Dodgy Estate Agents

SparkyLarks

after advice from various relevant professionals

If the furniture is included o in the sale then it is relevant for stamp duty

If the furniture is a seperate contract it isn;t included in stamp duty calculations

however the sale/purchase of the furniture can't be dependant on the sale of the house.

There isn't anything to stop anyone buying a house for 317000 and furniture for 10,000 from the same person. You could but a car from the same person too if you wanted and ther's no law against that

MorningStar

Andrew Duffy wrote:

I bought it with 100% finance because I was bored with where I used to live. Also, I'm really sure your taste is esquisite because:

Again I point out it is not what you said you were going to be able to buy. You said you were making so much money and would make so much more you were going to be able to buy a much bigger place etc... Just pointing out that didn't happen

Andrew Duffy wrote:

... sound like really tasteful, understated items. They will come in useful when paying your penalties and interest to the Revenue Commissioner after your prosecution for tax evasion.

I don't base taste on price there are many valuable items that are very plain. As I have not evaded a single bit of tax I doubt it.

Andrew Duffy wrote:

While Internet links are no substitute for real advice, try these two, from the IAVI and Revenue Commissioners respectively:

http://www.iavi.ie/pv/Winter%201997/pv_winter_97-28-30.htm (search for "stamp")

http://www.revenue.ie/leaflets/sd1e.pdf (search for "contents")

I suggest you read what I said and clarified then read what you posted. Is furniture mentioned?

Generally, stamp duty is not paid on the purchase of house contents e.g.
curtains, carpets, etc., which may pass by delivery i.e. not included in the
legal document. However, where they are part of the transaction they may
have the effect of moving the stamp duty charge into a higher rate.

As siad the house is not dependent on the furniture purcahse but the furniture purcashe is dependent on the house it is not on the stamp duty.

Game set and match. You really need to read what you post up and what others do.

I'd love to do business with you as I am sure it would be easy to fool you on the legal issues saddly I am sure somebody will beat me to it:p

Thanks Sparky nice to see there are other people who understand.

Can we go back on topic and complain about actual dodgy estate agents

godtabh

MorningStar wrote:

Can we go back on topic and complain about actual dodgy estate agents

About time!

I got a pm from some one claiming to be from a national news paprer looking into dodgy estate eagents. If any one is interested in talking to him let me know.

Sponge Bob

He could be a secret undercover dodgy estate agent and not a journalist at all. I bet if you ring the office of His Paper and ask reception for him he will not be there

godtabh

Sponge Bob wrote:

He could be a secret undercover dodgy estate agent and not a journalist at all. I bet if you ring the office of His Paper and ask reception for him he will not be there

I googled his name and he seems to have written for other national papers so he seems to be on the ball.

oxygen_old

I went to view a property in Carlow last week, and was told the current offer by the person showing me the property.

At the w.e. then I called the estate agent, offered 2K more than the current offer. The estate agent stalled for a minute and told me the current offer was 10K more than my offer. I told him I knew it wasnt and he said "Uhm yea, sorry, ur right". D*@khead.

Thing is I know he is going to call me today and say the next bid is 10K more, even if there is not bid in at all.

Have I really no options when dealing with dodgy estate agents?

Cantab.

oxygen wrote:

I went to view a property in Carlow last week, and was told the current offer by the person showing me the property.

At the w.e. then I called the estate agent, offered 2K more than the current offer. The estate agent stalled for a minute and told me the current offer was 10K more than my offer. I told him I knew it wasnt and he said "Uhm yea, sorry, ur right". D*@khead.

Thing is I know he is going to call me today and say the next bid is 10K more, even if there is not bid in at all.

Have I really no options when dealing with dodgy estate agents?

Get yourself a dictaphone - they're very cheap these days! You can get trendy new phones that even has one built in!. Catch him off guard and get HIM to pay YOU a couple of grand under the counter or you'll report him to the IAVI.

The_Conductor

Cantab. wrote:

Get yourself a dictaphone - they're very cheap these days! You can get trendy new phones that even has one built in!. Catch him off guard and get HIM to pay YOU a couple of grand under the counter or you'll report him to the IAVI.

First of all- its illegal to tape someone without their knowledge. Secondly- even if you did, what good would it do you? You are trying to buy a property, in the first instance. He is trying to sell one (admittedly by unscrupulous means). If you want to purchase said property- you are going to have to go through him. Re the IAVI- they have no sanction they can penalise their members with (which is one reason that estate agents are such lying bastards). Of far more use would be playing the recording to the owner of the property- showing them that their agent was a lying bastard- and then putting a time limited offer on the table to them (of say 5k over the current best offer, and valid for 3 days). If after 3 days you do not have a deal agreed with the owner- walk away.

Unfortunately the cards are very stacked against buyers. Times may change, and hopefully soon, but until then figure out how to work the system to the best of your advantage.

Hagar

smccarrick wrote:

First of all- its illegal to tape someone without their knowledge.

Not quite true. You may record any telephone call you make without telling the other party that the call is being recorded. It is only illegal to record a phone call if neither party knows about or consents to the recording unless the recording is made using a legally obtained wire tapping order. So work over the phone and record everything.

The_Conductor

It is my understanding that it is legal to record any conversation where all the parties to it consent to it being recorded.

