Glenn 'sucked me in' with his pretence of being friendly and wanting to help an inexperienced buyer. I am 67, from the UK and no knowledge of how things work in SA. Glenn wanted all 'discussions/questions' to be verbal. I was happy with this. He told me there were 2 other offers on the property and told me exactly what they were. I am sure he will deny. I thought nothing about being told about the offers as this is normal in the UK. It wasn’t in writing! I now know why he wanted things verbally not e-mails. However, Glenn (thankfully) sent the following email which proved to be inaccurate: 'The extension was installed 18 years ago and approved by council, the deck was installed 10 years ago, the bathrooms were renovated 4 years ago should this help you as no issues have been raised with poor moisture in bathrooms from your builder’. He told me verbally the sellers couldn’t find their invoice from the plumber but gave me his name. 1. The extension was never approved. However, due to the time it had been 'in place' the council could do nothing about it. 2. I asked for measurements to ensure the decking was within the regulated distance from the property next door. Glenn said he would find out. He never came back. The decking is too near the boundary. 3. The seller did the plumbing work and tiled the bathrooms! Why did Glenn give me the name of a plumber who didn’t do the work in question? 4. The seller also did his own electrical, gas and joinery work - no qualifications. Illegal? Surely Glenn should have known? 5. Glenn told me the seller had Murrays Pest control in annually. I rang Murrays to book them in. Murrays had never been to the property! It had never been treated. 6. The fencing should be a specific shade of green, Glenn never told me. The seller has painted them grey. There is more. Costly, learning curve. Please take more care than I did when dealing with any Real Estate Agent. I am sure there are others around who are sadly unprincipled.
Glenn Nelson
