REA telling me porkies

[G_Man]

Hi everyone,
as per the thread title I have a REA who I think is (suprisingly) telling me complete bs.

I had been looking at a house for sale in melbourne which had been listed as 455 - 500.
It sold recently with an 'undisclosed' price so I emailed the agent to find out how much.
First I was told "Vendor has requested that the price remain undisclosed".
Ok, fair enough so I then asked "Can you at least tell me did it sell for > 500?", as this is our budget and I was trying to gauge if we can find something in that area for under that.

Answer was, yes sold for early 500k, what's your number I'll give you a call?

Then today I found a sold listing for this place:
Sold for $410K

Now I dunno about you but 410 isn't early 5's.

What do you think the agent has to gain in telling me complete bs like that when I can get the truth from either from either re.com or from various other sources?
Or is the sale price incorrect to attract more interest in the area?
My guess is perhaps she thought she can "find" me something for around 5 rather than cheaper before I found out what it actually went for. Do you think that is a valid assumtion?

I'm a bit pissed at the agent for lying as I generally don't like being lied to, but happy to see that the house went for well within our budget, as it's more or less what we are after.

.

 

[andrew_de_a]

Get over it, get used to it, move on.

The agent doesn't work for you.

 

[G_Man]

Get over it, get used to it, move on.

The agent doesn't work for you.

Good to see Andrew that you have absolutley no interest in trying to improve the terrible image your industry has, and just accept it the way it is.
Cheers.

 

[andrew_de_a]

I only worry about what I can change.

 

[jezza]

G Man

Andrew is correct in saying the agent doesn't work for you, the agent works on the fact that most people may not be like you and will not take the time to review the full details of a property once sold. He relies on most people he speaks to will believe the crap he says. Maybe it makes him feel better saying he got 40-50k over the price rather than under. Where did you find out the price was it on RP Data?

Jezza

 

[evand]

The agent is concerned that knowledge of the low price the sold property gained will set a precedent for the street or area. (comparable sale prices to surrounding properties) And that's not good as they like to convey the illusion that house price rises constantly.

So they try to hide it. Mostly to no avail.

Andrew, does the fact the agent doesn't work for the OP justify him lying? Does it make it ok? What a sad industry.

 

[andrew_de_a]

And for the record, buyers lie and play games just as much as agents do.

 

[andrew_de_a]

Evan I don't condone lying and I am not going to enter into this discussion with you. What a sad person.

 

[JamesGG]

Then today I found a sold listing for this place:
Sold for $410K

Possibly a silly question; but how certain are you about the accuracy of that listing?

 

[G_Man]

Possibly a silly question; but how certain are you about the accuracy of that listing?

Well that was my next thought. Is this listing (which is on re.com, not from rp data) not correct to try to get some interest back into the area, or a typo and it actually sold for 510 ???

Thanks for your replies.

btw Andrew, I realise they aren't working for buyers, but without buyers then neither can they work for their sellers

I've worked for REA's for years as a tradie and dealt with them as a tenant so know most of their stories and tricks, but this one seemed a bit strange to me which is why I posed the question as to why?

Evand, I think your point is correct and what I was thinking too.
This gives me the impression that the area has lost some ground recently (which it has) which backs up your point.

 

[JoshyBoi]

from another angle...you're own DD should have shown whether it was vastly overpriced in the first place or whether someone got a genuine bargain...how are comparables in the immediate vicinity?

 

[Piston Broke]

Evan I don't condone lying and I am not going to enter into this discussion with you. What a sad person.

The sad person is the lying REA, which you make out to the "typical lying REA" as we should "get used" to them lying.

 

[G_Man]

from another angle...you're own DD should have shown whether it was vastly overpriced in the first place or whether someone got a genuine bargain...how are comparables in the immediate vicinity?

It was advertised at an average price for that area, but not overpriced which is why I was curious as to what it would go for.
What they were asking would have been ok back in feb, mar this year, but now it's a different ball game.

 

[WinstonWolfe]

G Man, what I suggest is you keep an electronic record of REAs. and whether they treated you good or bad, lied, etc. Many REAs don't understand how small a world it is. Make sure you keep a proper database with full name of agent. And tell everyone you know the word around to all you know. Doing so is the best way to change the behavior of the industry.

