email only

hi all,

i deal with a lot of real estate agents ((and mostly ones from out of my town) - and one thing that really annoys me is that they just about all insist on using the phone to communicate with me.

I would much prefer to communicate with agents via email only. Maybe it is too impersonal for them, and/or maybe they are too used to using their phones. But i find that email is a better communication medium as then i have a record of all communications, and plus, i can do this at whatever time (as my hours are very strange). One other important reason, i just hate talking to them and much rather write to them.

So what can i do? I have mentioned to various agents to email me only but the vast majority of them still ring me.

How can i get around this? Does anyone have any success in using email only with agents?


Thanks


g
 
I would prefer if people Emailed me instead of calling aswell.

It is a time saver, and makes my day more productive.
 
How can i get around this? Does anyone have any success in using email only with agents?

Yes. You must put your instructions in writing to the agent as per your Agency Agreement. Be clear that you will not be taking calls and you want everything in an email....and that you will respond promptly. :)
 
I find property managers are more inclined to use email than sales people. PMs tend to do it because it's often in their best interest to have stuff in writing.
Sales people, on the other hand, have on occasion told me things that they would be ill advised to put in writing. And they know this.
 
I'm deaf and this is a huge issue for me. Real Estate Agents as a breed seem inordinately reluctant to use email. This drives me nuts!

Unfortunately it's a simple economic proposition. I consider it in terms of the 80/20 rule - they can spend 20% of their time interacting with 80% of people by whipping out their mobiles during free moments in the day. By the time they get around to their email, the deal is done or they know they'll get another 5 phone enquiries about it tomorrow.

There's a defensive element to it too - over the phone, they're not committing to anything in writing.

It worked out well though - my experiences with REAs led to me eschewing the services of PMs as well, a decision vindicated every time I read these forums! :)

PS - I'm watching Google Voice - it offers automatic transcription of voicemail into text, all they have to do is launch it in Australia. Imagine a platform where each side could use voice or text as they chose, and still interact using the standard phone system!
 
I have just gone through an interstate property transaction and made it clear from the start that I cannot speak at work due to lack of privacy. The agent quite happily complied. Makes it much easier when juggling other deals as you always have something to refer back to.
 
leave a message on your answering machine saying please leave your email address so that I can repond to your message by email.
 
One other important reason, i just hate talking to them and much rather write to them.

And some people are the opposite - much prefer talking to writing.

REAs (and salespeople generally) include a high proportion of talkers who can do a slick sales spiel but have problems writing three words together in a sentence. And they can be lousy with the paperwork.

They're not necessarily unintelligent, but probably didn't care much for school or formal education. Hence their career in an industry that values sales results over education and qualifications.

But none of that's our concern.

Though I don't like REAs phoning to interrupt me at work and would prefer email, I think it's most effective for buyers to communicate via the means the agent finds more comfortable. If we manage to do that we can build a rapport with the agent, which may help negotiate something we value, eg $10k off the price!

The other benefit of the phone is instantaneous response. A quick to and fro on the phone might take 2 minutes, whereas the equivalent email exchange may require 3 or 4 emails, which on a tiny smartphone keypad are a pain to send.
 
Obviously no one on here works in sales, the reason why REA prefer to ring is email allows for no emotion, when they are on the phone there are certain "tells" for a sales person to understand if the person is any number of things from a keen buyer, someone testing the market, standard tire kickers etc etc. It is the same reason why when you walk in to a shop and someone comes up to you and says " Can I give you a hand with something", the real question they are asking is " Can I give you a hand spending your money".

I have to agree it does get a bit annoying but on the other hand please remember there are some tight ar$e sellers out there that will got through a real estate agent and not even pay to have there property advertised on the internet, once in a blue moon you might score one of these diamonds as the REA just wants to get rid of it as he is not making much money off it once he knows what type property you are keen on.

Jezza
 
Gee Whiz!!!


It is much quicker to ring a client then email and more time efficient!


I pay about $25 a week per property - for this money REA have to have a Receptionist to meet, greet and write out a receipt, bank rent money, pay bills and issue a statement, walk to post office and post letters & collect mail, scan documents into computer and mail to clients, issue breach notices etc.

Plus refer tenants to PM if they have a problem.

PM has to ring me to obtain instructions re problems or hubby, source tradespersons, source quotes if over a certain amount & present quotes to us for decision making, handle tenants weird & occasionally bizzare requests eg ask owners to reduce rent so we can save a house deposit, tell owners we do not appreciate them calling the police (owners were away and had no idea), don't like the tradesperson being sent out to fix problem, don't want the pest exterminator to spray inside property (but hey didn't tenants say they had ants).

