Any real estate agents out there? Does this seem odd to you?

[papabear]

Prob didn't make it clear but he withheld telling the vendor our first offer until the others put theirs in.

Anyway it all worked out, a better place came up a couple of weeks later.

then everyone wins!

 

[_Johnsy]

I thought there'd at least be a period of a week or so where the vendor may have fielded several offers. Seems I was wrong.

When I purchased my current house 10 years ago, things moved a lot slower. Anyway, looks like I need to adjust my tactics.

If they had a price in mind and received an offer for that amount or more, why wouldn't the take it? When I moved back from Townsville, my house was under contract within 1 & 1/2 hours from the first open house, and we got above the asking price.

No need to adjust tactics, do your homework, have financed organise, see a house, decide if you want to purchase, make an offer you think the house is worth. Never go above a "reasonable" value for the house. IMO anyway.

 

[kia ora storm]

Am I missing something ?...are you guys putting offers in without getting the Section 32 reviewed ?.

Not sure if that is a Victorian thing or not but most buyers here get the Section 32 and Contract of Sale reviewed before putting in an offer.

Also...do you not get a building and pest inspection done ?.

 

[_Johnsy]

I was recently looking to buy our first home.
The agent was a guy a knew from school, didn't know him well but we were on first name basis.
He promised 'I'll look after you, I'm not like other agents'
Anyway we made an offer, just under the asking price, and there was another couple looking at it at the same time. We were familiar with the area and knew the vendors were keen to sell as they were planning on going away
He said I'll get back to you.
A couple of hours later he rings back and says 'the other couple have made an offer, the vendors are ready to accept either offer, yours is higher but I'm going to get both parties to put one final offer by midday tomorrow.'
We thought this sounds dodgy as f**k so we offered $1 over the asking price.
The others obviously offered more and got it.
I suppose he was trying to get the most for the property but f**king two parties like that to get over the asking price was pretty low.
I won't be recommending him to anyone.

Exactly the same scenario when we were looking to buy a few years ago on the GC. Luckily enough we had 3 properties we liked. The agent rang and tried the old other interested parties. We were driving and the wife put him on loudspeaker. It was obvious that he was just trying to push the price up. So I calmly stated that i would like to officially withdraw our offer. The old "I can speak with the vendor again and ummms & aahhhs came thick and fast. he almost choked on his mobile. It was hilarious.

Real estate agents are just retail workers (albeit expensive retail). The sense of over inflated self importance always makes me giggle. Untrustworthy bastards (not all) but a majority I have come across.

 

[no name]

Exactly the same scenario when we were looking to buy a few years ago on the GC. Luckily enough we had 3 properties we liked. The agent rang and tried the old other interested parties. We were driving and the wife put him on loudspeaker. It was obvious that he was just trying to push the price up. So I calmly stated that i would like to officially withdraw our offer. The old "I can speak with the vendor again and ummms & aahhhs came thick and fast. he almost choked on his mobile. It was hilarious.

Real estate agents are just retail workers (albeit expensive retail). The sense of over inflated self importance always makes me giggle. Untrustworthy bastards (not all) but a majority I have come across.

The agent for the property we ended up buying was so much better to deal with.
There was far more interested parties in the property but as soon as we put our offer in she rang the vendor and the deal was pretty much done. Very similar properties in a highly sought after area, both vendors keen for a quick sale, two completely different ways of dealing with customers.

Agents like the first one gives the industry a bad name.

 

[papabear]

Am I missing something ?...are you guys putting offers in without getting the Section 32 reviewed ?.

Not sure if that is a Victorian thing or not but most buyers here get the Section 32 and Contract of Sale reviewed before putting in an offer.

Also...do you not get a building and pest inspection done ?.

Victorian and NSW market is very different.

 

[Parra]

I can promise you I know more about the workings of a real estate office than yourself.

I'm pointing out that an extra $30k for the vendors doesn't equal massive amounts of dollars in the agents pockets.

A PA is paid for by the office?!? This isn't some corporate world, you run a business within a business. The agent absorbs everything.

How would this scenario play out from an agents point of view?


Let's say I think my property will get $600k as a fair price

Agent agrees - but we both know that this could be $620k for the right buyer.

So I propose that I'll take $600k, but I'm willing to go 50/50 on anything over this.

(ie) You get $620k for the property - you get an extra 10 grand commission.

 

[Parra]

Am I missing something ?...are you guys putting offers in without getting the Section 32 reviewed ?.

Not sure if that is a Victorian thing or not but most buyers here get the Section 32 and Contract of Sale reviewed before putting in an offer.

Also...do you not get a building and pest inspection done ?.

