something fishy

Hi all,
I am in the process of buying my first investment property in the Parramatta area of Sydney. I contacted a guy (soon to be related) who acts as a buyers agent and is also an RE agent. After some weeks he comes up with a deal, house over 600sq m block only 2 bed for $360k he will act as my buyers agent. He tells me the RE agent has given him the OK to talk directly to the owner and sends me pics. The place is ROUGH and is rented at $280 (under rented). OK so no prob so far meet my criteria although I would try for a reduction for renos, I then do a search on the net and find he is the agent and the place was listed for $340k in Dec. 09. For some of the older hands what am I missing why is he lying to me?

1. Have prices gone up 20k in a couple of months or am I being seen as an easy mark.

2. My suspicious nature tells me he wants his RE agents commission and his buyers agent fee.

Marathon post I know but if anyone can open my eyes I would appreciate it.
 
I wonder if the Seller may have taken it out of this agent's hands since Dec 09 and given it to another agent as an exclusive listing and upped the asking price at the same time. One would hardly think that if there is going a family connection ("related") happening in the near future, starting off on the wrong foot is not the way to go!
Frizzle
 
Hi all,
I am in the process of buying my first investment property in the Parramatta area of Sydney. I contacted a guy (soon to be related) who acts as a buyers agent and is also an RE agent. After some weeks he comes up with a deal, house over 600sq m block only 2 bed for $360k he will act as my buyers agent. He tells me the RE agent has given him the OK to talk directly to the owner and sends me pics. The place is ROUGH and is rented at $280 (under rented). OK so no prob so far meet my criteria although I would try for a reduction for renos, I then do a search on the net and find he is the agent and the place was listed for $340k in Dec. 09. For some of the older hands what am I missing why is he lying to me?

1. Have prices gone up 20k in a couple of months or am I being seen as an easy mark.

2. My suspicious nature tells me he wants his RE agents commission and his buyers agent fee.

Marathon post I know but if anyone can open my eyes I would appreciate it.
Sometimes it's better to get the right advice from the beginning than
discover an error when it's too late,never ever buy from someone within
the family,because you will have to live with it for the rest of your life,
walk away and find another property,preparation is everything..
willair.
 
What Frizzle has mentioned sounds like the most logical answer if the person is soon to be family. You would think in this case they would let you know the history of the property in any case?

Is the property still listed with the agent?
 
Thanks for the responses.
Frizzle I guess if he acts as a buyers agent and has offered to negotiate etc would I ever know he was also the RE agent? Double dipping so to speak?

Willair sage advise, I think I am losing perspective because of the family connection.

Thanks again
 
Hi Joel, the property is not listed at all anymore that I can see, I had to go to oldlistings.com.au to find its history.
 
1. Have prices gone up 20k in a couple of months or am I being seen as an easy mark.
Look, that is entirely possible. The market has moved up all last year and is continuing to do so.

2. My suspicious nature tells me he wants his RE agents commission and his buyers agent fee.
That would be ILLEGAL in NSW :eek:. He'd be a fool to try it - fines are horrendous + loss of licence etc.


I contacted a guy .......who acts as a buyers agent and is also an RE agent.
I know I am biassed here, but really apart from the family connection, I'd be using an exclusive BA - one that cannot list and sell property as well a buy property for clients. Then you never have to wonder.
 
If you do chose to proceed with this purchase, i assume the listing agent should be noted on the contract (assume this is the case with NSW as it is with QLD). This will tell you if he is double dipping. If this is the case and the BA is also the listing agent, i would steer clear if they are looking for both fee's.

Definitely sounds like something fishy is going on and i would be cautious, however don't let it put you off a good buy. If everything stacks up and pases your due dilligence it may still be worth proceeding if the property is no longer listed with your BA.
 
Ask him outright what is going on.

If this guy is going to be family you should find out if he is just stupid or is the sort of fellow who would rip off family.

