funny isn't it!!!  You have to laugh otherwise you cry.It's sadly all a true story too, oh what fun we have but I do choose this job and really like it, it certainly keeps me on my toes.

Maybe I would give Danielle Steele a run for her money...although it's more like a John Grisham, oh well could always do some part-time writing I suppose!

Oh and the conservatory, he he that's really funny I would honestly not be suprised if a client asked for something like that...! What about a duplex penthouse frontline beach Puerto Banus with sea views for €300K!!!

Have a good one

Emzhop,

At least you've brought a smile to my face, as for Puerto Banus.........I'm a country boy myself and prefer rural Spain (Jumilla).

Have a great weekend

Darren

Oh yes sounds great! Tell me where to post the bill to.

I got asked for a one bed apartment, MUST be in Banus port with a sea view.. Price for 100,000 euros (spanish) I told the client yes I had one - its only a 15km hike and the binocculars are free!

Yes everyone is on the bandwagon as they reckon its easy money - it was 4 years ago for the big boys and yes I also have the sob stories. SOme are really upsetting in fact so upsetting I go out of my way to try and help them. Worst case was a lady invested all her savings into 2 propeties. The famous Green Hills and one in Casares. She had to sell as she had had a bad car accident, was now in a wheelchair. The UK social security refused to pay benefits as she owned assets abroad - 2 off plan developments!!!

After taking on Green hills at a knock down price to get rid of it (the UK agent went ballistick with my partner on the phone as they originally sold the property to her and we told her she would lose on it) we tried to get hold of her for days with a buyers offer. Finally we found out she had moved in with her daughter as teh electric had been cut off due to non payment. I have no idea what has happened to her but it haunts me to this day that she is ok and what had happened to her.

What awfully bad advice she had been given - by agents in her own country!

Darren,

Glad it made you smile/laugh, I love rural Spain too, getting away from the coast is nice every once in a while,

Enjoy your weekend,

Emz,

haydngj,

I certainly was not asking for an apology by any means...it's the name of the game, I accept that. Also I did say there is more than one side to a story and I am sure you can respect that I wanted to add my part/tale. I do detect saracasm in your message and without getting into a debate (it is Friday after all) if you read my story I did say clearly that the larger agents are the ones that often do bad by clients (we hear it from clients directly) and I believe are the ones that, unfortunately, for some clients have been treated disgracefully by. If you read one of my later messages I did say that we often help these clients that have been mislead/lied to and 99% of the time they have been sold to by larger agents. When they contact us for an SOS, we offer advice where we can and some clients are in desperate measures. And in fact, I do think that some buyers should be ashamed of themselves...not all agents work with bad intent some, like me, actually want to give the best service. I was not saying that clients should pay for fuel/phone bills etc, that would be absurd!!!!! I was just saying, buyers expect honesty...which goes without saying for me -  just give honesty back, it's not a lot to ask when I'm trying to find you the right property without wasting your time. That way the industry could be turned around and buyers, sellers and agents may eventually have respect for one another. I hope you keep this in mind when you head off for Almoradi, if you use the services of an estate agent. I have had clients before and when I speak to them for the first time have had a few that have said, "we're not in a position to purchase for maybe a year" and I tell you what, I have the upmost respect for that (honesty) and take joy in getting to know them and their family during and after they move. All the best with your move, Emz.

HI Emzhop,

It is a wonderful world is not it?  Some 4 ears ago I sold an apt in a development that I´ve loved so much that I invested EVERYTHING I had to get into one of them.... anyway... after 3 days in the car we became sort of pallies with this couple ( 30 years older than me and my wife) actually, the last day my wife toured with us as they said they would like to meet her and also it was a wonderful oportunity to actually get to see my wife during the day...

This was not one of the "big comission developments".... it paid just 3% (three per cent)..... I even got a discount from the developer.... small, but a genuine discount...Okey so I got, after 6 months....  17% of the 3% of the sale price... it paid for the months fuel.....

So my friends wait until completion.... not so far away from promissed...3 months more and less.... but it was sort of ready by that summer.... our friendship continued as I was off course quite useful for him, somebody who you could trust and local... dinners, visits.... calls... problems solved. pushing the developer to fix a rebel leak.....

