Just wanted to get a few view on NJ, who is massively anti wrapping, and very pro vendor.
I read his books, absolutely sheer brilliant. I believe that anyone who has anything to do with real estate should read them. Just the questions to ask the agents listed- used them all, and its amazing how much private, personal information that most (even the jenman agents!) will reveal that are gold to the purchaser during negotiations.
He is antiwrapping, but so what, the wrapping concept will benefit him in terms of massive free publicity both now and in the years and decades to come. So, I would argue that he is personally benefiting financially from wrapping (even forgetting about the commission he makes from selling houses to wrappers!)
He makes the comment in his books, very proudly, repeatedly, and robustly, that if you can negotiate 35k above the vendors price, this is a massive gain for the vendor, as “how long would it take the vendor to save 35k”. This is presented as fair, and desirable. But equally distressing, if he wishes to be realistic, he must also sleep at night after getting blood out of a stone, and landing a purchaser with a loan of 35k more than was needed. The battlers hero jenman is not!
Perhaps the most poignant position of his book is when he quotes another estate agent saying his commissions have quadroupled over the last few (I think he quotes 10) years, and this was before the even more massive boom after his book was printed. Obviously, the fees are percentage based. Housing here in gosford has doubled over the last four years, but I would bet my last dollar that their commission has stayed the “same” (in percentage terms). In dollar terms his prices he charges the vendors to sell their houses have doubled in four years (or less)! And he is continually quoting in his book how he will benefit the vendor! He could get them another 10k Immediately by giving a fixed price similar to what he charged five years ago.
And he has a problem with us taking out the risk of a 25 year loan, adding a margin to the interest rate of 2.5% (when the bank added 3% before they lent it to us!), and adding a mark up to the price of the house. Interestingly, he quotes this all as “pure profit”, which is nonsensical, as the costs of application fees, holding fees, agents fees, stamp duty on house and mortgage fees, insurance fees, etc, etc, etc take a huge chunk out of our profit
Angel or devil- comments please
paulpaul,
Neil is a real pro when it comes to marketing.
Some of what he has to say is very good and some of it is, in my opinion, sheer junk that simply appeals to the “easy thinkers” like many of our “current affairs” shows do.
It’s good that he pushes for better quality / standards within the RE industry. There are still plenty of agents who really do their vendors a disservice and he wants to see them out.
His issue with wrapping seems to come from a transaction a friend of his entered into around 25 years ago that went bad – hence his logic is all VF deals are done exactly the same.
I have attempted to contact him to get his response on the issue that he is an advocate to ban wrapping yet he benefits ( directly or indeirectly) through his business arrangements where agents knowingly sell properties to wrappers. I suggested that if he was truely committed to banning wrapping, then he should instruct his team to never knowingly sell a property to a wrapper. (much the same as advocating for a cigarette ban but then teach people how to sell them to smokers!)
To date, I’ve received no relpy. Oh well. [}
]I also see clear and obvious contradictions in his books on his fav’ topic of auctions. Read why he hates auctions and then read his rules on buying at auctions. The two don’t match up!
An as you point out, it’s strange he thinks it’s unethical to sell at below market price, but ethical to sell at well above it.
I guess it’s the fact the Agent must act for the vendor, so it must be ok. I wonder what happens when his vendor becomes a buyer? Might not be friends any more! [
]Still, he’s entertaining and I’ve got some of my very best buys through his “approved” offices. And his trained guys aren’t quite as annoying to deal with as some.
Enjoy
John B
I believe that this topic should be transferred to the “Opinionated!” forum, as it contains a number of opinions, and does not engage in the nuts and bolts of how to wrap, as per policy.
kay henry
PaulPaul
Welcome to the forum, I have moved your post to Opinionated as it is not directly related to Wrapping and is a general discussion of a persons/companies work.
Thank you Kay, I agree with your comments.
Regards
Leigh K[]Carve your own path and lead the way …
Rebecca?
I am sure you have something to add here…
Sue []“Be careful not to step on the flowers when you’re reaching for the stars”
It’s so easy to be critical and cynical…
As a new property investor, Jenman’s book has made me aware of some of the practices going on in the real estate industry. That saved me thousands when selling a property. In the absence of regulation, education is one of the best defences for most of us.
Sure, Jenman is also promoting his business and making money at the same time. Is that a reason to knock him?
For the cynicals out there, there are enough unethical people operating operating in the industry that would deserve the sort of negative comments that I read about Jenman in this forum.
Paulpaul
Why does he have to be either? Maybe he’s somewhere in the middle – a man with lots of strong opinions who gets lots of media coverage.
Personally I regard Neil in the same way I regard most information I receive – I read/listen to what he says, analyse it for myself, and determine my OWN opinion.
I don’t think any guru is truly an “angel” (sorry Steve! []) – in the end they are all human beings, and all human beings have their moments when they are less than perfect in some way. Perhaps instead of elevating people to guru status, we should stick with accepting they’re humans who’ve been very successful at a certain field of endeavour, and value their information on how to duplicate that, instead of assuming that they will be just as successful at other, unrelated things or that somehow that success makes them perfect in every way.Keep smiling
FelicityLike everyone he has his motivations and seems to be doing really well. His views are definitely not allined to many on this forum. I often ask the questin who is the estate agent working for the buyer or the seller. My experience they are working for themselves trying to get a sale at any cost so they get paid. I would do the same under similar circumstances. As is Neil Jenman who is garanteed to be paid only haveing exclusivie listing hence no competion. Lets be honest at the end of the day it is buyer and seller beware!
]
]
]
You must be logged in to reply to this topic. If you don't have an account, you can register here.
