You’re lucky they even did a drive-by. I’m an agent and get calls from valuers all the time, they ask us whether we can remember whether something is brick or w/b – etc etc. So count yourself lucky that they actually bothered to get into the car. As for your interpretation of market price, and your opinion that it should be higher than what you paid a year ago – is it possible that you’re a bit biased in your view? The market hasn’t done too much in the way of positive growth in the last year (in general).

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Fair enough, as agents we get paid out of the vendor’s eventual price, but a cashed up buyer is better than listings that dont sell. Therefore, let the agent know exactly what youre looking for, tell them how flexible you are with those requirements and then a range youre looking to buy in.

Stick to the one agent within each agency so that they think youre only dealing with them – there’s nothing worse than someone who is trying to milk every agent. The agent needs to know you’re keen and not just wasting their time, not just window shopping. Once you’ve convinced them of that, they’re yours.

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As an agent, I agree with Dr X. The market determines the price your property is worth, it’s just how you get your property out there into the marketplace. At our agency, if we have an exclusive authority and someone wants out, obviously we’ll have a meeting to see why they are unhappy with our services, but really, what’s the point in us keeping a listing that has an angry vendor? Sure you may eventually get everyone on side, but we believe that vendors should be able to move agents if we’re not giving them the service we said we would when we listed their property. Just seems fair.
As far as advertising goes, I would go to the agent and say you’ll only pay half – I dont have your listing so it doesnt bother me how you approach it, but I believe it would be more effective than all or nothing, otherwise you’ll only get small ads, and your house will sit on the market longer than it otherwise would. However, definitely negotiate.

If I can help with anything, just let me know. Im in Victoria too, so may be able to let you know what different agents are like, and how they differ.

Thanks, Mark.

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katfrat, I would suggest your original agent has probably gone in with a high valuation just to get the listing and see what comes up (sometimes you find the right buyer and they’ll pay well over ‘market price’ to get a property). If you’ve had to drop it 70k, either the local market in your area has taken a real dive, or the market is telling you that you’re still too expensive. If you were getting offers, then at least you know what the market is willing to pay, but with no offers, you would probably want to think about a different agent with better marketing (which it sounds like you’ve done) or asking a reasonable ‘market price’ rather than starting a little bit higher and negotiating back to what you want. Unfortunately from the sounds of things, the buyers aren’t willing to pay your price at the moment. Plz PM me if I can help at all with referrals etc to a better agent

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Although REA’s have a reputation only one notch above used car salesmen, I just read this post in a different light. They’re supposed to disclose everything about the property and get the best price they can for the vendor, so how did the agent do the wrong thing by reelygood1 if they were a legitimate purchaser? Would it have been better (ethically) for the agent to have just made the offer and purchased the property without giving the interested party (reelygood1) the right to know that dealings were happening and offers were being put on the table?

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Personality. The PM at our office is great – and it shows. 26yrs experience – one of the best PM’s in our area, and all because of her personality. The office staff deal with the majority of the behind the scenes paperwork that can be done by anyone, while she concentrates on the one-to-one situations, whether it be with landlords, tenants or service-people.
Her personality is great, and she shows it to those in all conversations, and our rent-rolls reflect her bubbly personality and success just stems off that. There are rarely problems of any nature in our PM division.
Personality is the key.

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Why are you a member of this forum Property Trader? If it’s for self satisfaction, then ok, just do a few posts and leave it at that, but the atmosphere is generally friendly here, with people such as Rob (The Mortgage Adviser) who are willing to share their knowledge, thoughts and opinions to help others, and hopefully they can learn a few things and make a few connections in the meantime.

As for your deals, however you did them, well done, but in the future please post to help others or share opinions, rather than being a show-off – that doesnt help anyone.

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I’m not sure if the conflict of interest laws are the same in other states (dont know if its federal or state), but the agent would be dodging those laws since he won’t acquire a share in the property and the title isn’t in his name at any stage. I’m tipping the female agent was in on it too. Think about it, she offers you a $2000 discount in commission fees, you stay with her as your agent. She may or may not be submitting all offers to you as required by law, which makes it seem like there’s little interest in your property. This other ‘friend’ comes in, offering 20g below valuation, knowing that his shifty salesman skills will be able to turn your place around and profit by at least 20grand himself, perhaps with the female as a party to the crime too.

Bottom line, get a new agent – you’re employing them. If I was a manager/boss of an employee in charge of an asset worth a few hundred thousand and they acted like your agent has, they would be long gone by now, fired as soon as things got a bit sour.

As far as the lady acting nicely etc – i’d smile and call you every now and again for the money her and her partner will make if you sell to them!

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An asset is only worth what someone is willing to pay for it. The vendor could list the place for 950, and if you got it say 30grand cheaper, you would think you’re getting a bargain. But basically it’s been on the market for a while because no-one is willing to pay that much for it. Therefore, it’s obviously not worth the asking price (or previous prices).

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The course costs $250 for the agents rep one. I have done it, having thought it would teach me a few things, but no, it’s pretty much useless. I’ve almost finished the agent’s licence course (in Victoria by the way), and that too is terrible. Most of the material hasn’t been updated for about 10 years, and the laws etc that have changed since are bundled together on the front of each module, but make it harder to follow & understand what’s current.

Sorry about the rant… Anyway… like Ausprop was saying in the second part of their post, the legal obligations make it a mess since the REIV (and other equivalents) are trying to improve the public perception of agents, so full disclosure as well as approval from authorities are now required. For this very reason, I’m not sure if I’ll completely finish the course, since then I will have those requirements to disclose everything to vendors, when really I won’t be acting as an agent.

Bottom line – investing in R.E would become messy, and the course isn’t very detailed/informative at all. Part of the licence requirements are that as well as the accedemic side of things, you must complete 12-months of full-time work experience, which I guess is where most agents learn the details of the job, since the course is fairly basic.

Hope this is of some assistance – Merry Xmas everyone

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