All 'subject to..."

It's a bit annoying when you hear of agents treated a normal sale like some sort of fake auction. Rules are different for auctions.

 

[Different kind of Rabbit]

Ok, so back on the treadmill again...

Went to an open house last Saturday for a place that the wife and I really liked. Once again, this one is up for sale by private treaty. This time, we called the agent Saturday night. Once again, I went through to voicemail but I left a message stating that we intended to make an offer and that I wanted him to call me back first. Didn't care what time.

Sure enough, I got the call back later Saturday night. This was great because I wanted to discuss the process with him.

I told him that my solicitor wasn't available to review the contracts until Monday morning and that I would make my offer pending contract review, which the agent said was ok.

He stated that he'd had a few interested parties and that he would field offers via email and take them to the owner on Monday.

So I've sent him an offer which I think is fair and reasonable. Not quite at the top end of what I can afford, but still $25k greater then where the offers were meant to start.

I've also sent the contract off to my solicitor this morning for review.

So now we play the waiting game...

Will be interesting to see what comes back. I'm expecting the following standard answer-

-"You're well off the mark. You need to offer > $x"

 

[Vic Mackey]

How would this scenario play out from an agents point of view?


Let's say I think my property will get $600k as a fair price

Agent agrees - but we both know that this could be $620k for the right buyer.

So I propose that I'll take $600k, but I'm willing to go 50/50 on anything over this.

(ie) You get $620k for the property - you get an extra 10 grand commission.

Are you still paying a standard comm on the sale than an extra incentive if they get over a certain figure? Or is it just 50% of everything over $600k?

 

[Parra]

Are you still paying a standard comm on the sale than an extra incentive if they get over a certain figure? Or is it just 50% of everything over $600k?

Standard comm + >600k bonus comm @ 50%

 

[Dogs Of War]

Geez that sounds a lot to give up. I'd think something closer to 15-20% would be better. Still heaps of incentive for the agent to work hard.

 

[Vic Mackey]

Standard comm + >600k bonus comm @ 50%

Way too much. It's your asset. Personally I don't agree with the added incentive. Getting the highest possible price should be incentive enough, it's their job. The extra incentive is you being a happy client and referring them future business.

If you really want too though 10% is more than generous enough.

 

[Parra]

I figure the extra is for the extra effort that can be put in at that end of the deal.

The extra 20k is a big deal to me, but not really worth the effort for the agent. Their return diminishes - every extra dollar for me is only cents to them.

There is a study on this - I think it is outlined in Freakonomics.

 

[Parra]

The study showed that properties owned by agents are on the market longer on average that everyone else's properties. This was because they would hold out for the best price - every extra dollar was a dollar for them. Conversely, for a customer property they would recommend accepting an earlier offer. They could wait & work for a better deal, but it wouldn't be worth their time. The couple of weeks wait could mean thousands for the owner. It is not suggesting corrupt behaviour - simply suggesting that the laws of economics hold true.

 

[Different kind of Rabbit]

So I made an offer in writing on Sunday night on a three bedroom house and what has happened since has been rather interesting so I'll fill you all in. (the numbers that I mention are an accurate representation and not exact).

The house that I made an offer on has been advertised as "Offers from $730,000" and is for sale by private treaty. This is about average for a 3 bedroom house in the area.

As mentioned previously, I spoke to the agent on Saturday night and he mentioned that he would like any offer in writing by Monday morning. I made an offer in writing on Sunday night of $755,000. Slightly above average but the house is an above average house.

I was called on Monday afternoon to say that I would hear a decision on Wednesday morning.

9pm Tuesday night I get a voicemail from the agent saying that "the vendor wishes to sell tonight" and that I should call him back to discuss.

I call him back immediately and can't get through. Leave a voicemail saying that I'll call him back in 10 minutes if I haven't heard from him sooner. Eventually I get through to him and I ask him what the deal is?

He says that they've had about 15 offers and that "the vendor will sell at... I mean we have a bid for $850,000". He stumbled while saying this so I know that he f**ked up.

Of course, I laughed at him and told him that this was too extravagant for what the house was actually worth and that if he could get $850,000 then good luck to him.

I look online again today and the house is still up for sale and they've booked another open house for this weekend.

I've since sent the agent a text and mentioned that I've noticed this and that I thought it a shame that the big bid had fallen through. I then mentioned that if he and the vendor decide at some point that they wish to come back to reality, then I am still interested at around the $750k mark and that they are welcome to talk to me again.

I think that if they get through this weekends open house without attracting a bigger offer then I will expect a call from the agent at about this time next week with his tail between his legs.

Hopefully I have another installment to add to this story in the near future.