The Wild West
‘JOURNALISTS love estate agents. We pretend we dont we pretend that, like everyone else, we think theyre sharp-suited sheisters whos sell their grandmother for a quick buck.
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| Ripoff & Con Estate Agents |
But actually we love them because in polls they are the one group of people who are consistently less popular than us scribes.
And the Times does its little bit this morning to make sure it stays that way, reporting on how rogue estate agents overcharge sellers by £350m.
That is not per transaction even in todays inflated housing market we might notice such a sum but per year in a sector that annually makes £2.5bn in fees.
Amid the property boom, the Times says complaints against the industry have soared and even estate agents themselves have been calling for tighter regulations.
But the Office Of Fair Trading has rejected a licensing scheme that would have made it harder for cowboys to operate.
Instead, it has given the industry a further two years to clean up its act.
Which is a bit like King Augeas telling his horses to clean up their own stables.’
Posted: 24th, March 2004 | In: Broadsheets Comment | TrackBack | Permalink
