How do you go dealing with agents ?

I have to admit , there is no way a round it and at this point, no nice way of calling a spade a spade and I'm sorry to any good ones in the club here but , I hate the b'd's .
If I could buy , sell and do everything I need to without ever going near another one ever again , I WOULD !
The last place I bought , the moron 'lost' the signed contract, yep . I mean all this bloke had to do was rock up with a contract, he does and then he loses it.

I do three days work on a place 3 wks back because it's on the net , the signs still out front , it was even in the paper the week before. Three days work on it, ready to act and guess what - it's been sold for 2 mths. They put the sold sign on the wrong block, The only other thing the buggers had to do.

Another place we had to leave a note in the letter box for the owner. Why , the agent was out , put signs up and went home , mths later no info anywhere, just two signs at the property,
They lost all info on the property , the salesmen went OS , 2 mths later I ring up and they don't even know how much it was or new anything about it.
Owner was furious when he got my note and booted them off the job that day.

I just spent 4 days working on another place - my wife went to see it , I went to see it, hell we even measured . I know I should have learned by now , but if you ring they sometimes get a big head and I just can't stand dealing with them ,so I try to avoid it until I have to.
Well it's still on the net , it's in the window , someone there even emailed me back the answers to some questions I'd sent.
Guess what - sold 6 wks ago !

I hate em , I tell you I hate em !

Urr , cheers.
 
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PS, do you know one of the main RE's I have to ring and deal with for just a bout every second property I want to now about , these bugers somehow get 70% of them.
They make all calls go through the desk , you don't get a salesman until you give your full name and a contact number, then she goes off and comes back telling you there's no one in right now. 5 min's this all takes.
I've been in this office , it's glass from end to end. If there's no one in, it's only 7 mtrs long and only one door at the front, you would bloody well know about it.
But here's the really good bit , you can not get a salesman's number , they won't give them out . Everything has to go through the desk.
I got one once and rang him up a few weeks later . First thing he said was , how did you get this number- what the !

Ok , I feel a little better now.
 
What area are you talking about?

ps you need to chill out

I think they are all talking about r/e agents who are incompetent.

It's a popular career skill I believe.

I enquired about 2 businesses for sale very early this year when the Tyre Centre purchase looked like falling over. (not resi r/e, but still an activity involving agents unfortunately).

Now, keep in mind that the GFC was still in full swing, the Banks were not lending anyone money, and there were no buyers. They would be jumping for joy to sell anything I's reckon.

Do you think I got much follow-up and/or help from these spoon-heads?

One guy; I left a phone message asking him for all the financials for one of the businesses, and asked for the Confidentiality Agreement, and left my phone number, fax number and email.

Three days later he calls and says; "are you still interested in this business?"
:eek::eek::eek:
 
I think they are all talking about r/e agents who are incompetent.

It's a popular career skill I believe.

I enquired about 2 businesses for sale very early this year when the Tyre Centre purchase looked like falling over. (not resi r/e, but still an activity involving agents unfortunately).

Now, keep in mind that the GFC was still in full swing, the Banks were not lending anyone money, and there were no buyers. They would be jumping for joy to sell anything I's reckon.

Do you think I got much follow-up and/or help from these spoon-heads?

One guy; I left a phone message asking him for all the financials for one of the businesses, and asked for the Confidentiality Agreement, and left my phone number, fax number and email.

Three days later he calls and says; "are you still interested in this business?"
:eek::eek::eek:



Exactly , and to boot , things you've asked for would be more than standard for a business sale inquiry right !

Tell ya , at my witts end !
 
I think it's a sign that the economy is ticking ulong just fine, 25 years ago they'd have been breaking your door down to get you to sign something, you only have to wait.
 
PS, do you know one of the main RE's I have to ring and deal with for just a bout every second property I want to now about , these bugers somehow get 70% of them.
They make all calls go through the desk , you don't get a salesman until you give your full name and a contact number, then she goes off and comes back telling you there's no one in right now. 5 min's this all takes.

I hear ya. This one gets my goat. A few agents in the area I look at don't put addresses on any of their ads. You call up, reception say no sales people are available and no they don't have a list of addresses for their properties. Leave your number and one of them will call you back. By the time they call back, I have already seen 100's of other ads and have no way of relating the address back to the original ad I saw. Why do they do this? Isn't property all about "location, location"?
 
I hear what you're saying guys but sometimes you need to consider the flip side.

I find negotiating with incompetent agents quite enjoyable. They never make me pay full price.

I can't afford to buy from talented agents because they can sell it for more than I am willing to pay.
 
I hear ya. This one gets my goat. A few agents in the area I look at don't put addresses on any of their ads. You call up, reception say no sales people are available and no they don't have a list of addresses for their properties. Leave your number and one of them will call you back. By the time they call back, I have already seen 100's of other ads and have no way of relating the address back to the original ad I saw. Why do they do this? Isn't property all about "location, location"?


Exactly, all part of the fun and games in getting your number and as many others as they can and what - they think we don't know this ?
I hate anyone calling me back at the best of times myself as it can be God knows when and you've well and truly gone onto other things as you say.
 
I hear what you're saying guys but sometimes you need to consider the flip side.

I find negotiating with incompetent agents quite enjoyable. They never make me pay full price.

I can't afford to buy from talented agents because they can sell it for more than I am willing to pay.



Yeah well that's a spin alright , something I guess.

I had one fool up your way , no offense it could happen anywhere , sell me a an already sold property once. We signed in the office, I put down a deposit .
You don't think he was on the phone groveling the next day , I made him wait 2 wk before I agreed to rip it up.
Ahh, wonder what could have happened if I refused outright , have to cut the property in two I guess .

