RE Agents tactics - Does this ploy work for you?!

Just wondering out loud and would like opinions please. :)

Our fully renovated and unique house sold within 2 days of listing a month or so ago (3 out of 5 inspections put in an offer for it), yet still is being used as 'bait' advertising on RE.com.au, and up to a couple of weeks ago, paid advertising in the local paper by the agency.

(I never pay for advertising so I really don't care, but...)

On one hand, I can understand them using our home to lure potential buyers yet, I really think that this ploy largely works against agencies who do this.

Firstly, as a potential buyer, I'd be thinking that if they can't sell such a nice home (at a realistic price, in the recent market) quickly, I'd consider them pretty useless, would never use them in future, and my 'spot the RE Agents tricks' radar would be running hot.

Secondly, I'd be really annoyed at having wasted my time, realizing this indeed, was yet another RE trick.

Please, what are thoughts?
 
A month later seems a little over the top, but no, nothing unusual in the industry to advertise a sold property. Often, the ads are booked up to about two weeks in advance anyway.

The agency may also be required to fill a certain amount of space, so a property that's likely to generate a little interest isn't so bad from their point of view. Leaving it on the website could be laziness, or incompetency, or a simple ploy to (again) get the phones ringing.

"Oh, you're interested in that place? Sorry mate, it's actually just been sold... but I've got one kinda like it that I can show you. Beautiful home. Are you free tomorrow, or would later in the week suit you better?"

I wouldn't be sure that most buyers out in the market would consider it deliberate, nor would they consider an agent useless to have not sold a property within a month. But then neither of us are most buyers :)
 
The last house I bought, they left on their website for about 2 months after I had an unconditional contract and past even settlement. Not sure what the purpose was, if there was one, or if it was just laziness.

What I can't stand however is that line of 'it's sold however I have this piece of crap of a house I can't sell... would you be interested?'. NO I wouldn't, I saw that thing get listed ages ago and it is a dump, that's why it's not sold! :)
 
As a potential buyer it would really annoy me to be told that the property's sold & then continue to see it advertised. Don't you get people driving by your house as well?

One thought is that perhaps the agent doesn't have enough listings to fill up the size of their display ads in the paper? Although I can't find an excuse for the continued internet advertising other than baiting as you've mentioned.....Now i am really curious as to which property is is, LOL.
 
Unfortunately, i am experiencing this more ofthen nowadays, especially on RE.com.

Even the letterbox flyers turn up with 'sold- may buyers waiting' blazened across them as if to say, 'how good are we'. Sold properties are of no use to people looking to buy and if I have to compete with numerous others, i'd rather seek opportunities with less competition. The tactics may attract vendors but it's the buyers who will put the food on the dinner plate. No transaction - no income.

Even if I was a vendor, i'd be thinking to myself, 'if they can't even be bothered removing the listing after sale, what effort are they putting into selling my place?'.

I'm not saying all REAs deliberately leave listings 'on the market' even though they're sold, but I present a message to all REAs out there who are 'milking' the opportunity. All you are doing is wasting my time and that of other potential purchasers and not doing much for your reputation.

Project 1080.

The project: 10 IPs in 80 mths.
 
It is very annoying. Type in 2763 to re.com.au and hit latest listing. The first 9 listings are from the one agent, all under contract and some of them sold more than 2 months ago.
 
So annoying! 2 houses I was interested in this week on various websites including the agent's own - both with the same agent. Rang the agent re 1 - get told that it was already sold, drove past another one, "sold" sign on the house.

It takes almost no effort to update the database with to reflect the state of the property.

My neighbour recently sold and both the sign on the street and the online listing stayed without any indication of being sold until the new people moved in!

MK
 
Our fully renovated and unique house sold within 2 days of listing a month or so ago (3 out of 5 inspections put in an offer for it), yet still is being used as 'bait' advertising on RE.com.au, and up to a couple of weeks ago, paid advertising in the local paper by the agency.


Is the price it is advertised for now the same as what you sold it for? Or is there no price listed?

Maybe the new owners are looking to re-sell it. Maybe they will get a higher price since you say it sold within 2 days of listing so there must be some demand there.
 
When I was looking for properties to buy in adelaide, I got so frustated with calling the REAs only to hear that "Oh! that property has gone under contract just today/yesterday". And even after 2 weeks, they are not writing "Under Contract" on the adv n site.
So I asked one agent the reason for this and he told me that they want potential buyers to consider these properties until the contract becomes unconditional.
Anyway, I gave him my feedback that it is very annoying practice.
 
I've seen the old listings trick done in RE office windows and it works best in a rising market, because something worth say $500,000 right now is being advertised for $450,000 so it looks like a bargain but then you find out the ad is months old from when the market price really was $450,000.
 
Is the price it is advertised for now the same as what you sold it for? Or is there no price listed?

Maybe the new owners are looking to re-sell it. Maybe they will get a higher price since you say it sold within 2 days of listing so there must be some demand there.

Everything regarding the advertising, including price, hasn't changed.

There was a high demand for the house and I reckon we could have sold it many times over (the market was hot at that time) yet the listing is still there with nearly 2000 hits on RE.com.au.

Interestingly, has 'Sold' on the listing card at their office.
 
I know one of my local real estate agents will leave the sold sign up for
as long as possible,could be months if the property is on the main road
or waterfront,but they do pay for the privilege in bottles of wine.
 
I actually bought one of "those" listings

I actually bought a house that was still listed on the REA website but supposedly no longer for sale.

I saw the property and thought I'd give them a ring. It was about August last year when no one, bar the brave were buying. REA said the owner had decided to take off the market to tart the place up a bit and would relist at a later date.

I had already bought a property off another agent (sale was still going through) who I had had a couple of long interesting chats to and I mentioned to him about this property. He told me that sometimes REA's say that (what was told to me) when they are about to loose a listing and he offered to suss it out for me. He rang the agent and talked them into letting me see the house and even looked at it with me.

Fast forward 2 weeks and I had signed the contract.

What was in it for the agent who got the deal for me? He had started up his own agency 12 months before and was trying to build up his rent roll. I had some chats with him about what I wanted to do in regards to property investment. He went out of his way to help and was rewarded with 3 rental listings (am still very happy with the management).
 
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