There have been some hard times of late within the residential property industry and it’s not easy for both buyers and sellers to know when they have an agent they can trust. Landlords of rented properties don’t always fare much better, either.

A few months back we took on a property in an area where there were several houses for sale simultaneously. With so much competition, this particular property appeared not to sell and the owner decided to instruct a different agent, cheaper online agent. Fair enough. We sent the customary letter accepting termination of our contract together with a list of all the people who had viewed the property through us and reminding the owner that there could be liability to paying our commission if one bought within six months.

Amazingly, six months and one day later one of those potential buyers exchanged contracts on the property a day outside the time when, under the old Property Ombudsman rules, we could have claimed a commission for introducing a successful buyer.

But here, in a twist of the old “buyer beware” adage, sellers need to be aware, too. The rules have changed and these days drawing up a memorandum of sale, not exchanging contracts, introduces the double fee jeopardy. The new estate agent is supposed to explain this but in case that doesn’t happen, bear this piece of advice in mind or the sale could be very expensive with two sets of fees to pay.

I also sold a house to a couple recently who had properties to sell in order to complete their purchase. I valued their homes and they were happy to come on with me, they said. The next day I got a call saying a friend who worked for another agency had convinced them they could sell for more and signed them up to a contract charging 1.25 per cent of the initial asking price, not the eventual selling price.

Having then overvalued and signed them up, very soon the agent rang to say the prices were too high and needed to drop to the values I had initially given. Cue two very upset clients who now realised they had been stitched up on a commission deal to gain their agent a few extra pounds. That’s the type of bad practice that gets all estate agents a bad name.

My agencies also run a lettings business and this involves managing properties and overseeing repairs. We charge landlords a percentage of the rental income for the service. Recently we arranged a small repair at a property through a tradesman I have used for years. When the job was done he called to ask me if I wanted 10 per cent added to the bill he presented so that the landlord would in effect pay me twice for doing my job as the extra would come back to me as an introductory fee from the tradesman.

It’s not the type of thing I do so I declined, much to the tradesman’s surprise because so many other agents were asking him to do the same. So landlords beware when you get a bill for a repair that seems to cost a little bit (or maybe a lot) more than seems reasonable!

Colin Shairp, director Fine and Country Southern Hampshire and Town and Country Southern estate agencies.<