If it was my family I'd be doing the BA thing for free.

But I am softer hearted than most :)
 
Ask him outright what is going on.

If this guy is going to be family you should find out if he is just stupid or is the sort of fellow who would rip off family.

If it was my family I'd be doing the BA thing for free.

But I am softer hearted than most :)

My opinion also Simon. I've never charged my family for the sale of any of their properties.
 
Seems like he has had it listed in December, maybe for awhile up to then. Then it seems it couldn't sell so they stopped advertising it or maybe a purchase fell through. Now he has seen you come along, and can now offload the white elephant.

Ok that is the worst case scenario, maybe there is a perfectly good reason. Why not approach him and ask what is going on to his face, see if he starts squirming and wheezing his way out of it or he looks you in the eye and offers a full explanation.
 
Oh dear....

Acting on behalf of a seller and buyer (and extracting fees from both) is definitely in contradiction to the PSBAA- big time. Second Alan's advice that you'd be better off by using an exclusive BA.

Re: the family connection. Absolutely fascinated to find out more.... is he likely to be a close relative? If so, then it sounds like he's burning his bridges already.... Please keep us posted here and good luck.
 
Well I hit him (future brother in law Jacque) straight up yesterday afternoon on the phone, there was a moments silence and then he admitted he is just starting out in RE after a break of 15 years doing other things. This listing was with another agent in the same office who let him field the inquiries to get his foot back in the door (hence his name on the old listings).

The seller got no interest and pulled the listing. When I approached him he has seen the seller personally who agreed to sell for the right price. He was going to sort out the arrancement re BA fees etc if I got serious. I guess I have decided to simplify things, dont really care what trouble he gets himself into, but I will buy if he finds a good enough deal. He urged me to send him anything I found that interested me and he would look at it for me. I think we now have a better understanding of each others needs ;)

Sorry for another marathon
 
Well I hit him (future brother in law Jacque) straight up yesterday afternoon on the phone, there was a moments silence and then he admitted he is just starting out in RE after a break of 15 years doing other things. This listing was with another agent in the same office who let him field the inquiries to get his foot back in the door (hence his name on the old listings).

The seller got no interest and pulled the listing. When I approached him he has seen the seller personally who agreed to sell for the right price. He was going to sort out the arrancement re BA fees etc if I got serious. I guess I have decided to simplify things, dont really care what trouble he gets himself into, but I will buy if he finds a good enough deal. He urged me to send him anything I found that interested me and he would look at it for me. I think we now have a better understanding of each others needs ;)

Sorry for another marathon
Sounds like you have a real winner with this agent,you intend to pay this person 20k plus and you do all the work,a simple 75 dollar add in your local paper will bring out all the deals you want,just word the add
"no agent please"..good luck willair..
 
Aren't BAs supposed to send YOU deals to look at? If I'm using a BA it would be to find deals I can't find myself.

Dunno never used one before :eek:

Willair to be clear I have no idea what a BA normally charges but he is talking $1500 to investigate and negotiate a deal for me (if acting as a BA). Seems like a good deal seeing I am 1200kms away.

While I am at it, thought I would post some details of the house he presented (although not to many, may go ahead with it yet).

Suburb in the Parramatta region.
Wants $360k, would offer $350k 2 bed 620sq m
RPdata computer val tells me:
last sold in 2004 for $340k
they estimate price between $340k to $390k
they have included some comparible sales which do include a much better condition 2 bedder on 930sq m sold in Sept last year for $380.

Will post a few pics when I figure out how

All in all I think good value, but not outstanding, I only like the land size for future options.

Please dont think I am trying to make any point, it is all in the spirit of my learning, this will be my first IP.

Thanks for the feedback so far
 
Please dont think I am trying to make any point, it is all in the spirit of my learning, this will be my first IP.

Thanks for the feedback so far
No problem i'm not trying to have a go at you in any way,just trying to give you a different way to look at things,,willair..
 
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