G'day
Just curious what people say when agents ask you what your price range is. Do you say something like:
No higher than…
Or a range within … to ….Do you give away what your maximum value is ?
Any comments appreciated.
CheersHi JKF, An interesting question. I presume that you are asking from the perspective of a Purchaser and not a Seller.
The sad reality for Purchasers is that most agents just don't care. The real possibility of helping is limited to the extent of the listings that an agent has to offer (Although we often don't know what we may list in the next few days from your enquiry). In order to explain this a little clearer try this example. I listed a property on the Friday night and by the first open house (8days later) I had received 84 enquiries – only one person can buy the property so presumably there are 83 people out there still looking. Now I sell around 30 to 40 properties a year, so the simple maths tells me that I can't help all of them. I do however find that I am personally attracted to a small percentage of them who treat me with a degree of respect and open honesty. I find that I will do everything that I can to assist these people – unfortunately if I don't have the listing there is little that I can do.
Taken from another angle, there is a saying in the industry that goes 'Buyers are liers' so I guress that most agents won't believe what you say anyway. Statistics also show that the average Purchaser spends somewhere between 10 and 15% higher than they planned to.
I hope that this sheds some light on your question.
Jon
You need to be reasonably up front about the range you are looking in, otherwise the agent has no parameters within which to work. I never reveal my upper limit though, but give a range that I am comfortable with.
In my experience, agents will usually throw in a number of properties above your range anyway; no harm in trying, right? I used to work in sales several years ago, and part of our training was to start with the most expensive product first and work down, so "selling up" is a normal sales strategy in all industries.
If you are very clear about what you want they will not waste as much of your time with unsuitable properties. Make a list of your criteria and give it to your agent and let them go to work.
On the other side of the coin, there is nothing worse for an agent than a purchaser who doesn't give them specifics, or constantly changes what they want.LA Aussie says,
On the other side of the coin, there is nothing worse for an agent than a purchaser who doesn't give them specifics, or constantly changes what they want.Marc, this is so true. You can't help people who don't know what they want. I would like a dollar for every buyer who has told me that they don't know what the want but they will know it when they see it. Good – keep looking, but not with me.
Jon
L.A Aussie wrote:I used to work in sales several years ago, and part of our training was to start with the most expensive product first and work down, so "selling up" is a normal sales strategy in all industries.Isn't this where the "rule of threes" comes into play? eg. show them something a bit slummy, something a bit expensive, then something about what they're looking for in quality and price and they'll overlook the shortcomings.
I haven't worked in sales so I haven't got immediately applicable experience to draw from. I know from my days of working in a call centre doing tech support (thankfully long behind me) I was most inclined to help the customers who'd clearly tried to resolve things themselves and just explained the whole situation. Evasive or lazy customers were unlikely to find techs that would go out of their way to help them. I assume this is the case in a lot of industries.
Perhaps Jon would comment about this point: I suspect that you are more inclined to hold the hand of first buyers or go a bit further to push a deal through for an investor if they have clearly tried, within their means, to make the deal work. A first buyer might not know all the ins and outs of buying property but they can still demonstrate that they've sunk time into working out what they can afford to buy. If I were the agent i think i'd be inclined to help those who help themselves.
Relating to the original point, I think if you're dealing with an agent who is just trying to fulfill the role of intermediary they probably appreciate anything done that makes it easier for them to tie down a deal. Naturally it all comes down to price in the end and a figure at least close to what you'll really pay probably helps. (note my lack of expertise in this area – just some thoughts)
Hi Else,
In answer to your post, I find that while I fully understand that all prospective purchasers must go through a stage of self education in respect to what their money will buy, it is more often the case that Buyer expectation exceeds reality.
In saying that, I believe that there are perhaps four things that a Purchaser should know
1. How much the bank will loan them. ( A pre approval would be good and in fact may help to negotiate a better buy price)
2. Where they would like to live (What Suburbs)
3. What features they must have (No of bedrooms, close to tpt, schools etc, high set low set and so on)
4. The name, address and contact number of the Solicitor and Building Inspector that they will use.Jon
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