Hi Folks,
As I’m relatively a young chap with a small family here I thought I would share this with everyone and see if I can get any responses…
Today I spoke with a Metro Sydney real estate agent and asked him the following questions(during which I paid particular attention to his psyche). As you are aware the Sydney metro market is in a spin.
Rodg:
“How many people have given you written offers?”
Agent: [pause] “..Ah..we never get written offers.”
Rodger: [stunned]. “So you have never received or seen a written offer”
Agent: [staring at me perplexed]. “No..never”
Rodg:
“How many buyers do you get asking for specific terms or conditions on the purchase of the property BEFORE contracts have been exchanged?”Agent:
“Never. They simply fill in the sheets required under law(ie. 0.25% deposit and contract for sale of land or exchange contracts)?”
Rodg: “No subject to finance clauses or building reports etc?”
Agent: “No we never deal with this…we let we just sell property..we let the solicitors deal with that after the contracts are signed and the 10% has been paid”
At this stage I am bewildered…After buidling up my education over the last few months and listening to the latest round of master series tapes I thought that I was living on another planet.
When I pulled out my PATTERN sheets he asked what I was doing…and then proceeded to almost make out that I was really going about things in a very unorthodox and uncharacteristic manner…to a point where I almost felt that he wanted to say “Hey kid, I don’t know what your trying to pull but this is how its done around here..and thats that…”
Has anyone encountered the same thing or experienced the same feelings when they started out?
Rodg
Hi Rodger,
The majority of agents aren’t investors themselves, just salespeople. Whether or not he was telling you his real experiences, you’ll find the more agents you deal with, the more you’ll realise that it’s your game and you make the rules.
Written offers mean that the agent has to legally submit the offer to the vendor, and can save a great deal of confusion over the terms later. I always submit written offers only.
When I first started out I was trying to impress the agents. Then I realised that nomatter how you look or act, it’s putting your money where your mouth is that really matters to them and I’m not in this business to worry about what other people think about me.
You’ll be surprised how quickly you pick up on things – tapes can give you a lot of value, but the experience of getting out there easily eclipses it.
Good luck,
Marcus.Hi Rodger
I wholeheartedly agree with Marcus.
It is your game, so don’t let them bluff you !
We have _always_ submitted written offers, in fact we always use our own contract and fax in a full application to the agent.
There are pluses and minuses with this, but we have found that it shows very clearly that you are serious. One good point is that the agent has her/his time saved as you have written the offer.
Also remember, there is no contract until it is reduced to writing.
cheers, Bruce
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