Cheers
 
I frequently go to Clare and drive past a house on the Clare road that is being subdivided into 3 (so there's a missed opportunity right there) and it is clearly one of those takes-forever-to-sell houses. Overpriced by about $30k, no fences, big bulldozed mess, and its rented out at about 6% yeild. Noone in their right mind would buy that house - especially with tenants in it. Ewww, who'd want a rental property :rolleyes:. But it is slightly bigger than our house (by a sitting room, a lobby and 2 enclosed verandahs), and I need a bigger house, so it is worth considering.

Amazingly, being used to our local agent, the out of town agent who has this house ANSWERS HIS EMAIL :eek::eek::eek: I mean, this is unheard of! And I asked exactly how many rooms the house has and he gave me an explicit list! And even answered how much the current lease is and for how long it is and who is leasing it! Its like everything our local agent should be but isn't!!!11!

Last place I looked at with our local agent I asked if they'd take $110k for it, and could he get the plumbing plan. I never got a response, but the listed price on the internet for that house dropped from $160k to $135k. I guess that means 'no'.

That one local agent gets the vast majority of the local listings, but they aren't at all consistent with pricing their houses. Sheds add a huge markup. The location within the town (2000 people) adds or subtracts enormously. Like most REAs, they can't spell. At least they have addresses. They are dreadful at returning phone calls, but will return messages left in person with the secretary. Like most country agents, they are not very computer and internet savvy, with the receptionist doing the listings on re.com.au.

Country agents not answering the re.com.au enquiry box thingy is pretty standard and very annoying for those of us who don't like phones much. They all expect their enquiries to come entirely from locals, from the paper, over the phone or in person.

One house here with another agent went up for auction as 'absolute waterfront' (with no for sale sign or address) and I guess they just assumed that with so few houses along the lake people would just magically know which house it was. Impressively, it sold for a rather large sum of money.
 
Mate, you didn't answer the question at all. And where is the negativity in what i asked?

It seems - according to the RE industry - that if anyone dislikes RE agents and the RE industry, its all their fault. Now stop being negative people and attracting these bad agents. LOL

All this does Andrew is add to the disgust society already has with your industry.

How did I know you would pop your mr negativity two bob in this thread.

Have I told you about the dodgy electrician that I have just had dealings with????? They are all such scammers.
 
I hear what you're saying guys but sometimes you need to consider the flip side.

I find negotiating with incompetent agents quite enjoyable. They never make me pay full price.

I can't afford to buy from talented agents because they can sell it for more than I am willing to pay.

Hey, but I want my cake and eat it too...

I want an incompetent agent to undersell the Vendor, but still competent enough to give me all I need to make an informed decision, and up to the second that i request it.

:D
 
I frequently go to Clare and drive past a house on the Clare road that is being subdivided into 3 (so there's a missed opportunity right there) and it is clearly one of those takes-forever-to-sell houses. Overpriced by about $30k, no fences, big bulldozed mess, and its rented out at about 6% yeild. Noone in their right mind would buy that house - especially with tenants in it. Ewww, who'd want a rental property :rolleyes:. But it is slightly bigger than our house (by a sitting room, a lobby and 2 enclosed verandahs), and I need a bigger house, so it is worth considering.

Amazingly, being used to our local agent, the out of town agent who has this house ANSWERS HIS EMAIL :eek::eek::eek: I mean, this is unheard of! And I asked exactly how many rooms the house has and he gave me an explicit list! And even answered how much the current lease is and for how long it is and who is leasing it! Its like everything our local agent should be but isn't!!!11!

Last place I looked at with our local agent I asked if they'd take $110k for it, and could he get the plumbing plan. I never got a response, but the listed price on the internet for that house dropped from $160k to $135k. I guess that means 'no'.

That one local agent gets the vast majority of the local listings, but they aren't at all consistent with pricing their houses. Sheds add a huge markup. The location within the town (2000 people) adds or subtracts enormously. Like most REAs, they can't spell. At least they have addresses. They are dreadful at returning phone calls, but will return messages left in person with the secretary. Like most country agents, they are not very computer and internet savvy, with the receptionist doing the listings on re.com.au.

Country agents not answering the re.com.au enquiry box thingy is pretty standard and very annoying for those of us who don't like phones much. They all expect their enquiries to come entirely from locals, from the paper, over the phone or in person.

One house here with another agent went up for auction as 'absolute waterfront' (with no for sale sign or address) and I guess they just assumed that with so few houses along the lake people would just magically know which house it was. Impressively, it sold for a rather large sum of money.



He answers his emails , sh?t I like him already . And what he even answers your questions in that email , instead of giving you nothing and trying to trap you into the office first , what the - send him over !
 
Mate, you didn't answer the question at all. And where is the negativity in what i asked?

It seems - according to the RE industry - that if anyone dislikes RE agents and the RE industry, its all their fault. Now stop being negative people and attracting these bad agents. LOL

All this does Andrew is add to the disgust society already has with your industry.



Sad but true evand .
 
I find the agents around Canberra to be generally responsive and willing to talk to me. That said, I don't generally call an agent until I'm ready to put in an offer and buy. I find using the right language on the phone helps:
"I'm really interested in property X and if you can show me through for a few minutes on Tuesday, I'd like to make an offer".

Then when you look through, using language such as "it's not quite what I thought, but would you like an offer to take back to the seller anyway", which usually prepares them for a low-ish offer.

That said, I bought a place last year that was being sold privately without an agent. Best buying experience ever. Rang the seller, made an offer $4k below asking (which was cheap anyway), and did the deal on the spot.
 
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