Ohh and joy of joy PM's get to do 3 monthly property inspections, where they drive their car to the property inspect and point out damage to tenants or notify us of problems to be rectified.

AND - we have reasonably good tenants.


$1300 approximately per property - PM earns it. Now if I paid $100 per week in PM fees per property I might expect more communication in emails.

I may sound sarcastic but what exactly do you expect for your weekly fees & lets not forget REA communication systems and services costs eg. computer, hardrive back up, fax machines?

We have 2 reasonably new properties and pay about $50 a week in PM fees, I would rather work in my profession for an hour than perform self management for an hour each week.

At the end of the year we should have 4 IP's and may suggest to daughter she supplement her wage by managing our 4 properties to increase her income by $5200 per year but she will have to work for the money.


Sheryn
 
It all depends on what sort of tenants you have at that time.

We have always self-managed, and I find it a breeze, until you get a problem tenant. Then we work harder.

It is pretty much set and forget generally for us, but right now with three new tenants within a few weeks, I have actually spent some time doing things. It will all settle down again soon.
 
I find that people slot comfortably into one of three forms of communications.


Emailers / Phone Jockeys / Face to Facers


I like doing most of my work - especially the legal stuff on email.....and then when everyone gets stroppy at me, I smooth everything over with a face to face.
 
I find that people slot comfortably into one of three forms of communications.


Emailers / Phone Jockeys / Face to Facers


I like doing most of my work - especially the legal stuff on email.....and then when everyone gets stroppy at me, I smooth everything over with a face to face.


I must say I agree :)
 
must admit...and it seems like I am unique in some ways...as an agent I prefer email for a lot of the same reasons.

I can answer an email at anytime.
I can think about the information I want to provide and word it properly
I can double check prior to sending
I have a record of the conversation

etc. etc.
 
hi all,

just to clarify one point, my original message was referring to real estate sales only - not communications with PMs.

Anyway, after posting the original message, I've just completed a near email only transaction. I found a 8.2% return house in a town and did my normal research etc on it. emailed the agent with some questions, told him that i am only able to communicate via email. he replied, answered my questions, i then emailed him again with a few more questions - he emailed me back. But alas, he contradicted himself from his first email. So i had to call him to get that contradiction sorted out.

We then had our first and only chat on the phone. At about 13:00 yesterday (Thurs), I mailed him an offer and now i am in the land of anxiety while waiting for the vendor to respond....

If i can get out of this with only one phone call to the agent then i am happy.



thanks


g
 
hi all,

just to clarify one point, my original message was referring to real estate sales only - not communications with PMs.

I thought you were talking about PM's and agree that I like to have a record of everything communicated, however I think sometimes talking in person or on the phone may be of benefit if purchasing. I'm not talking from experience as I don't have a lot of experience, it's just a thought, but is it possible that agents might reveal more about a sale if there is no evidence? For example, if a property has been sitting around for a while and the agent wants to get rid of it, to tempt you into making an offer they could disclose that the vendor is in financial trouble, the sale is due to marriage break up, the vendor has already signed up a new property to purchase etc. and I doubt an agent would put this in writing. I know it's not very ethical of the agent, but who said they are all ethical? You could use this knowledge to determine the amount you offer.
 
however I think sometimes talking in person or on the phone may be of benefit if purchasing. I'm not talking from experience as I don't have a lot of experience, it's just a thought, but is it possible that agents might reveal more about a sale if there is no evidence?

that may be true but to tell you the truth, if am dealing with an unknown agent in a town that i know well, then i don't give too much creedence in what that agent may say.

I'd prefer to do my own checking and with various data services, i can tell the history of the property in question, and find out a lot of info. Yes it is true that the agent may have access to personal info about the property, but they could be spinning me any type of story as well. I'd prefer to check my own resources. Don't forget, i buy in towns that i know and research.

It'll be another story if it was an agent that i know from previous dealings and i felt comfortable going back to.



g
 
that may be true but to tell you the truth, if am dealing with an unknown agent in a town that i know well, then i don't give too much creedence in what that agent may say.

I agree, I'd NEVER take what an agent says as fact. Important things like 'you can sub-divide', 'that view will never built out' etc. I would ALWAYS research myself and find out for sure, but if an agent is willing to volunteer information that I can use in my favor to get a better price such as vendor is desperate to sell, then I won't complain. :D
 
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