I had fun telling the principal of a large Brisbane Ray White office recently that I wouldn't deal with one of his staff because of the guy's dishonesty when I dealt with him in 2003. And I've lost count of the number of people I've warned about this guy.

A young female REA told my partner and I 4 weeks ago at an OFI how she is the only one in her office who doesn't do drugs. We couldn't believe it. Why would she tell us that? Suffice it to say, it hurt her rep as much as her office.

Do the same for tradies too.

 

[Dazz]

G-man,


I suggest you don't ask the Vendor's paid representative questions in an attempt to try and diminish the amount of money that the paid representative can extract from you to pass onto the Vendor....that way you won't put him in a position that goes against what he is being paid for.


They're not there to assist you, they're not there to get you into a bargain,and they're certainly not there to answer your research and due diligence questions.


They warrant nothing. The Vendor warrants nothing. You should know that - so why ask them questions ??


Do yourself a favour - perform your own due diligence on the property if you so wish....and that may include having to spend some money on a data program so you get the facts, rather than some free "can you please tell me ?"....and then you've got no idea if what they are saying is true or not.


The REA is not obliged to tell you jack squat - in fact - they are strictly forbidden from saying or writing anything to you at all - certainly nothing that you can rely on in court against your contractual adversary, the Vendor. You're obviously not reading, nor taking heed of all of the little 1 font written material behind the asterisks. It's all there - you just to read it.


Paddle your own canoe chief - and stop getting miffed when your competitor's oarsman won't help you paddle yours.

 

[Amadio]

Agree. The buying/selling process becomes completely different when you only ask questions of a REA when there can be no lying. E.g. the address of the property, the vendor's preferred settlement time. There aren't many of these questions.

Everything else should be researched by you, the buyer, without any consultation with the REA.

 

[evand]

Lying and not providing information are 2 completely different things, no?

Of course the REA is not obliged to say a thing. Neither is anyone in society or any profession/industry, but people don't walk around intentionally lying on that basis.

G-man,


I suggest you don't ask the Vendor's paid representative questions in an attempt to try and diminish the amount of money that the paid representative can extract from you to pass onto the Vendor....that way you won't put him in a position that goes against what he is being paid for.


They're not there to assist you, they're not there to get you into a bargain,and they're certainly not there to answer your research and due diligence questions.


They warrant nothing. The Vendor warrants nothing. You should know that - so why ask them questions ??


Do yourself a favour - perform your own due diligence on the property if you so wish....and that may include having to spend some money on a data program so you get the facts, rather than some free "can you please tell me ?"....and then you've got no idea if what they are saying is true or not.


The REA is not obliged to tell you jack squat - in fact - they are strictly forbidden from saying or writing anything to you at all - certainly nothing that you can rely on in court against your contractual adversary, the Vendor. You're obviously not reading, nor taking heed of all of the little 1 font written material behind the asterisks. It's all there - you just to read it.


Paddle your own canoe chief - and stop getting miffed when your competitor's oarsman won't help you paddle yours.

 

[Luv2Travel]

Everything else should be researched by you, the buyer, without any consultation with the REA.

I agree, don't rely on anything from the agent. Sure, ask questions, but don't rely on the answers, do your own homework. As someone pointed out, buyers lie just as much as the agents. Does this make it right? In a perfect world, probably not, but that's the world of sales. The agent is working for the vendor, and when it comes time to sell yourself, you'll be grateful for the agent who can tell whatever "porkies" they need to in order to get you the best price.

 

[csc2]

To avoid the arrogance of an agent if the listing is not an exclusive, go direct and cut out the vultures of society..........Agents on the whole are bottom of the barrel scum feeding vultures with just one interest, making money and plenty of it, any way they can!

I'm yet to rate one highly, in fact ,I get great satisfaction closing a deal without them........they are so overrated its not funny...

Its not hard to avoid them if you really want to.

 

[Luv2Travel]

Agents on the whole are bottom of the barrel scum feeding vultures with just one interest, making money and plenty of it, any way they can!

I think that's a terrible unncessary thing to say about someone just doing their job. If you don't like them fine, don't use them, but don't go lumping them all in one basket and describing them as "bottom of the barrel scum". I've had dealings with some decent ones so maybe they can detect your attitude, there are some pretty nasty buyers out there too!

And no, I'm not an agent, but I find your comment distasteful and unnecessary.