Industry disruptors - real estate online websites

That is what I assume but just wanted to clarify.
In the case of @D.T and his rental database then absolutely! His database is invaluable!

Selling though, I still maintain that in MOST markets its use is limited. And yes their are exceptions, like anything their are cases when a sales database is valuable. For most vanilla sales though (most house sales in Australia) then its use is limited.

Just if I had a fancy graph of house sales direct from a database versus via online marketing.

 

Sure. It's a business decision. But let's say I was a great customer. Could give you multiple properties. Some of which are so easy to manage that it's just easy money. Or if a sale is a choice of some money or none at all. All need to weigh up and make their decision based on all factors.

 

Yes for sure is factors like this that anyone appointing an agent needs to consider.

 

Probably depends on what you know yourself, also many agent are only interested in the listing, the property sells itself.

Most agents look after no 1.

 

I tend not to take a cynical view of agents. Sure, they look after number 1 but doesn't everybody look after their own interests in business and if you don't you won't be in business for long. I don't mind if an agent is looking after themselves but if that does align with what I want then we don't do business. As a user of agents you need to be smart enough to pick the good from the bad--
caveat emptor. Not so sure I'm a believer in the statement that a property will sell itself as I'm very sure an average agent can stuff up a good property but I'm sure a good agent would only enhance a transaction. My emphasis was on a GOOD agent and I guess my original comment was based on the assumption that I would neither have the time or knowledge to manage and maximize the sale of an IP. I tend to think there is a bit more skill to marketing and selling a property than a lot of people give credit for. And no I am not an agent

 

It is easy to think that selling a house is easy and they basically sell themselves. I have limited experience with this but a couple of examples:

- when I sold my first PPoR, there was no interest from the online marketing, which was actually good quality that time. Agent sold the property at a great price to someone in his database

- my parents just sold in Melbourne and their agent did some very hard negotiating and got them very close to their dream price. If they had sold it themselves they would have caved a lot earlier and accepted a lower price. Their agent loves negotiating and ended up in a multi-offer situation, pitting one buyer against the other to get a very good result for my parents

- I inspected a duplex half in Perth that was on the market for $449,000. The agent had the property for 6 months and was not able to secure a sale. Vendor switched to a different agent who sold it very soon after listing. I don't even think there was a hope open which makes me think it was someone from his database. Sale price: $449,000.

I think the last one is the most interesting. If houses basically sell themselves why was one agent unable to sell for that price but another was able to sell from that price? It's interesting isn't it?

My last example is a lazy and stupid agent who spent more time harassing his vendors to lower their price (calling daily to discuss this) rather than pursuing buyers. He got a good price but not a great price but I would never deal with that agency again based on my experience with them

Pretty much if you feel you can do a better job than an agent, there are plenty of companies that allow you to list the property yourself. Advantages are you can write decent copy for the online advertisement and organise a good set of quality photos. These are basic tasks that many agents completely fail at.

If it doesn't work out then seek out a great agent in the area to get you a great price.

 

Probably the last decade, during that time, when we have sold, we have ended up doing most of the selling, I won't go into why in detail.

Also, I been dealing with property for donkeys ages & there is no good way I know of to guarantee you can select a good agency & then be delegated the right people/person, could probably be in with a good shot in areas we have done a lot of looking, but in the past, have not had years to check out all the agents properly. How can you know how good they are unless you have dealt with them as a buyer ?

Anyway, we have known more about our property than them & when they send the new recruits, or the lazy agents, or whatever, it is us and the property itself doing the selling.

Most of them do not care about the vendors, they care about selling ASAP, in fact very few did not start working on us only a few weeks in, and all the promises prior to signing are long forgotten with many once your signed.

What do you think an agent can do that you cannot if you invest a small amount of time, you already should know your property and surrounds. They are not neurosurgeons.

Anyway, that was always the way, get the listing then let the place sell itself as quick as possible, there is/has also been a trend to only do opens, not many will go out of there way to do private inspections.

I will admit I have been around the block, so it does seem easy/trivial to me, but I think many here could do it no problem if they have bought and sold a bit.

