Rude Real Estate Agents.

[skater]

Skater is the real estate in your area.... if so i think i know of the one... what are his initials?

Almost, Nathan, it's a little further West. The agent is RW. Got a similar reaction from another of the agents from the same agency AFTER putting in an offer on a property. Contemplating withdrawing the offer. After all, there are plenty of houses AND plenty of Agents who deserve the commission.

D. Head?

Just a guess.

LOL! He certainly was.

 

[tigerGT]

A dum agent is a good agent. I am yet to meet an agent who is a property investor. They never have anything positive to say. Everything they say goes in one ear and out the other. If a realestate agent has to convince you to buy a property then chances are that its not a good property. The only reason I use an agent is to show me the property. They are not sales people in my eyes as I am smart enough to do my own research and number shuffling to know if a property is worth buying or not.
.
some agents just talk and talk and talk and I know its al lies, lies and more lies. How many times have you guys seen houses being advertised as perfect for investor and then when you do the sums its around 3-4% ROI. I actually called the agent last thursday and asked why the property was being advertised as "Perfect for Investor' when the yields were so low. She told me that 3-4% was normal for residential and that if I wanted 5-6 and higher that I needed to get into retail/commercial realestate. So my point is how can I use someone who thinks a 4% yeilding property is a good investment for advice? I simply can not.
.
Skater,
I have had some similar issues as yourself with LS up .there. I had submitted an offer where I was advised was being considered by the vendor. I was advised that I just needed to be patient and it was mine. 1 week later it was sold to someone who submitted higher offer. I think they were using my offer as bargaining chip.
.
Next time my offers will come with an expirey date. Anyway, Never trust an Agent.

 

[urban cowboy]

I am yet to meet an agent who is a property investor.

I am - as are several of the other agents on this forum - nice to meet you!!

as for the rest of your post - more generic agent bashing that fails to acknowledge that there are some of us out there who do know what we are doing and do it for the right reasons...

 

[yo yo ma]

A dum agent is a good agent. I am yet to meet an agent who is a property investor. They never have anything positive to say. Everything they say goes in one ear and out the other.

Anyway, Never trust an Agent.

Going by this post, I think your glass is actually half empty... you have made some sweeping generalisations based on your own limited experiences.

True, that there are some bad agents but then again, there are bad people in all professions. No need to tar all with the same brush.

 

[skater]

I would just like to state, for the record, that there are indeed many very good agents out there. I have dealt with quite a few of them and been very happy. I have also dealt with some bad ones too. Like Yo Yo Ma said, you get both good and bad in all professions and the percentage of good ones has generally been higher than the bad. I have also noticed that you get some areas where the ratio of good to bad is lower than others, whilst in another similar area the ratio is reversed.

However, of all the bad ones I have dealt with this one is the worst. I have dealt with agents who are stupid, arrogant, dishonest, impatient, biased against women purchasing (without her man), ill informed, incompetant, you get the drift, but I have NEVER, ever had an Agent who was downright RUDE to a potential purchaser.

 

[Nathan]

yeh there are some good ones out there... and i think i know of the agent you are refering too...

 

[superb]

I had a recent rude experience going to an open for inspection in my suburb. Though it was a hot day, I decided to get some exercise and walk there. Inspection was from 12.30 but I was a little early. By 12.40pm the agent still had not arrived. At 12.45 he rocks up in his merc proceeds to walk into the house and shut the door on the crowd waiting at the front - yes crowd - I was surprised too! Anyway we wait patiently and he finally opens the door 5mins later. I start to walk in only to be told that the owner requires that I show my driver's license to enter. Guess who didnt bring their handbag??? I felt humiliated being turned away. If I was interested in the property before, I aint now!

 

[agentyumi]

There are really rude agents in terms of coming on exact time. My father experienced staying for almost 3 hours in Showchef waiting for the agent. That was a second time with the same agent and it’s really annoying. The agent must have to consider the time because when a client becomes unsatisfied with their service, it’s their company’s loss.

 

[jaycee]

Originally Posted by Xenia
The "reactions" on this forum to what seems to be a communication problem between two people are very interesting!
Good point... without hearing the tone of voice or the other side of the story, I can't really make comment.

The only communication problem appears to be the agents inability to communicate appropriately to his clients.

 

[marg4000]

Hubby's job could be described as servicing his clients (as could most jobs), though not a RE agent.

