Best of British Blackwell
We (finally) sold out property with Barnard Marcus in Mitcham in March this year. However, the process was long, stressful and most of the issues we encountered during the sale were as a direct result of the incompetence of staff at this branch.
Viewings were arranged with very little to no notice at all. Once the viewings had taken place, feedback would be near impossible to get. I had to phone up to five times a day to speak to someone about feedback as a result of the viewings. Anybody who has sold a house will know that feedback from viewings is what you use to ensure that your house appeals to buyers.
Once we came under offer, the real trouble began. Barnard Marcus clearly do not vet their buyers well enough. Before buyers are able to put offers on properties, it is good practice for the agent selling the property to ensure that the bidder has funds in place in order to purchase the property or has passed an affordability test. My buyer had neither. This only became evident after our house was taken off of the market.
The offer on our property was received and accepted in October 2017 and we only completed in March 2018. This was due to the fact that our buyer had not got a mortgage offer in place and when he did get an offer in place, there was a shortfall of nearly £20,000. It took a further two months to sort the deal out.
I understand that these issues do arise when dealing with property. However, the way it was handled by Barnard Marcus was nothing short of a disgrace. Their staff simply do no communicate with clients enough and you are left to chase them for information and answers.
As soon as you are under offer they pass you onto their completion team and they are just as bad, if not worse at keeping you up to speed with proceedings.
When you are involved in a long chain, information is key. A lack of information puts everybody in the chain on edge and in my case, the chain nearly collapsed a number of times because Barnard Marcus were not responding to requests for updates and information.
In the end, we simultaneously exchanged and completed on the same day. This was because our buyer's mortgage company would not release funds until the day of completion. I really needed Barnard Marcus to be on the ball in terms of chasing solicitors and mortgage brokers on that day and they simply did nothing. Again, I was left to call, chase and update everybody.
Selling my house was the most stressful thing I have done. I am convinced that had I not used Barnard Marcus, the stress would have been at least halved. Their staff are not trained to the standard required, they have no communication skills, they lack customer focus and I honestly do not see how they continue to operate as a business.
I was heartbroken to have to pay them any money for the service they provided me and would strongly advise anybody considering using them to think again. You will regret it.
I hope this helps future buyers and sellers alike.... Read more
NaN days ago