An example of phrases which may be used to request person's consent:

"For training purposes and your own security your call may be monitored and recorded."

"In order to ensure excellent customer service, your call may be monitored or recorded."

"Thank you for calling Bank of Ireland Banking 365. To insure the highest level of customer service, this call may be monitored and recorded."

If you read the EU Telecommunications Data Protection Directive it goes into a lot more detail. This is available at:

http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/pri/en/oj/dat/2002/l_201/l_20120020731en00370047.pdf

If you are aware of any law (Irish or EU) that allows taping of calls unbeknownst to either or both parties, please let me know.

Cheers,

Shane

Hagar

The legislation you linked to seems to be for the protection of the privacy of the individual when dealing with companies / public bodies.


Have a look at Article 3 of EU Directive 95/46/EC

http://www.dataprivacy.ie/viewdoc.asp?m=&fn=/documents/legal/6aii-1c.htm#1

It seems to allow an individual latitude to do so as part of a personal or household activity. This leads me to believe that an individual has a right to record their own phone calls for their own use.

I don't think this right extends to companies hence the need for them to use the warnings/disclaimers/notices you mention above.

oxygen_old

Thx for the adv

Recording the landlord is not really an option,and would seem to be a little ineffective. My only option is to know my limit and see if the property doesn't exceed it. I would say if I complained to the owners they would be in agreeance with the auctioneer. They want the best price, whatever the means.

oxygen_old

low and behold,I phoned him today and he said the current offer is my offer plus 10K. I had no choice but to add 2K to that offer, chancers the lot of them

lomb

oxygen wrote:

low and behold,I phoned him today and he said the current offer is my offer plus 10K. I had no choice but to add 2K to that offer, chancers the lot of them

time limit the offer, tell them to take it or leave it, they have 48hrs to decide.
drop in your solicitors details, a copy of your bank statement showing u have the deposit, and the letter showing your mortgage approval.

estate agents love all that, theyl push the vendor into signing as they know u are serious. they get alot of time wasters trust me, when a pro comes along they fall for it every time;)

godtabh

Just thought I'd bump this.

I've been contacted by a researcher about this topic and he'd like more examples or any one elese experiences.

Archeron

kearnsr wrote:

Just thought I'd bump this.

I've been contacted by a researcher about this topic and he'd like more examples or any one elese experiences.

OK, here's my nightmare that I experienced a few years ago buying my house. Before I tell the tale, I will state that I made the biggest mistake imaginable, and did NOT sign a contract when i put down my deposit (bangs head off table) so I know a lot of this is probably partially deserved, but still doesnt take away from the horror we went through.

We were looking to relocate out of Dublin. My mum, who is disabled lives with us, and we didnt have the time or ability to play games, as we just needed to move as cleanly and quickly as possible.
We found a nice house which was 3 bed bungalow, converted to a 5 bed dormer which was perfect for what we wanted. We went to view, liked what we saw, spoke with the agent and the owners and told them our situation. We explained we didnt want to play games, and offered them the asking price. They accepted, and we put down our deposit. Keeping in mind this house is in the heart of county meath, and we were in Dublin, it wasnt a case that we could get to see it often.
As it turned out, a week after the deposit went down, I was in the town and decided to drive past and take a nosey at my new house. Lo and behold, a planning application had appeared on the lawn for the attic conversion, which had never before been approved. The agent assured me that all would be fine and this was only a minor glitch.
Long story slightly shorter, the planning was refused. The work had been done against building code, and about 20k worth of demolition and rebuild work had to be done to get the planning approved. We estimated this would take about 2 monhts, and decided to bear with them as we really wanted the house. All the while, reassured by the agent. After 5 monhts of waiting, we were told everything was ready and the deal was ready to go through. I deceided to sneak out for a look and found that the work was only half done. Missing fascia on the house, huge areas not pebledashed, bricked up windows not covered up, basically like a building site. I rang the agent to ask if all the cosmetics work was done, I was told yes.
At this point I told her I knew it wasnt and she said she would get back to me to let me know when it would be done. (man, I should have just ran away).
Eventually, after waiting 7 months for them to get the planning and building work done, the planning was granted. This was September. On the day that they received the notice of planning, the agent rang us to tell us that if we wanted the house, the price had gone up 20k (to partially cover the building costs which they never done properly in the first place) AND that the family had decided not to move until next year, and that if we wanted it, we couldnt move in until the following March. As out Dublin house was sold, this was completely out of the question and I felt like strangling someone.

I went to a different agent who was brilliant the very next day and bought a house immediately, the whole deal for which went through perfectly. I cancelled the whole deal with the other agent (who expressed her "surprise" and "dismay" that we were leaving the "innocent seller" in the lurch like like this, and wasnt happy about giving me back my deposit. Eventually I got it, and learned a long painful unhappy lesson. One that I will never have to be taught again!

As I say, I know the whole not getting a contract thing was asking for trouble, but I wasnt familliar with the procedure for buying a house. The house in Dublin was bought from the Corpo so it was completely different. As it turns out, we found out later that the selling family of the original house had done similar things (except the planning side, that was just for us) to three families previously. They had spent the previous two years deciding to move, and then at the last minute, deciding not to move and pulling out.

Then there was the solicitor who was the REALLY difficult part of the whole move, but thats another story.....