Since then, I was looking after his apartment  ( easy as it is in phase 4 and I am in phase 2) at least once a week..... while at the same time he was paying some "manteinance lady" who was to take care of the cleaning, etc...... for 800 €/year.... of course my fees were always "zero"....

A year ago, he decided to sell the apartment and said.. "Juan, my boy !  You are my agent..... good ! But you know Edward.... we are friends..... okey, let us go at  a starting price of 330,000.-  My phone number on the balcony, and advertising, etc... many clients I showed the apartment to..... sometimes I drove like a maniac from Manilva to Cabopino just to show his apartment to people interested in the daylight.... Sat´s, Sund´s.....one year passes and he gradually instructs me to drop the price... until 3 weeks ago when he says.... I am down to 270,000.-.... okey ! let us go and list it with the Agent I now work for and push "the lady".... you are willing now to sell.. so let us go...

He says he arrives on the 22nd... on the 22nd the lister from my agency goes, pics, contract, etc..... on the 23rd I take the first client from my employer......He then communicates to me that he has sold the apartment..... What !? I ask..... he says that the cleaning lady, told to a neighbour also her "client" that he had dropped the price to 270,000 the guy matched the asking price and she sold the apartment to him..... earning a 3 % comission.... and sorry and thanks anyway..... friendship, okey thank you... sorry I forgot to tell the guy to talk to you, my agent...

Sometimes the gardener.... sometimes the cleaning lady.....your bottom sometimes start aching from so many kicks in there....

Yes, we should write a book and I think that Justin should open an "salesman stories" website so our part of the "ringside" can be also appreciated.... In general I am under the impression that people thinks we just sit down and print money... some stories from the old guys from this business would leave Danielle Steele in tears..

Cheers and keep on working just as you are... in time it wil pay  off and also as Darwinism is at large in this industry, only the fittest will survive and you seem to be one of them, that is the attitude you should keep......and consider this unfaithful clients as accidents on the road.....

In exchange, for going that "extra mile" you receive things .... for example I got the RAF Hawk joyride of my lifetime as a present from a very happy client in uniform..... another time a tour trough Norway..... then I´ve spent a week in the beautiful Anglessey Island...... in general, the proactive and open hearted attitude brings more than it takes.

Cheers,

I also enjoyed reading all these tales of woe. I agree that a lot of the bad reputation attributed to estate agents stems from the scr*w you attitude of some of the big boys, and I stick to my advice posted on other threads, namely, try to use small, local, well established agents of good repute (like those contributing here!)

There are always two sides to every coin. As a buyer, I have been messed around unbelievably by agents. A few years back, my wife and I made our way by train from Torremolinos to Fuengirola for a pre-arranged appointment, and stood under our umbrella in the pouring rain for half an hour at the station, waiting for the agent to show. Finally I called him, to discover that he hadn't bothered coming to meet us "because of the rain". I had my mobile with me the whole time, but he never thought to let us know not to bother catching the train. As a seller, I have torn my hair out because of dimwitted, incompetent agents almost losing the sale, because they couldn't work out some basic figures, and having to deal direct with the buyer, to placate them and reassure them that everything is fine, and to explain the figures to them.

Having said that, I am well aware that the agents job is not always an easy one. Juan, on another thread, you guessed that I am also involved in the business. I am not, but I have considered it many times. What has put me off is the customers! I simply don't have the patience of you guys. Buyers who don't actually have the money, or who haven't actually decided whether to buy in Spain or Bulgaria yet, or who just fancied something to do on a rainy day on their holiday, or who are just curious to know what they could buy if they win the lottery. Sellers who actually have no intention of selling but would just like to know how much they could get for their property if they sold - these are the ones who put the price up every time someone offers the asking price. Or when a sale has been agreed (at the asking price) casually mention that they expect the buyer to pay their capital gains tax, or else pay 95% of the price black. Oh yes, I've heard them all, and I don't even work in the biz! I do therefore sympathise, but hey, you make your bed, you lie in it. If the rewards didn't outweigh all the crap, there's plenty of PR jobs available outside the bars and clubs in the summer!