PM and selling process/Other agency's agent to sell?

[Stu_79]

Hey all, had this as part of one of my triple barrelled questions in another thread, think this might be a better place to post, currently weighing up pros and cons of selling my apartment and was wondering:

If I currently have a PM I like, who works for an agency whose sales team seem a bit ordinary (Some time ago I enquired with them about a place before I bought current one, and they bacially blew me off, worried they may treat other serious young buyers like this), is it the done thing to make my current PM and a REA from another agency liaise together to show it etc since it will be tenanted for a few more months and most likely up until sale? Do they get funny like that? I.e. My PM might not make it easy for REA from another agency to arrange to show buyers through etc? I can terminate the PM agreement any time, but then do I self manage or something during sales period? What would people recommend? Is it best just to use the sales team from the same agency as your PM for sake of access, devil you know etc if the comms/fees are market avg? Anyone been in this situation? Since until now I have only been a buyer I have a pretty low opinion of REA's, any recommendations for Inner East/City South sales agents in Sydney? Any knowledge appreciated, thank you.

 

[MrHyde]

My last purchase was in this scenario. The property was already tenanted and the PM agency was different from the selling agency. We had no trouble getting access to see the place when we wanted. Our contact was only the selling agency. We saw the place about three times before buying it and then another two times after contracts but before settlement.

This was also the case where the two agency principals hated each other. Just before settlement, there was a huge argument over which agency will manage the place after settlement. The sellers wanted to move agencies just before settlement 'cause the selling agency convinced them that settlement won't happen smoothly if the PM agency was different. Their thinking was that the PM agency could make settlement difficult by not properly informing conveyancers of outstanding balances for rent.

Unfortuantely, we got stuck in the middle and I decided to go with the current PM agency because I didn't like the selling ahenciey principal's attitude.

So access to the property is not a big concern (atleast in our case). Obviously having the agencies to be same means you won't have any such issues. However, if you don't think the agency can get you the best price, go elsewhere. Why should you give up a few thousand dollars because the agency can't do its job properly. When selling, I would look for the best agency that gives me the best chance of getting a good price for my property.

If you terminate the PM agreement, you don't need to self-manage. Just move to the selling agency's book. Since they are also selling the house, I would think they will take good care of your property as they would not want to jeopardise the relationship due to some small thing on the PM side.

 

[Lil Skater]

We don't have any issues when our landlord's choose to sell with another agency, I guess it depends on the agency but we don't usually have any issues.

There may be a case, however, if a seller wants to get through the property and the tenant plays hard ball.

As MrHyde said, don't jeopardise loosing a few $$ on it just to keep the agency happy - It's likely that the PM will loose the management anyway as the new purchaser will already have a few properties with a different agent or choose to manage it through the selling agent as that's who they've been liaising with.

I don't recommend changing management though, this may cause a bit of grief that you may otherwise not have - Plus if they're doing a good job, why not keep it in their capable hands for the time being? If you've built a good relationship with your PM they won't cause any issues.

Selling agent's PM division may not care that much about the management of your property as well, as they'd see it as a management they'll loose in a few months as many purchasers like to have the property bought vacant.

So sit tight, sell it through another agency if you want, it's not your problem their sales team is useless, but keep the management with the current PM.