AMAZING questions to ask an agent

Discussion in 'The Buying & Selling Process' started by Scotty3, 18th Mar, 2016.

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  1. datto

    datto Well-Known Member

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    I prefer to go straight for the jugular when questioning the agent, viz:

    •Is your sister married?

    •If I buy the property will you pressure your sister to go out with me?

    (Be prepared to duck in case a flying fist goes your way lol)
     
  2. Lisa Parker

    Lisa Parker Well-Known Member

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    @monty has an agent ever told you there was something wrong with the property?
     
  3. JDP1

    JDP1 Well-Known Member

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    Lol.
    Let us know if that 'strategy' works @datto
     
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  4. Lisa Parker

    Lisa Parker Well-Known Member

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    I agree @dabbler. If you have good rapport with the agent, the reason they are selling comes out during the process. My clients ask me this all the time, and sometimes I don't know the answer because I haven't asked.

    When I have asked I get untrue answers (the truth ends up coming out and then I'm annoyed because I was lied to. I much prefer a "I can't disclose that" than a lie), or I get a standard agent response that you never know is true or not, so I don't bother asking unless I really feel to, which would be 5% of the time. I find agents tell me anyway without me asking.

    Interestingly, when there is something really interesting going on that I should f really be told, I have found many agents volunteer it out right without me asking a question.

    Out of all the agents I have dealt with I think there is a very small percentage who maintain client confidentiality in a way that I would like them too if I was a vendor in a tricky situation.

    And then again, sometimes making it known is a tactic for the agent to raise interest as well. If everyone thinks they can get a bargain, it often sells well over a bargain price.
     
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  5. dabbler

    dabbler Well-Known Member

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    Fair enough, although not many are going to admit to any problems + buying house is not unlike a car, there are/will be things wrong/to do.

    I do not ask many of these confrontational things up front.
     
  6. bob shovel

    bob shovel Well-Known Member

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    Whats the reserve price! :p They never answer me, and think I'm joking :)
     
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  7. dabbler

    dabbler Well-Known Member

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    You know what Lisa, I think I could be doing your job, and it is probably a business background that brings this about, as what you describe is what I get exactly, 9 out of ten, I think being a straight shooter they often end up telling me things and I find myself on the verge of saying, you really should stop talking to me about x,y & z, I feel bad for some vendors, but then again, many of them stuff people around and not too bright I guess.
     
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  8. dabbler

    dabbler Well-Known Member

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    Your a card datto, but I am not so sure that your not at least half serious !
     
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  9. Lisa Parker

    Lisa Parker Well-Known Member

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    I have felt so bad for some vendors too. Sometimes it's like they are just dying to blurt it out so they don't have to hold onto the secret anymore.
     
  10. bob shovel

    bob shovel Well-Known Member

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    Does your dad own a brewery?.
     
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  11. Inov8ive

    Inov8ive Well-Known Member

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    Yeah I always ask the why are they selling question. I always get a standard answer of upgrading, downsizing, moving for work etc. If an agent said that they won't say then I would find it suspicious. Especially if the place was purchased recently. It's pretty standard and totally fine IMO.
     
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  12. Lisa Parker

    Lisa Parker Well-Known Member

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    Do you think any of the standard lines have been lies?
     
  13. Gurtofen

    Gurtofen Well-Known Member

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    Went to an Open last Saturday...2 story house and asking price was $720k - $770k.....first question was:

    Where's the front stairs?

    Seriously.....it had no stairs and the front door was on the second level! I didn't even notice on the Realestate.com.au ad.........who needs to double check that a property has stairs to the front door!
     
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  14. JDP1

    JDP1 Well-Known Member

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    Im sure some of the reasons are not true. But that could also be because the vendor told the agent a lie.
     
  15. Inov8ive

    Inov8ive Well-Known Member

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    Oh yeah probably, I take anything an agent says with a grain of salt but try to get as much info as I can. My point is really that the question is totally fine as far as I'm concerned.
     
  16. Inov8ive

    Inov8ive Well-Known Member

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    Yep or the vendor lied to the agent
     
  17. Frazz

    Frazz Well-Known Member

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    I completely understand where you're coming from, but determining and understanding the motivation of the vendor is valuable to me, at least from a buyers perspective!

    Totally agree!
     
  18. Lisa Parker

    Lisa Parker Well-Known Member

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    It is definitely valuable for multiple reasons. I just don't ask outright. I wait for it to come out in conversation in other ways.
    I find when I ask directly (to agents I do not yet know well or have rapport with) will give me standard answers that aren't of any value, so it's a pointless question and often doesn't add value.

    If you ask and they say, the vendor is upgrading, moving to another state, retiring etc.... How is that information beneficial to you?
     
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  19. Inov8ive

    Inov8ive Well-Known Member

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    Well it may not be, but it wouldn't hurt to ask it which is really my point. The answer could be anything, maybe they want to live closer to the station, maybe the neighbours dogs bark at night, maybe the answer totally doesn't seem legit at all and you then need to draw your own conclusion. If a property was purchased 6 months earlier and the agent says that they are upgrading then something wouldn't seem quite right now would it? Who upgrades after 6 months. If there is an issue that the agent does know about then they have to disclose it so why not ask?
     
  20. Lisa Parker

    Lisa Parker Well-Known Member

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    @Inov8ive, I hear what you're saying. I'm just not convinced yet of the value (and am open to be which is why I'm asking for others reasoning and what they have got out of doing it. If there's something to learn that I have not yet personally experienced I'd love to learn from it).

    In my own experience I do think sometimes it is harmful to ask. (Not always) but is can be. Especially if you ask the wrong way, at the wrong time And without enough of a relationship or rapport there. There's other ways to find out the answer without asking that question. And sometimes asking the questions causes the agent to feel uncomfortable and not forthcoming, whic ph then means you've ruined the rapport.

    If you have rapport, ask away....but chances are they will tell you in conversation without you having to ask.

    There's no right or wrong, sometimes different personalities use different ways to get the same result, each with an equally great result. I would just like to understand why this is often the first and foremost thing people want to know, and I haven't found a compelling answer as yet which makes me wonder are people doing it because that's what we've been taught to do?!
     

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