What do you look for in a sales agent?

[Alabex]

Hi Everyone,

Just curious to know what the forumites look for when hiring a sales agent (for those of you who use agents)?

I am always interested to hear the different reasons vendors decided to use or not to use our agency/salespeople.

Most of ours are referrals, Some are purely fee based, while others choose based on if they click with the agent, some just seem to have had bad experiences with just about all the other agents... which is a worry!

Also what kind of things do agents do in during the listing stage that you like dislike? I always provide my vendors with alot of supporting information regarding past sales and current on the market when giving my appraisal.... most love it, but i know some dont even look at it.

 

[The Y-man]

Fees are a big part - especially if we have the leverage of having had the same agncy manage the property (or properties).

The other would be outright result.
In our area, we had 3 different agents sell 3 similar properties (within 500m of each other, all same block size).
1 had a passed in (and still not sold 3 weeks later), 1 had a sale at $650k, 1 had a sale at $750k.....

Cheers,

The Y-man

 

[Big Tone]

Well for me,
Firstly, if they have had their "Fat Heads" in the Manly Daily telling everyone how hot they are and that they have got "record Prices" and that they have so much jewellery and wear Versace glasses and drive a Merc, BMW, Lexus.

Then I dont use them..................

 

[PrimeCommercial]

I just sold my PPOR and I primairly looked for someone who I thought would be the best negotiator for me.
My reasoning was that with the internet any potential buyer would find my house no matter which agent I went with. I just wanted the one who could get the most $$ out of a potential buyer.

I didnt sign up with the cheapest one, one guy came in at 1.9% incl GST and all marketing, the one I went with was 2.2% incl GST and they would charge $2200 if the property didnt sell and we went elsewhere. One other guy wanted to charge 3% incl GST plus marketing up front, but he said that his fee was negotiable once he found a buyer. I can just see him negotiating....'pay me my money or I'm taking my buyer somewhere else'

Anyway I signed with the 2.2% guy and justified the extra .3% (or $2400 on listing price) by expecting the agent to be better at negotiating. We exchanged yesterday, 10 days after going on the market and I'm confident that he did get us more then the 'cheaper' agent would have.
He did all the negotiating, told us where he was at and for two days 'worked' the buyer up to a point where he thought they were approaching their limit and only then asked us where we need to be. I gave him instructions on a sale price and he got us an extra $5k over that. He did give our dishwasher away, 5% dep instead of 10% and 10 day cooling off, but for an extra $5k it was worth it.

After a rough start where I got the impression he thought we were pushovers, after a few words we got that sorted out and I'm happy with our choice.

 

[twodogs]

Well for me,
Firstly, if they have had their "Fat Heads" in the Manly Daily telling everyone how hot they are and that they have got "record Prices" and that they have so much jewellery and wear Versace glasses and drive a Merc, BMW, Lexus.

Then I dont use them..................

Ditto, these are the types that sell their agency, not your property, using the advertising "fees" paid by vendors. I don't know how much a full page colour ad in Manly Daily, or in my case North Shore Times, would cost, but making it some sort glossy tribute to an agent who won't return your call is something I will not be part of!

Otherwise, I look for an agent who at the least won't lie to you. If they lie to the buyers, they will lie to you. Remember that for ALL agents, their priorities are themselves, their company and their mates. However, there are a few that put the vendors and buyers in that list too, but not easy to find.

I tend to stay away from the majors, big offices require money that comes from you to pay for their big offices (and ads). Smaller companies can still list a property just as well and may give more personal service. Staff turnover is also often less.

 

[BayView]

someone who quotes me a sale price and then gets it after they quickly contact one of their many "waiting buyers".

 

[twobobsworth]

Proper buyer follow up.

We went to 4 open homes with different agents prior to listing our PPOR. Only 1 of those 4 agents did a follow up call.

 

[Big Tone]

Hi Everyone,

Just curious to know what the forumites look for when hiring a sales agent (for those of you who use agents)?

I am always interested to hear the different reasons vendors decided to use or not to use our agency/salespeople.

Most of ours are referrals, Some are purely fee based, while others choose based on if they click with the agent, some just seem to have had bad experiences with just about all the other agents... which is a worry!

Also what kind of things do agents do in during the listing stage that you like dislike? I always provide my vendors with alot of supporting information regarding past sales and current on the market when giving my appraisal.... most love it, but i know some dont even look at it.

Alabex

You are an agent aren't you? (on the beaches too)
What do you "think" people look for in an agent?

Your picture in the paper? (only messin with ya)

Big Tone

 

[travelbug]

We sold bought one property and sold 2 through the same agent.

He is very professional and just a nice guy. He told us a realistic price for listing and we achieved it each time.

When selling he called around every Monday night with a list of the people that had viewed the property and comments they made. This was invaluable as we knew market opinions and could fix (sometimes) any things of concern.
Open communication is important.

These are things I would expect when selling.

 

[Alabex]

Alabex

You are an agent aren't you? (on the beaches too)
What do you "think" people look for in an agent?

Your picture in the paper? (only messin with ya)

Big Tone

Hi sorry guys i have been off the air for a few days...

Yes i am a beaches agent in Manly..... I can assure you that i am not one of those agents with my face in the paper - i am one of the agents in the background shaking my head and wondering what warped person would spend $3k + putting a full picture of themselves in the paper

Well i would hope that people look for an agent who they can trust and who will work hard to do the job for you. While i do do some selling, a large part of my job is being responsible for marketing intiatives adn designing listing presentations... which is what prompted my question.. just trying to come up with some new ideas, mainly for ways of selling ourselves during listing stage.. rather than the brash advertising mentioned here.


the other thing that prompted the question was i started doing a bit of research into the difference between list and sales prices of certain agents in my area who seem to buy listings... and i was amazed at how much the difference between the list and eventual sale price are, and it is also interesting to see that it is the same agent/s doing it time and time again.

 

[pennyk]

the other thing that prompted the question was i started doing a bit of research into the difference between list and sales prices of certain agents in my area who seem to buy listings... and i was amazed at how much the difference between the list and eventual sale price are, and it is also interesting to see that it is the same agent/s doing it time and time again.

In the area I'm currently looking in, I've noticed the same thing. One particular agency seems to get most of the listings, but they sell very few properties. Most of their listings seem to be inflated by around $100K. The other RE agents in the suburb seem to be selling their properties far more quickly and at far closer to market value when they first come on the market. The first agency has numerous properties that have been on the market since January, and they never drop their prices...... they just change from having set prices to being "Offers", not even "Offers over..."
I would never list property to sell with them!
Pen