If you can do it yourself, do it. Otherwise here's my experience :
WeFindHouses – cheated the upfront fee and they just flog whatever rubbish they came across (realestate.com) and trying to pressure you so they get the commission
Hotpropertyspecialist – run it as if she was still a land rep
Metropole – more professional of the three, but the entry price is $530K for a smallish older property, can do better yourself.Hi Oneworld,
what service is each providing?
a) Are any of them charging you an upfront fee ie getting commitment from your part to allow them to start representation for you? with the balance upon execution of a contract of Sale?
b) Are they independent or are they trying to sell their 'own stock'?
c) Are you being funnelled into a sausage factory?
d) Are they showing you any options?
e) How detailed a brief have they sought from you?
f) How much research are they providing you with?
g) How do you go about making an informed decision without background information?
h) Are you being aligned with their in-house finance/legal 'experts'? – Have they disclosed the kickbacks from these organisations?Interesting feedback about your experiences oneworld. Did you raise these concerns with the respective agencies? Would like to know their responses if you did.
The level of service in the industry is very similar to selling agents in my experience, ie: The average agent or agency is just not that good and there are a relatively small amount who do a very good job and fully justify their charges, the skill of course is how to identify the first group from the second!
Scott No Mates wrote:Hi Oneworld,what service is each providing?
a) Are any of them charging you an upfront fee ie getting commitment from your part to allow them to start representation for you? with the balance upon execution of a contract of Sale?
b) Are they independent or are they trying to sell their 'own stock'?
c) Are you being funnelled into a sausage factory?
d) Are they showing you any options?
e) How detailed a brief have they sought from you?
f) How much research are they providing you with?
g) How do you go about making an informed decision without background information?
h) Are you being aligned with their in-house finance/legal 'experts'? – Have they disclosed the kickbacks from these organisations?Hi Scott,
I always get a smile when agencies publish their list of 10 must ask questions you have to ask your agent, of course said agency that published the list no doubt fulfills 100% of their own questions!
I suggest the following template when interviewing a prospective Buyers' Agent.
* Check insurance
* Check agency principal's history and character
* Ask for sample purchases similar to your target profile
* Do some digging yourself and verify knowledge and experience & what they have been buying
* Have a chat with 1-2 previous clients, talk about the weather.. whatever.. just throw in the question 'would you use X again?' and pay attention to the answerNone of this would take particularly long and it would solve a lot of problems I believe. Also it's not a scientific list yet, just a beginning and open to improvement!
In response to your questions I would answer
a) Definitely. 25% of total fee up front and remainder on unconditional.
b) Independent
c) No
d) A lot. Average search time 26 days, but maximum in 2010 was 4 months, plenty of properties carefully inspected.
e) Very detailed, the idea is to fulfill the client's needs rather than to push them in any particular direction, so working out all criteria and which are most important is critical.
f) Really a lot, something to ask for examples of when you are interviewing an agent!
g) I'm not sure I understand this question properly, without background info of client or property you can't do anything.
h) No, though some alignment can work well without conflict. Also all benefits and discounts passed 100% onto client.
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