I can't help it..seriously RE Agents..get your S!@T together!

HandyAndy888

HandyAndy888

Here is what has happened to me in the last few weeks in dealing with Real Estates:

1. Contract fell through after agent was unable to negotiate a $2000 discount on a $330,000 property that has been listed for over 6 months. :eek:
2. An agency who I will not name, is open only till midday on a Saturday, seriously, wake up! Of course I couldn't get through, mobile number on ad was incorrect. I mean, it could just be me, but don't potential buyers only have the weekend to look? :confused:
3. Was promised internal photos for an interstate purchase, still have not received them. I mean, it's really hard to attach some photos to an email..my Grade 3 students were doing this last year! :rolleyes:
4. Made a verbal offer on a property, only to have him return my call within 2 minutes, saying the seller did not accept...please, I wasn't born yesterday..do your job RE agents - NEGOTIATE!!! Mind you, this property has also been on the market for over 6 months.
5. Signed a contract on Thursday, seller has still not signed, even though I was told it would be done Thursday avo...on top of this, I had to ring to find out about the delay...I started the REIQ course, it says it right there, COMMUNICATION is THE most important factor. Hmmm....not happy.
6. I won't tell you about the number of calls I have made to RE Agents, who are too bloody lazy to remove RE.com.au ads from the site, or are leaving them up there as bait. Seriously, I'm getting concerned...
7. I emailed a PM about getting some work done to the house, she said, and I quote: "All of the trades are still on holidays"!!! :eek:
8. I had a change in PM (which in itself is not an issue), but was not notified. My PM is now in sales, I only find out after I ring because I haven't heard back from her.

OK, rant over...

I'm really pissed off...:mad:
 
HandyAndy888 said:
5. Signed a contract on Thursday, seller has still not signed, even though I was told it would be done Thursday avo...on top of this, I had to ring to find out about the delay...I started the REIQ course, it says it right there, COMMUNICATION is THE most important factor. Hmmm....not happy.
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Silence is also an effective tool in negotiation. Sorry to say but it looks like you took the bait by calling in to find out about the delay.
 
HandyAndy888 said:
What bait?? I had ALREADY signed the contract...
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Even when both parties have signed a contract, negotiation can still occur. On results of building and pest inspections for example.

By delaying their signature, they may have been trying to gauge how keen you are.
 
Hi HA888,

Look I'm the last person to defend a REA - they are the 'other side' in all th buying we do either for clients or personally, BUT:

HandyAndy888 said:
1. Contract fell through after agent was unable to negotiate a $2000 discount on a $330,000 property that has been listed for over 6 months. :eek:
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It is not the REA's job to negoitate the price down....sorry. You need to know the vendor's motivation for selling....they may not be in a hurry.

HandyAndy888 said:
2. An agency who I will not name, is open only till midday on a Saturday, seriously, wake up! Of course I couldn't get through, mobile number on ad was incorrect. I mean, it could just be me, but don't potential buyers only have the weekend to look? :confused:
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Really is no excuse for typos, bad spelling etc - they need to proof read better IMO. As for shutting on a Sat at noon - dunno - probably does not need more business - has enough FHB sales by now. Does not always last though :( when the market reverts.


HandyAndy888 said:
3. Was promised internal photos for an interstate purchase, still have not received them. I mean, it's really hard to attach some photos to an email..my Grade 3 students were doing this last year! :rolleyes:
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Yep - that's poor form. REA's are mostly really bad at e-mails IM experience.


HandyAndy888 said:
4. Made a verbal offer on a property, only to have him return my call within 2 minutes, saying the seller did not accept...please, I wasn't born yesterday..do your job RE agents - NEGOTIATE!!!
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No sorry, not their job - as mentioned above. They have to act in the best interests of the vendor and the vendor may have given an instruction to not put offers below list price.