He checks his mobile phone messages several times EACH DAY, including weekends, public holidays and annual holidays - AND responds immediately to any issue requiring urgent assistance.

Maybe that is why he is so successful?
Marg

 

[kissfan]

Hubby's job could be described as servicing his clients

Marg, how much do gigolos get these days .

Just kidding.

Regards
Marty

 

[jaycee]

Hubby's job could be described as servicing his clients (as could most jobs), though not a RE agent.

He checks his mobile phone messages several times EACH DAY, including weekends, public holidays and annual holidays - AND responds immediately to any issue requiring urgent assistance.

Maybe that is why he is so successful?
Marg

exactly Marg, he does his job as a start, & then does it well, so deserves his success...

unlike this agent, who doesn't want the responsibility the job entails, but doesn't like it when someone points it out.

what did anything he said in his own "defence" HELP him get skater to buy either this or another property off him ?

 

[skater]

exactly Marg, he does his job as a start, & then does it well, so deserves his success...

unlike this agent, who doesn't want the responsibility the job entails, but doesn't like it when someone points it out.

what did anything he said in his own "defence" HELP him get skater to buy either this or another property off him ?

As a number of people have rightly said. If you have a mobile phone you check it, and if there are problems with something that has been arranged, as a matter of courtesy, you let the other party know. If you are not going to check your phone, then you would divert it elsewhere or even leave a message that lets your prospective clients know the appropriate means to contact, if not you, then someone else who can be of assistance.

After all, we are talking about a considerable amount of commissions at stake here. It's not like a cheap commission you are likely to miss out on if you screw up.

As an aside, this agency has a couple of other properties that may appeal to me, but I'm not even going to bother to look at them, especially when there are plenty of other agents who really want the work.

Another local agent showed me a property which I didn't mind and I asked if I could get another family member through the next day. It was his day off too. His reaction was to let me know that it was his day off, & he couldn't do it at the time suggested by me as he had made personal arrangements in the afternoon that he couldn't change, but he was willing to do it in the morning. I said to him that I didn't need to do it on his day off, we can do it another time. He said it was no trouble and he really didn't mind.

Out of the two, who do you think I would rather purchase through, if the right property becomes available?

 

[wylie]

As an aside, this agency has a couple of other properties that may appeal to me, but I'm not even going to bother to look at them, especially when there are plenty of other agents who really want the work.

If you call another agent from this office and look at the houses the first agent will miss out. You could tell him he was so rude that you will not deal with him. That'll fix his little red wagon and you still get to see the houses.

 

[skater]

If you call another agent from this office and look at the houses the first agent will miss out. You could tell him he was so rude that you will not deal with him. That'll fix his little red wagon and you still get to see the houses.

I tried that! After our dissagreement originally I got to see the house with another from the same office. We liked the house, put in an offer, it was accepted, and lo and behold we are told that we need to see the rude agent to sign the paperwork. I took the paperwork from him and refused to sign. Said I would take it to my solicitor before I signed anything. Ended up not buying it, but I could not believe they palmed me over to the original nasty rude one.

BTW, I did speak with a total of 3 agents from the same agency. While one was downright rude, the other 2 weren't entirely helpful either. No great loss. I just won't deal with them at all.

 

[kooki]

The problem with all this is that we "feel" that agents have something to sell and they actually don't. The owner of the property does. So by not dealing with the agent we are actually penalising the poor vendor. Also we are actually interested in the property and not the agent so by not dealing with the agent we might miss out on a property that may tick all the boxes in terms of suitability. The best way to get around this is to contact the vendor and let them know that although you are very interested in the property they have for sale unfortunately you will not deal with that particular agent. I have done this on a few occasions and have found dealing with the owner direct to be hugely more efficient and fruitful. And yes, there are certain problems and complications in regard to dealing with vendors who have a sole agency but these are mainly problems for the vendor. Unfortunate, if you are the vendor.

I am sick and tired of those that keep implying that we should just put up with crap agents and get over it because "some agents do a good job". The public perception and general reputation of real estate agents isn't a positive one for a very good reason. If, on the whole, agents where good they wouldn't be consistently and persistently somewhere at the very bottom of the pile of occupations that are trusted. So instead of trotting out the tired old line about not tarring all agents with the same brush and the mealy mouthed whine of "some of us do a really good job" why not loudly condemn these parasitic b astards? It's not good enough to say that every occupation has it's bad eggs as some sort of defence of the industry. The stakes for buyers and vendors is too high in real estate to keep treating it like a sheltered workshop.

