Reputable estate agents

[Bigjimbo]

Feel free to call me on 0567989178. Thanks Stewart!

[StewartC]

Originally Posted by StewartC

NO. NO. Absolutely not. They pulled some nasty tricks on us. Really unpleasant. Please PM me if you want details. Avoid at all costs. I was shocked at how low they woul dstopp to earn a commission. Bigjimbo is 100% genuine and trustworthy. Nice chap too.

Sorry. Am trying to edit this to say "would stoop". Very nasty mind games. Avoid.

[StewartC]

Originally Posted by Bigjimbo

Feel free to call me on 0567989178. Thanks Stewart!

You're welcome. You have an empathy and integrity I did not see in any of the other agents. You listened too and found something WE wanted, not something in which you wanted to fit us.

[lxinuk]

Originally Posted by StewartC

Sorry. Am trying to edit this to say "would stoop". Very nasty mind games. Avoid.

Any opinion on MHM Real Estate?

L

[Bigjimbo]

Be careful. Sounds close to mfr real estate. Do a search for marks falcon real estate and see what turns up

[lxinuk]

Originally Posted by Bigjimbo

Be careful. Sounds close to mfr real estate. Do a search for marks falcon real estate and see what turns up

But anyone could be a scam, how do we safeguard? We've just arrived and agreed a villa. About to hand over deposit, fees, and 2 chqs! How do we protect ourselves?

L

[Roadworrier]

Follow-on in my villa hunt.

I don't often drag names through the mud, but I just got stood up by the BetterHomes people (after being flipped from agent to agent at least twice). I guess I did not promise I would be carrying AED250,000 in unmarked cash with me. I am not accustomed to people so uninterested in leasing their properties. It's not like I came in from the goat farm or walked in from the labor camp or something. And BH is allegedly one of the better ones.

Findings in propertyfinder.ae are pretty interesting. There are so many small realtors (all showing RERA license numbers) that one can't tell who is real and who is not. I did visit an interesting brand new, still-being-worked-on 2 BR villa (135k) made largely of marble, in some place I didnt know existed called Barsha South, brand new but the villas are all literally on an unpaved road (the curbs and gutters are in, agent says "6 month they pave road").

I also get the sense from the second agent I talked today that people literally need to form over the money the same day for anything halfway decent. This one agent is a Springs specialist, and of the four 3 bedroom units I saw, one was actually really nice and well maintained, but they wanted 160k (for the Springs????????) firm and cash by tomorrow. I thought it was a renters' market out there!! Guess no one told a lot of folks there.....

Anyway, I am convinced there will be a largely unsatisfactory compromise between enough space, reasonable price, good condition and good location (can't have all four, actually may be lucky to get two). I guess even paved roads may be a luxury now.

[lxinuk]

Yee haa, we just signed on the dotted line, and handed over our chqs.....very happy, nearly settled!!!!

L

[ziokendo]

Originally Posted by rsinner

Maybe Better Homes are ....

Probably more professional than a number of agents here because they actually answer the phone or call back.

I confirm your awful experience with them, missed appointments, wrong informations, etc: maybe they don't care about rents and put their focus only on sales, but why bother offering the service at all in that case, is only hurting their reputation.

I can reccomend bigJimbo agency as well altough I didn't deal with him, but with a lady called Joanne when I had to rent my current house and was happy overall with her professionalism.

[Bigjimbo]

Originally Posted by lxinuk

But anyone could be a scam, how do we safeguard? We've just arrived and agreed a villa. About to hand over deposit, fees, and 2 chqs! How do we protect ourselves?

L

Make sure you sign an agreement between you and the landlord, not a sub lease "managed property". There are plenty of proper managed properties out there, but in that case ask to see the management agreement at their offices.