Sunshine Coast…

I think you’ll find that most agents won’t reply to email enquiries unless they look particularly tempting. They probably get a couple of hundred emails per day, and if someone is overseas they aren’t likely to be seen as a ‘hot buyer’.

I don’t know what format you are sending your emails in, but I’d suggest compiling a short list of agents in the area, and putting together a very specific, clear plan of your objectives, then sending this to all of them. In this I’d include how much money you have to spend, when you are going to spend it buy, whether you have a pre-approval and specifically what specifically what type of property you are after, down to the number of bedrooms, bathrooms, land size, rented or not.

Put yourself in their shoes – they get an email either from someone overseas saying ‘I’d like to buy some property in Coolum’. They are going to think ‘sheesh, is this guy for real, or will I be wasting my time even replying’. Time is money to an agent, so unless you’re a hot prospect on a particular property then you’re unlikely to get much response.

However, if someone emails them and says ‘I’m looking for a 3 bedroom house within 5 km of Coolum town centre in the price range of $400,000 – 450,000. I have a pre-approved loan for that amount and I would like to purchase a property before the end of march. If you have anything suitable I can make a decision in a matter of days. Please contact me if you have any current listings’

Now if you got that email as an agent you’d be thinking, OK, I’ll scan my list and keep this guy in mind.

WHile it does happen, very few people buy property sight unseen so I can understand an agent’s reluctance to respond to an anonymous email lobbed from the other side of the world. You’ve also got to remember that an agent spends most of their time out and about, not driving the keyboard.

The other (radical!) strategy you could use is to actually pick up the phone and call an agent or two. You will get 30 emails worth of chit-chat achieved in about 2 minutes. The agent will know youare serious and is more likely to deal with you. There is nowhere in the world that you can’t ring Australia from, even if you’ve got to get up at 3 am to do it.

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‘if you do more of what you do, you’ll get more of what you’ve got’ -S.McKnight