question for RE agents

my friend recently sold his house at auction went for 780k. i put the value at 720-740k the RE agent quoted high 700's to low 800's through the month while it was open for inspection all the feedback via email was etc 620k-700k offers over the 3-4 weeks was on the market.

anyone else think this is strange or is this a general re agent trick?

my question is did the RE agent deliberately write those emails with low numbers / offers so that when the auction came my friend (the vendor) would feel good about the outcome?

it just seems strange that the RE agent quotes high 700s to low 800s then for 3-4 weeks all of the offers are 620-700 range and then on auction it goes for 780k anyone else think this is strange?

 

Nothing about that scenario seems strange, the RE knew what to expect and delivered within the promised range.

Of course people will put in low offers prior to auction, they have nothing to lose and everything to gain.

I would never offer my intended maximum price prior to auction but I would certainly bid up to it on the day if I had to

 

Yeah, not unusual. Low offers from bargain hunters initially. Realistic buyers at auction who likely got emotionally involved and overpaid.

 

Normal. As @Propertunity says of course you'll have some opportunists having a crack before auction in a lower price range. Auction is normally opted for in order to target emotional buyers that will pay over the odds and/or in an area of high demand that will end in a bidding war where someone pays over the odds. Market comparibles are not kept in mind every moment by a bidder that has allowed emotions or pride to get away from them during the auction. He who offers the highest price shall win the auction and be committed to the sale. Regardless of whether they think it wasn't such a good idea afterwards. You win the auction, congrats. You are the buyer.

 

The end result was true to the agents word and hopefully, what the owner wanted. Don't see any issues here. And if the agent was trying to condition the owner, he still got a great result so why would there be an issue? The only issue here would have been if the agent convinced the owner to sell prior.

 

Buyers want it for as little as possible

Vendors want as much as possible.

If a buyer emails their highest offer all it does is reveal their cards unless the vendor accepts it. When I worked in RE all the time I would get a email for a buyer saying I will buy for $x00,000 and no more and they cannot make it to auction. Long and behold auction day comes and they are there and bid more than what they said was their highest price.

Just remember everyone lies in a RE transaction, buyers say this is their highest but bid more. Vendors say we will not accept anything less than x and accept less. So with both sides telling lies how is the REA meant to tell the truth? (not saying REA are 100% truthful here).

 

At least the agent didn't under quote in the first place. Sounds like a good result for your friend. He should be pleased.
As others have said, buyer feedback prior to auction never indicative of final outcome. Most buyers leave something up their sleeve come auction day.

 

It's a trick used to attract more interest, not for the vendor necessarily but to increase competition.
Good outcome in this case, the agent delivered as promised, however the range was a bit too wide.

It's not legal in SA anymore and the bottom figure needs to be justified by comparables before it's advertised.

 

One more question for agents please ? After a sale do agents send a final account to their client which sets out amounts for final commissions, fees and charges ?
I'm finding that extremely hard to get as they say I have to get it from my conveyancer ??
If I bill someone I have to provide a final statement !

 

Our conveyancer has given us a statement which also has an amount paid to the agent but no breakdown of commissions or fees ? Meaning the agent only gave the conveyancer their account but not us. Is that normal ?

 

It should be in your agency agreement.

 

Yes it is if you go searching but what I wanted was a statement showing the amount of commission in $$$ terms (commission is stated in % in agreement ) and any other fees.
Maybe I hoped that an agent would act like any other business owner and give you an itemised account at the end, its probably about 3 minutes worth of their time !

 

Hey Elives, what suburb was it in?

 

pm'd you

 

No worries.
Cheers!