Will agents ever stop the crap?

[evand]

http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,24248059-5013110,00.html


In slow markets real estate agents look for other ways to generate income. This being just one of them. There are many.

A couple of weeks ago i was in QLD inspecting my properties and the pm kept pointing at things asking if i want them fixed. Mostly problems that didnt exist, like a bit of water around the kitchen mixer or a toilet that took a bit long to refill after a flush....it went on and on over a few properties.

Then i realised she is trying to generate work for her handyman, tradies etc and probably taking a cut. (dont think i'm too cynical, its happened to me before and is not uncommon)

Agents also make money from auctions and vendor paid marketing for listings in a slow sales periods.

If the property doesn't sell, no big deal, they have made money from the marketing. Its a bonus if it does tho.

 

[GreenTreeFrog]

An agent said to my girlfriend yesterday "Yes the vendor agreed to the price you wanted but I am not happy as thanks to you, I now get less commission."

Nice.

 

[vbplease]

["Recently local real estate agents are charging just for applications, which is illegal," Ms De Freitas said.

"We got a report and I rang the agent pretending to be a tenant and they asked for $15 for an application. I asked what it would be used for and they said it was an application fee."

What next?? a processing fee, discharge fee.. they sure have imagination.

 

[PrimeCommercial]

I didnt know it was illegal to ask for an application fee...I'll keep that in mind.
I remember several years ago that I was asked for a $15 application fee from a REA for a property that I wanted to rent (L J Hooker at Kellyville). I laughed at the PM, walked out and rented a property from the REA across the road.

 

[urban cowboy]

makes us all look bad doesn't it...please belive not all agents behave like this. That is disgusting, all of it!!

 

[warmed_cockles]

An agent said to my girlfriend yesterday "Yes the vendor agreed to the price you wanted but I am not happy as thanks to you, I now get less commission."

Nice.

Wow, that's awful. I had an agent tell me that he hated a certain property website because it told prospective buyers how long the property had been on the market.

 

[Aaron Sice]

An agent said to my girlfriend yesterday "Yes the vendor agreed to the price you wanted but I am not happy as thanks to you, I now get less commission."

Nice.

well they could have done a privte sale and the REA would have had nothing...count his lucky stars he was able to dupe the owners into paying for his "superior service" or whatever....

 

[GoAnna!]

Wow, that's awful. I had an agent tell me that he hated a certain property website because it told prospective buyers how long the property had been on the market.

I agree with the agent. From the seller's perspective that's not something you want out there. And the agent does work for the seller (well legally)

 

[evand]

RE agents dont like transparency.

I agree with the agent. From the seller's perspective that's not something you want out there. And the agent does work for the seller (well legally)

 

[ianvestor]

I fail to see why agents shouldn't be allowed to charge an application fee.

This is yet another warped law to unfairly favour the all-too-powerful tenants.

 

[buzzlightyear]

Don't agree with application fees. What cost is it mitigating at the REA that is not already baked into their overheads and by inference their PM fees?

Don't agree with attempts to either trigger an auction or have an auction for rents. If you think the rent might be between $250-$300 pw as per the example in the linked article, why wouldn't you just say the rent is $300, and let the market tell you if that is fair and reasonable. Surely that isn't that difficult to nominate a rental number. This isn't rocket science.

 

[TheAnalyst]

makes us all look bad doesn't it...please belive not all agents behave like this. That is disgusting, all of it!!

Are you sure? Why are you asking for a letting fee of 2 weeks? Why are you charging the stamps and phone calls?

 

[Aaron Sice]

Are you sure? Why are you asking for a letting fee of 2 weeks? Why are you charging the stamps and phone calls?

...uh...because it's a cost of doing business with a REA? geez, next they will have to absord the bond money as well.

they could always claim it against their tax bill and only charge the tenant 68.5% of the cost, but then your taxes payable would rise to cover it, or their fee would go up another 0.5%.

middleman billing is a grey area. doesn't mean it's shady though....

 

[Sunder]

I fail to see why agents shouldn't be allowed to charge an application fee.

This is yet another warped law to unfairly favour the all-too-powerful tenants.

Because then it would be in the agent's interest to under price the property (bad for landlord) to get a lot interest, only one (if any) would get the property, so that's bad for the tenant.

Massive conflict of interest there.

 

[urban cowboy]

Are you sure? Why are you asking for a letting fee of 2 weeks? Why are you charging the stamps and phone calls?

we charge a let fee of one week and don't charge for stamps and calls - or any other fee other than the straight management fee

so what is your point?

 

[warmed_cockles]

I agree with the agent. From the seller's perspective that's not something you want out there. And the agent does work for the seller (well legally)

Markets aren't meant to work in the seller's interest alone.

The greater transparency in the market the better. Whinging about it to a prospective buyer isn't doing you any favours regarding the way you do business.

The place had been on the market for a while, and for good reason - the brick work had extensive diagonal cracking.

 

[warmed_cockles]

I fail to see why agents shouldn't be allowed to charge an application fee.

This is yet another warped law to unfairly favour the all-too-powerful tenants.

All too powerful?

I think Sunder answered this, but in what way are they 'all-too-powerful'?

 

[VYBerlinaV8]

An agent said to my girlfriend yesterday "Yes the vendor agreed to the price you wanted but I am not happy as thanks to you, I now get less commission."

Nice.

I would have replied with "cry me a river, princess". If the agent cuts commission to do the deal, that's their business.

 

[TheAnalyst]

we charge a let fee of one week and don't charge for stamps and calls - or any other fee other than the straight management fee

so what is your point?

My point is Letting fee should not exist. Landlords already pay you mangement fees, advertising, property condition..... Why the letting fee should be allowed? The government abolished the letting fee in WA but now the agents charges all to the landlords. It looks like the high petrol price, when it is up and then always there.

 

[ianvestor]

All too powerful?

I think Sunder answered this, but in what way are they 'all-too-powerful'?

Okay, landlord has to give a month's notice to evict tenant, but tenant only has to give 2 weeks notice to say goodbye to landlord.

I'm not going to sit here and list the 1000 other things that are wrongly in their favour.