HandyAndy888 said:
6. I won't tell you about the number of calls I have made to RE Agents, who are too bloody lazy to remove RE.com.au ads from the site, or are leaving them up there as bait. Seriously, I'm getting concerned...
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Yep - that's poor form too
 
...... or the agent may have been using your signed contract as bait for somebody else he might have looking at the place to raise their offer?

When I sign a contract, I want an answer NOW (or that day at the very latest). To be left hanging for a couple of days without any contact is not acceptable.
 
wylie said:
To be left hanging for a couple of days without any contact is not acceptable.
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If it's truly not acceptable to you, put that in writing. (i.e. Write a deadline into the contract that the counter-party must adhere to).

Otherwise, I think 3 business days is good sweatin' time :p
 
ianvestor said:
If it's truly not acceptable to you, put that in writing. (i.e. Write a deadline into the contract that the counter-party must adhere to).

Otherwise, I think 3 business days is good sweatin' time :p
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By the poked out tongue, I assume you are tongue in cheek. I would like to see how happy you would be with a bargain property, contract signed by you, but no word for three days from your agent :p.
 
As I mentioned, I started the REIQ course, and I can assure you, that, according to REIQ, it is the agent's job to negotiate a sale. It is the agents job, legally, to put all offers to the vendor, UNLESS the vendor instructs the agent to not submit low offers. HOWEVER, this has to be stipulated in the advertising to my understanding. Also, the fact is that the agent LIED about contacting the vendor...
 
Just remembered a contact we put on a bargain about eleven years ago. Listed at $154K, we knew there were five contracts going in at 6pm. We signed at $156K and by 9pm had not heard anything.

After several calls to the agent, and being fobbed off, we found out later that the next lowest $155K contract was a well known local who was threatening legal action and trying on everything he could to intimidate the agent into accepting his offer. Bloody cheek :mad:.

We got the house but because this chap was a serial buyer and seller, he thought he could pull some strings and pull in some favours. Lucky for us the agent was honest and stood up to him.
 
wylie said:
By the poked out tongue, I assume you are tongue in cheek. I would like to see how happy you would be with a bargain property, contract signed by you, but no word for three days from your agent :p.
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It depends on how keen I was on the property, which I think is the underlying issue that we're talking about. It's good to be able to walk away.

3 days would be fine if you didn't care one way or the other.
 
Once again, it is not the waiting...it is the miss-communication, the fact that they said "you will have it this afternoon" and then no call to say, "ops, sorry, it's going to take a little bit longer"...I mean come on, earn your commission...
 
Just a quick thought. You give your location as near Ingham, Nth Qld. Aren't you all under water there!!?? Is the agent also in Ingham, and the purchase property? Maybe the floods have something to do with it at the moment?
 
Glucose said:
Just a quick thought. You give your location as near Ingham, Nth Qld. Aren't you all under water there!!?? Is the agent also in Ingham, and the purchase property? Maybe the floods have something to do with it at the moment?
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LOL...no Glucose..I am not buying up here...
 
HandyAndy888 said:
Personally, I hate liers..in the words of Sam Kekowich, they can go and jump...
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Yep HA888, I'm with you. We regularly buy off one particular REA and I'm sure his motto is: "Why tell the truth when a lie will do?". It is so completely unnecessary IMO. So we are always careful to check everything out for ourselves. I would not deal with him at all except that he has listings we want to buy and he always crunches the vendor's price down for a sale.

Would I ever sell thru him? - no way :p
 
I'm hearing you HA888. I agree with most of the points but remember the agent is working for the vendor primarily. If it is in their best interest to use a signed contract to create higher bids then that's what they'll do and the vendor may be very happy about risking losing you as a sale in the process. The fact that he would not reduce the price by $2000 is coming straight from the vendor. I'm sure he/she would like to have it lowered and earn the commission straight away. The vendor however probably gave him a bottom line and not going below that point does not mean the agent is bad at their job. It is not their job to bring the vendor down. It is to bring you up which it looks like they have done successfully.
 
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