Agent Conditioning

Discussion in 'The Buying & Selling Process' started by albanga, 2nd Dec, 2015.

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  1. albanga

    albanga Well-Known Member

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    So I am in the process of selling my property and have a strong feeling the agent is attempting conditioning techniques on me.

    My property is very desireable for the suburb I am selling in, low entry point, renovated and presents beautifully and I can say with all honesty that is not me being naive. We have had 3 opens with 30 groups coming through which is huge numbers! I drove past the first open and it was like a party was going on.

    My agent however is saying things like "we are getting the numbers but no one is even talking the lower of our figure", "they like the suburb but XYZ is wrong with the property", "we are getting no offers".etc which then has lead to "you now really need to think about what your exit is, what would you accept".

    I have always kept my cool because my exit is if it doesn't sell for what I want I'll rent it. I myself am renting in the suburb and when I was going to opens there were lines out the door. I have no doubt I will get a great rental return and I have made the agent know this.

    What was interesting last night though is I spoke to a friend who sold through this same agent and said they were told exaxtly the same thing! Nothing, nothing and then week before auction "oh I have this offer, it's X amount" which to them was 30k under there reserve. They said no, went to auction and sold over reserve.

    The nature of it is that 30k difference to an agent is $600 but losing the sale is $10k plus and I have a strong feeling I will have an offer in the coming week before auction.

    I am not going to say anything and let it play out as my exit strategy is sound but I am annoyed! We recently sold my mother is laws property and exaxtly the same thing! That time though was "buyers are talking 550, you need to consider reserve" we basically said get stuffed and sold for 700k.
     
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  2. D.T.

    D.T. Specialist Property Manager Business Member

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    I've seen good agents provide comprehensive stats reports each for their vendor. This includes number of hits on the various websites, number of inquiries, number of people at opens, number of offers etc, then a cumulative total across all weeks of the above.

    There's a difference between "conditioning" and "recommending a different level to meet market", find out which it is.
     
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  3. Jacque

    Jacque Jacque Parker Premium Member

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    What did the agent put on the listing agreement with you as his estimated price?
    Were you happy and agreeable with this price?
    Was he able to show you recent comparables that made sense at this price level?
    Markets do not "turn" in a matter of days or even 3 weeks so it's important to re-focus on how the agent initially got your business. If he doesn't feel confident that it will now sell for a price he estimated 3 weeks ago then it looks like he's bought your listing effectively....
     
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  4. DaveM

    DaveM Well-Known Member

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    Sounds like the agent is lazy and wants a sale in the first week or two and is not wanting to run an extended campaign to achieve the best price for you. Dodgy.
     
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  5. Azazel

    Azazel Well-Known Member

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    Tell him you're considering fixing XYZ and increasing the price.
    Just keep cool and go through the process if that's what you're happy to do.
     
  6. Scott No Mates

    Scott No Mates Well-Known Member

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    The guy is all about achieving a quick and expeditious sale, least input/effort and best return to the agent.
     
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  7. BigKahuna

    BigKahuna Well-Known Member

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    If you have done your research, you know what your house is worth. Hold firm. Either he sells it at the price you want, or you rent. You can always politely point out the selling prices of houses in your area. This will let him know you've educated yourself and will not be hoodwinked or coerced into something you may regret later. Stay calm and focussed. Rent it out if you don't get what you want.

    Did you shop around and talk to a few real estate agents before choosing this one? The last time I sold something I spoke to about five real estate agents to see:
    1. what they thought it was worth (and why, based on surrounding house prices); and
    2. the approach they would take-and why (eg auction, fixed price, inspections);
    3. Their costs.

    That gives me a good feeling for whether they know what they're talking about and whether they're honest.

    Good luck.
     
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  8. Xenia

    Xenia Well-Known Member

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    Great that it's attracting people.
    Get feedback from people attending opens.

    we always ask "did you like this house?" Will you be putting in an offer today? If they say no - then, do you have any feed back for us. .... it's too expensive... what would you pay?

    if there was a party going on, work those people.
     
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  9. LifesGood

    LifesGood Well-Known Member

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    Your agent should be giving you accurate feedback from the market and providing recommendations. Remember the agent is your advisor and nothing more. You make the decisions.
     