Vendors usually have one good shot at getting a good price and can't afford to gamble, whereas agents can afford to stuff around and experiment and have many bites at various apples because they have so little at stake compared to the vendor

If as buyers we start to actually look for private sellers and support them with our interest then maybe, just maybe, agents might start getting the message...

 

[ChrisLang]

@Kooki - I totally agree, some agents are not trying really hard to sell the property and the vendor is being kept in the dark about everything that's going on.

However, some vendors PREFER to be kept in the dark, in fact - they insist. Get this: we're at inspection and viewing this house, right after the inspection we accidentally meet vendor's father and start chatting, he tells me what is the reason his daughter is selling the house and other interesting details and I asked him - can I call her directly, he said yes and gave me the number. Ideal, right? So I rang and spoke to the vendor and made my offer directly, and she promised to get back to me with an answer in a day or two.

Guess what - a minute later the agent rings and starts shouting at me "how dare I go over his head and ring the vendor". She rang him and asked him to deal with me, she turned down the offer on the spot and wasn't even going to consider it.

A few months later that house was sold for 20K less than what I offered. The end

 

[eKwatee]

The problem with all this is that we "feel" that agents have something to sell and they actually don't. The owner of the property does. So by not dealing with the agent we are actually penalising the poor vendor..

The poor vendor also has a choice on which agent they choose to sell their home. I do feel sorry for the vendors that choose these Agents and also feel sorry for the buyers that are trying to buy what they are selling, but all too often the vendors will choose the agent that offers them the cheapest commission rate and there are obvious reasons why some agents charge what they charge. Vendors should take care in who they choose to sell their home carefully as everyone can see in this thread the importance of choosing the correct Agent.

 

[kooki]

@Kooki - I totally agree, some agents are not trying really hard to sell the property and the vendor is being kept in the dark about everything that's going on.

However, some vendors PREFER to be kept in the dark, in fact - they insist. Get this: we're at inspection and viewing this house, right after the inspection we accidentally meet vendor's father and start chatting, he tells me what is the reason his daughter is selling the house and other interesting details and I asked him - can I call her directly, he said yes and gave me the number. Ideal, right? So I rang and spoke to the vendor and made my offer directly, and she promised to get back to me with an answer in a day or two.

Guess what - a minute later the agent rings and starts shouting at me "how dare I go over his head and ring the vendor". She rang him and asked him to deal with me, she turned down the offer on the spot and wasn't even going to consider it.

A few months later that house was sold for 20K less than what I offered. The end

Yes, I have had a similar experience with a similar outcome... However I met the vendor a couple of years later and she told me that when she signed up with the agent he strongly impressed upon her his role of "protecting" her from those nasty, scary buyers and that this was one of the main reasons for using agents etc etc. She said he made her feel like buyers where the enemy and dangerous to deal with. So when I contacted her she immediately called the agent, almost in a state of panic. She said that she found it extremely stressful when I called and she literally felt like she had been the victim of an attack. I was also listed with this agent at some point and got the same subtle spiel and can understand that as a consequence of this kind of tactic someone of a nervous disposition would maybe feel quite fearful of dealing with buyers directly. It made me feel a little wary of buyers for a while there as well...
I asked her if she had bought another place, and she had. I then asked her if she was scary and dangerous...

 

[evand]

That's good, love it.

The problem with most agents in this context is you dont know what you got till you sign the agreement cause they will BS you up to that point. After that you realise you have a dud.

Case in point. One house i wanted to sell i sat down with the agent and said to him i dont want to waste your time or mine so there's no use listing my property at too high a price.

I said i have a figure in my head and i want you to tell me if its realistic, if its not we can discuss a lower listing/selling figure, no problem. I just want to sell the place.

So i told him the figure ($620K) and he said 'great', thats very realistic and these famous words 'i can definitely work with that'.

Ok, fine, i signed the agreement. 90 days later....nothing....a few inspections, no offers...nuttin.

So i let the agreement expire and ask him why so little activity. And guess what his answer was 'your property was overpriced for the market'.......WTF!!!

I have bought and sold quite a lot of houses (16 i think) and this was a first. I tried to avoid this situation by asking him the question. Why is it that RE is the only industry with this sort of crap?

I got plenty more stories but that one sticks out as the most stupid.

I asked her if she had bought another place, and she had. I then asked her if she was scary and dangerous...