Do buyers agents develop a negative reputation?

[Ian (WA)]

Sounds pretty basic but I am wondering if buyers agents develop any negative sentiment or reputation in the eyes of RE Agents?

Essentially I am considering using one, but I am wondering if I am going to get a significant price reduction on a prospective acquisition if a 'local' BA is well known by local RE Agents i.e. "....steer clear of him" and "....don't negotiate with him" type of stuff.

Is it feasible that a BA can develop such negative sentiment amongst RE agents? I should imaging that if a BA is well known in a local market and is known for only wanting to drive a vendors asking price down (particularly if it has been ramped up by a RE agent initially), then RE agents may just put up the shutters and refuse to deal with him.

Any thoughts greatly appreciated.

Cheers,

Ian.

 

[boods99]

that is an interesting question you pose...
Im very interested to hear the responses as im thinking of using a BA in the near future...

I have a feeling it depends on the BA...some may be more agressive than others, therefore giving themselves a reputation (good or bad) It may also have something to do with where they source their properties from. I mean, I was thinking, why dont I just approach a BA when trying to SELL my house, therefore not having any agents fees...will they match a buyer my house? Im CONFUSED!!!
Boods

 

[Ausprop]

I can't see why, personally if I were a REA I would be excited if they called - a good chance of driving out an offer. Offers usually create other offers and at the end of the day if the BA has the best offer then I would rather that than nothing

 

[Ian (WA)]

Boods & All,

An obvious response to my question would be along the lines of......RE agents may prefer to deal with BA's because the BA's clients are more than likely to be "qualified" buyers who are serious about an acquisition; so they may be inclined to negotiate down a tad to get a guaranteed sale for their month end figures :>)

The whole machination of the sales process requires a bit of give and take and two way street approach, but at the end of the day an agent may simply refuse to deal with a known hard negotiator.......I don't know; just pondering.

As for the reverse approach of letting BAs know you want to sell a property.....I think it could work if the BA is taken on board as a consultant of some degree without strictly signing on as the "sales agent"......I'm not sure if there would be any licencing restrictions on that side of things.

Ian

 

[Ian (WA)]

Hi Ausprop,

Sorry, your response came in as I was replying to Boods.

Yep, I concur with your thoughts in terms of most BAs and REAs.......they probably compliment eachothers end goals nicely.

But in terms of hard negotiators I would think that even if a BA was to make contact with an agent, conduct initial discussion and possibly submit a low ball offer for their client, and the REA presented the offer to the vendor but says....."look this guy has submitted this offer which I legally have to present to you, but don't accept it or deal with him because he's a BA and will only try to screw us down further etc etc...."

It may not happen like this in the real world, but I wouldn't be surprised if it did.

Ian

 

[Michael Yardney]

Interestingly buyer’s agents are a relatively new breed of agent

When they first started appearing on the scene in Melbourne in the 90’s many agents were suspicious of them. This was compounded by the fact that a couple of high profile buyers agents acted in a confrontational manner.

Most agents love working with buyers agents because it gives them leverage. For example they know that when they ring us at Metropole we have buyers waiting with capacity and intent to buy – not just tire kickers.

If you build a good relationship with the selling agent they will tell you what it takes to buy the property making negotiation so much easier.

They will talk to buyers agents that they have built a relationship with openly in a very different way to how they would negotiate with a “normal” buyer or even another agent (when egos come into play)

 

[Jontxu]

also...

As a buyer’s agent and property investor, I deal with real estate agents almost on a daily basis. One thing that I have noticed lately is that investors, mums and dads and buyers in general have become savvier on some of the technicalities of property investing. I have also noticed that agents are also catching up on this trend, meaning that unless you are familiarised with the area, have access to property data and transactions and negotiate property on a regular basis, chances are you will be over-paying on your next property purchase. Here are some of the reasons:

- Most real estate agents belong to networks that provides them with constant training (LJ Hooker, Ray White, etc, etc). This includes training in areas like dealing with investors, negotiating, psychology of selling, as well as many other areas.

- Novice investors tend to work out the value of a property by comparing what other properties are selling for (realestate.com.au, etc) and not by what they REALLY sold for. This is one of the biggest mistakes, as agents in most cases, list a property for sale, at the price the vendor tells them (just to win the gig).

- We all know that most agents do not invest in property; however they sell lots of property in their careers. They get the chance to practice their selling/negotiating skills many times more than even active investors.

- Unless you are an experience real estate investor (you have bought and sold more than a handful of properties), chances are your negotiation skills are not up to speed with those of the selling agent. I have seen many people “give in” to the conditioning tactics of some of the more experienced agents, resulting in buyers paying up to 20% to 25% above valuation price (very common these days).

- A total of 95% of investors only buys one investment property, meaning that the majority of investors are in great disadvantage when it comes to negotiating with a “trained” or experienced agent.

Happy Investing
Jon Salvador
www.headinghome.com.au
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