Can You Recommend A Buderim Real Estate Agent?

[Kath Russell]

We are moving to Buderim from October this year. We are looking to purchase another IP & / or our PPOR.

Can anyone please recommend a real estate agent / s in or around the Buderim area, Sunshine Coast, QLD who is human, easy going and willing to help.

I may've put bad vibes out, but before my first telephone call a few days ago to an agent regarding a particular property, I mentioned to my husband, before I give her many details, I'll try & get a feel for her & if we get along, I'll ask her to keep an eye out for us for other properties aswell. I've worked in real estate for years so have a 'thing' about agents unfortunately. This lady was no exception & it put me off a bit. The conversation was kind of like this :

Agent : Hello, I'm returning your call about "this" property. (after 3 messages & an email)

Me : Great, thanks for your call, I have a few queries about a property that was passed in

A : Do you need to sell first to buy?

Me : No

A : Do you have finance arranged?

Me : We're awaiting confirmation now.

A : Well the property got an offer on it the day after it was passed in with
only 1 condition.

Me : Well, does that mean I can't ask questions about it & put an offer in on it still?

A : Well, with only 1 condition, I'm sure the sale will go through.

Me : How much was the offer?

A : Well, I can't tell you that.

Me : Why not?

A : I can't divulge that

Me : Why not, if you think it's going to settle at that price it'll help me price other houses in the area as it seem either underpriced or the owners are desperate to sell.

The conversation didn't last much longer. I asked her about standard QLD inspections ie Pest, building, pool and it felt like she didn't care & then just wanted my email address. I had a laugh thinking back to things I've read on the forum where you feel you need to give your a DNA sample to get anywhere and I was expecting that too!

Were my questions or answers wrong? I don't bother with 'fluff' but I'm certainly not abrupt either. Anyone got a script?

 

[Propertunity]

Well Kath, the REA seems (to me) to be doing her job properly. She went through a scrip to "qualify" you. You did not qualify as you did not yet have finance approval (you said still waiting confirmation).

No REA is going to tell you the amount of another offer until is has been exchanged.

However, IF she was a bit smarter, she would have given you a 'price range' and a few comparables and at least made an attempt to get your future business and also give you the impression she knows her market / prices. Maybe she thinks she does not need it

There are plenty of ways (perhaps) that you could have answered better to start the relationship. For example, instead of the Spanish Inquisition:
Me : How much was the offer?
Me : Why not?
You could have said something like: I know you cannot tell me what the other offer is, but since my finance will be approved in a couple of days, it would help me get a feel for prices in the area if you could give me some comparables.

 

[Andrew_A]

Try and work around the question to get to the answer, agreed about the direct approach not being the best try.

* I'm guessing based on the market at the moment the sellers got pretty close to their list price?

* Property X nearby is very similar and recently sold for Y$, how does this property compare? And keep refining based on comparables, inferior and superior properties. The idea is just to be chatty and non threatening and always play down any knowledge you have and praise the agents work and knowledge.

And so on, sometimes you can get a concrete number out of the agent but more often you can get a pretty good idea even if they don't reveal.