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  10. BigKahuna

    BigKahuna Well-Known Member

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    Yes, that is right: good agents will always ask your opinion and what you think a property is worth (and why) when you are a prospective buyer. If I'm not interested in buying the property, I always tell the truth. If I'm interested I play my cards close to my chest and don't give too much away.
     
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  11. Beanie Girl

    Beanie Girl Well-Known Member

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    I find that sales agents I have come across in Melbourne, Adelaide and Brisbane, overpromise to
    secured your listing, then once they secure your listing, they start conditioning you and underpromise so they can overdeliver on your sale price and say, see, 'what a good job I did for you! I got you a price you didn't expect!'
     
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  12. albanga

    albanga Well-Known Member

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    Hey All,
    Thanks for the great feedback.
    As I said, im not really concerned because I have a sound exit, I am just more annoyed because this seems to be a fairly standard tactic employed by agents. I recently read a whole book about all the tactics from a Sydney REA (forget the name but great read).

    I know roughly what it is worth but I did make a mistake because im too damn honest in letting my agent know what I would be happy with (normal) but also what my reserve is. I know your agent needs to know this but if i had my time again I would have let him know much later in the campaign and closer to auction. I just hope he has not revealed that to buyers.

    This is the third property I have now had a hand in selling. The first was my mothers who sold in an area where one of my mates was the agent. Was absolutely brilliant, because he could not use any tactics and I knew exactly where everything sat.
    Second time was my mother in laws and shifty tactics non stop. I was at arms length of picking the agent but the family agreed to 10% commission after reserve which i totally disagreed with. Throughout the campaign, "we are getting people saying 550k" which was absolutely laughable but it was no doubt an attempt for us to lower the reserve so they make a higher commission. Thankfully we did our research and stood firm on a high reserve and never budged as we knew the market and also it sold for 20k over that but still 150k more than what they said people were prepared to pay.

    Now i am having this experience which hey he could be telling the truth, but I just am not buying it. I guess I will soon know!

    Keen to hear from others on this. It really seems to me and others I have spoken to that have sold that this is fairly common play though. Not saying all agents are not transparent but Im starting to understand why people say they are worse than car salesman.
     
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  13. albanga

    albanga Well-Known Member

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    It is worth noting that I have done a lot of shopping in the suburb I am selling in and know all the agents and chose this agent because I always had the best experience with them. I did however interview 3 other agents and felt this one along with having the best rapport game me the most honest feedback about my properties pros and cons and also the pricing based upon comparables.
    So everything checked out in the diligence of selection.
     
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  14. 738

    738 Well-Known Member

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    Go to the open and listen to the buyers feedback.
     
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  15. albanga

    albanga Well-Known Member

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    Could do but I failed acting in grade 6 so will likely give myself up pretty quickly.
    "OMG WOW! Have you seen the toilet! This place has everything!"
     
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  16. Westminster

    Westminster Tigress at Tiger Developments Business Member

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    Even if you had told him what you were thinking of for reserve you can change it upwards at any time until Auction day.
    For an auction campaign it is normal for viewers to tell the REA at home opens that it's worth less than it actually is. They are trying to condition the REA and others around them and the Seller. Then they may put an offer in around that mark prior to the auction to see if they can get it.
    You have a good back up plan, go for broke and see how high it can get on auction day. If it doesn't get above reserve (review this!) then rent it out.
     
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  17. Azazel

    Azazel Well-Known Member

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    It's interesting to hear how greasy they can be when working for you.
    I've mostly only experienced their greasiness from the buyers side.
     
  18. albanga

    albanga Well-Known Member

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    As I said, I am sure some are great but I have 4 friends who are all REA's agents and speaking to them they say it is very common and agents are even trained on these tactics. I'll check the name of that book tonight as well as it is a great read and gives plenty of insight into all the dodgey tactics some have at their disposal.
     
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  19. Xenia

    Xenia Well-Known Member

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    In Adelaide at least this is now not legal. Appraisals on properties need to backed up with comparables - there needs to be a proof to the valuation
     
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  20. OC1

    OC1 Well-Known Member

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    Still not bulletproof. Can argue market is changing or that sales are all over the place. You are also assuming that the dwelling being sold is common, which may not be the case.