I have had some good agents, but even with my experience, I admit that was more luck IMO as they often are good talkers to get you hooked, after is the let down

The above is the usual, and if the market is warm/hot, it is not hard to get people to bid each other up.

True though, it is not for the masses, I do not believe everyone, like the ignorant regarding property, can just do it well.

 

@Perthguy as I noted their are always exceptions and no arguing their are great agents as well.

My statement was purely for a $ for time they are extremely overpaid!

My second statement was regarding the use of a database. Again in situations it is valuable but in many markets particularly say Sydney and Melbourne at the moment then their value is minimal IMO.

As I said, I work with a database everyday with over 1,000,000 contacts. It's for a recruitment company but guess what most consultants do when they want to fill a role? Use the database or post it to Seek? I'll let you guess

 

Depends. The agent in Perth who was running home opens on a property for 6 months without a sale got zip. $/time = underpaid. The agent who took on the listing after that agent and sold the property in a week $/time = overpaid? Except for the fact they secured a sale whereas the previous agent could not. Maybe they were worth the commission?

My parents agent in Melbourne who just secured a sale at a higher price than expected was worth twice what they paid her. $/time = underpaid.

My agent in Melbourne who is not worth ever speaking of again spent too much time harassing his vendors to secure a mediocre result. $/time= massively overpaid.

I can see in some cased $ for time they are extremely overpaid and in other cases $ for time they are extremely underpaid. I guess it all evens out? except for agents like my Melbourne one who you would rather fire than hire!

In hot markets like Sydney and Melbourne, I agree. Databases are of little use. Come to Perth and they become more useful.

“There is an old story of a boilermaker who was hired to fix a huge steamship boiler system that was not working well.

After listening to the engineer’s description of the problems and asking a few questions, he went to the boiler room. He looked at the maze of twisting pipes, listened to the thump of the boiler and the hiss of the escaping steam for a few minutes, and felt some pipes with his hands. Then he hummed softly to himself, reached into his overalls and took out a small hammer, and tapped a bright red valve one time. Immediately, the entire system began working perfectly, and the boilermaker went home.

When the steamship owner received a bill for one thousand dollars, he became outraged and complained that the boilermaker had only been in the engine room for fifteen minutes and requested an itemized bill. So the boilermaker sent him a bill that reads as follows:
For tapping the valve: $.50
For knowing where to tap: $999.50
TOTAL: $1,000.00”
​

Some agents are like the boilermaker and are worth their time. Other agents need a good tap on the head with the hammer to wake them up

Because houses are selling so quickly in Melbourne and Sydney I guess it would be fairly easy to lose perspective on how valuable some agents are.

The last IP I purchased in Perth was on the market for five months. It sold three times. First time the contract fell through due to a low valuation. Second time the buyer pulled out of the deal the day before settlement. We were the third purchasers. The agent was very involved in the whole sale the settlement process and made calls to the seller, our conveyancer, the sellers conveyancer, a local shopping centre and the sellers bank. He also visited some of those places in person following up paperwork. His job didn't finish once the contract went unconditional but was working with the seller and the sellers conveyancer right up until the day before settlement. Yes, it was a complicated deal. So you can say for the amount of time a typical agent in Melbourne puts in for a typical sale (which is generally very little) and compare to deals like mine where the agent sells the same house three times but only gets one commission. Also factor in all the work he did post contract to make sure the settlement went through.

Perhaps (generally speaking), Melbourne agents $/time = overpaid
Perth agents $/time = worth the money?

 

I sold through nextaddress.com.au a diy website and sold in under a month for my asking price, but it was actually kind of cool, I've used other websites, and next address matched my property to buyers, it was enjoyable. I've used agents before but never again. Doing it myself is so much easier

 

Haha Timothy you seem to be promoting this website quite heavily in all of your posts so far.
Is there anything we should know ?

 

Haha looks suss! Nah I actually had a really good experience. I'll shout to the rooftop on a bad experience so I thought the same when it's good

 

Any more thoughts or experiences on some of these sales systems, I notice one is charging a weekly fee, which would be very low in any decent market.