Real Estate Agents

From: Felicity W.


Had an interesting time today. Did the rounds of some local real estate agents, explaining what I was looking for in an investment property and why.
I have to say I was very underwhelmed by their response. I was suggesting prices about 10k either side of median, and I've seen plenty of properties listed at those levels recently, and yet all of them said "nothing on the books, we don't often get properties at those prices".
Am I doing something wrong here? I didn't walk in and say I want to buy properties 20% less than the listed price or anything, I purely stated a price range I was looking to buy in and described a type of property that regularly sells in that range.
A couple did comment that they've had a rush on in the last few weeks (post interest rate stampede?) and were short on stock.
I'm just a bit lost right now! I even mentioned I was planning to buy a number of properties, as a carrot, and none got the slightest bit enthused. I thought I sounded like a good prospective, ongoing regular buyer!!
I'm at a loss what I did wrong. Did I even do anything wrong?
Keep smiling
Felicity :cool:
 
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Reply: 1
From: See Change


Felicity

I recently went to an agent who said there had been a typo in the price on a property in the realtor magazine

He said that the price should have been 83,00, but had accidently been put in at 73K.
However given it was their mistake the house was still for sale at 73, BUT when the next realtor came out it would be up to 83K..

It was in Brisbane and he did know I was from sydney but you do have to wonder ...

see change

it's better to be guided by your dreams than your fears
 
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Reply: 2
From: Khurram Saeed


Dear Felicity
Are you trying to buy off the plan or old? I found that I had to be extremely specific, and tell them i want 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom, single storey, etc etc
Also, tell them that you ave bank approval and will buy at the right price...
When I look for properties, I find i have to be sooooooooo persistent with the agents, its not funny. Litterally call them up every single day, leave a message, email them, get them to get you on their email list, and after a while you will know which agent are better then others, i cam across so many agents that could not be motivated by the fact that here is a potential buyer, a long term buyer whom i could make lots of money off, if i moved my butt and did some work...yet there are others, who call me even now with properties that meet my criteria, and are more then happy to call back if i say no this time around...so you gotta find the good agents....

Khurram
 
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Reply: 3
From: Manny B


Hi Felicity,

I know what you are going through... most agents have too many buyers on their door & have this no-care attitude (there are some exceptions)... if you are really interested in an area & you don't get the response you want, why don't you do abit of door knocking on a Saturday in streets of your interest to see if they are selling OR more preferably write up a letter with a contact number indicating that you are a genuine buyer & would like to buy direct without an agent... you may be surprise with the response you get...

A friend of mine wanted a house in a particular pocket, he picked the streets that met his criteria & did a mail run with a generic letter he wrote (actually typed up)... he did get a couple of calls & did end up buying a property, which I thought was a good price...

Cheers,

Manny.
 
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Reply: 2.1
From: J Parker


I feel that it's such a seller's market in most parts at the moment and the median price, by the time we get to read about it, is already dated, that it is very difficult to buy at median or under.

I know where you're coming from Felicity, for when I questioned agents about why they weren't returning calls, their responses varied from, "I'm just soooo busy", to "To be frank, I don't need a database of buyers at the moment, as there's people walking off the street every day to ready to buy in that price range".

You've got to be persisent, consistent and bug them every week to get anything. Good luck!
Cheers, Jacque :)
 
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Reply: 3.1
From: Mark Pardi


Well Well

Welcome to the local real estate office !!

What you have experienced is so so typical of most local real estate offices.

They simply don't give a damn about most buyers. They have so many of them and so few properties that they can not be bothered with the general public.

Most of them don't have client data bases and most would not even take your name and number.

Just go to auction and if you get it you get it attitude.

Most wouldn't no a median price or the first thing about investment property.

Don't loose heart there is usually one or two good agents in each area that may help you and service you right.

Your approach as a buyer was good....you were specific and you represented what you wanted clearly.

watch their attitude change if you walked in and said...."I have 3 properties to sell can you help me ?"

mark
 
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Reply: 3.1.1
From: J Parker


I agree with you now Mark. However, when it's not a seller's market, I would think that agents would be ringing potential buyers and keeping databases.

When we purchased our first IP in 1990 we had agents phoning us every couple of days to look at potential properties. They did keep lists and rang us, happily offering to show us 5-8 houses at a time that suited our requirements.

To be fair to those agents who remember the buyers through all markets, they are the ones who will do well, despite the current economic situation. I just wish it wasn't such a hot market now, as I'm the one with the big phone bills! Sigh.....
Cheers, Jacque :)
 
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Reply: 3.1.1.1
From: Felicity W.


Well, I tried a few more agents today in a neighbouring suburb, and found two who were really good.
So I guess it's just luck of the draw! One even complimented me on being so persistent in pursuing my financial goals despite having two small kids with me. She gave me 5 properties to look at, and offered to take me around them. The other one also made some suggestions and gave me a list of open for inspection times. Both said that as an ongoing buyer, they'd make sure to ring me when anything new came in that suited my criteria.
Now I KNOW who's top of the list for my business.
Persistence pays off.
Keep smiling
Felicity :cool:
 
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Reply: 3.1.1.1.1
From: Manny B


Hi Felicity,

hopefully you did get a hold of good agents, but my experience was similar, but once they got my number & promised to call me if properties that met my criteria did come up on their books, you guessed it, I'm still waiting for a phone call... one of the agents is one of my managing agents, managing 3 IPs for me. I did call the manager to complain, & you guessed it, a sales guy called & I told him what I'm after, he said he had nothing at the moment, but 6 months later I still haven't heard from them (FYI, I have seen homes in the paper they have advertised that met my criteria, just that they are slack and/or too busy to call me)...
I must say that another agent in the area still rings me when an opportunity does arise & I have developed a good professional relationship with them...

Cheers,

Manny.
 
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Reply: 3.1.1.1.1.1
From: Mark Pardi


Thats good news Felicity !

Like I said you usually find one or two "good" agents in a local area.

These are the agents that do well in all markets, and they are usually very professional.

Nice to hear an "improved" experience !


mark
 
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Reply: 3.1.1.1.1.1.1
From: Anonymous


I completely empathise with you Felicity. For me, dealing with Real estate agents is almost the most traumatic part of investing in property. So you're not alone.
 
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