Wondering if anyone has engaged a vendor advocate to assist with selling??

Discussion in 'The Buying & Selling Process' started by pully, 4th May, 2021.

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  1. pully

    pully Well-Known Member

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    Considering selling a long term investment property.
    Wondering if engaging a vendor advocate would be beneficial?
    Not familiar with their business model, can anyone share their experience or knowledge.
     
  2. Sackie

    Sackie Well-Known Member

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    What's a vendor advocate? Never heard of this before.

    Do you mean a buyers agent?
     
  3. Paul@PAS

    Paul@PAS Tax, Accounting + SMSF + All things Property Tax Business Plus Member

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    Vendors advocacy is something more common to the USA where comms may be borne by the buyer, seller or even both and multilisted sales are common. They often have buyers advocates and agents seeking property and selling agents who may list and seek a wide network. A true vendor advocate plus a selling agent in the Australian context doesnt seem to make much sense since its inferring one is better than the other perhaps but you are paying two people for the same work. In the US context cost may be shared. It seems like a way to clip the ticket and make vendors feel insecure. Many REAs may take exception to a third party contradicting their role as a "consultant".

    Vendor Advocacy Services in Sydney: Sell your property with help from local experts
     
  4. EK01

    EK01 Well-Known Member

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  5. pully

    pully Well-Known Member

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    Thanks for those replies.
    Noticed an agency in SA that offers the service as well as buyers agent and clearing properties for sale.
    Attractive to leave the process of selling/buying to others to deal with, albeit there must be costs involved for the extra services.
    We all want the best outcome with minimal fuss or costs if possible.
    Challenge is to find the best agent for the process and each situation is different.
    Think we might try the traditional model.
     
  6. fantail

    fantail Well-Known Member

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    Vendors Advocates are quite common in Melbourne - they advertise pretty heavily in our market.
    I had discussions with one a few years back when I was selling my mother's unit prior to her going into care.
    The process goes like this............ you have discussions with a vendor's advocate who gets all details of the property then contacts agents in the area and discusses potential sale with them and chooses one to work with. The VA will say they will get the 'best agent' in the area to sell your property, but of course a bit of research will give you that information.
    The agent they choose may be one they've worked with before but maybe not - but it's a shared commission arrangement (not sure of the % to each but the selling agent has to be willing to share the commission in exchange for being 'given' the listing by the VA). I don't know if VA or real estate agent sets the commission or if it's higher than usual - I guess that depends on the VA and the agent.
    The marketing info on your sale board and online will indicate that it's being sold through vendor advocacy.
    Something important to note - the seller doesn't pay two lots of commission.
     
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  7. Squirrell

    Squirrell Well-Known Member

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    Has anyone engaged a vendors agent acquisition consultant to tender out for vendor advocates who will tender out for real estate agents who will tender out your home? How many snouts can we add to the trough?
     
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  8. Northy85

    Northy85 Well-Known Member

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    So you've got to research a vendors advocate who then brings you a list of selling agents you need to research. It sounds overcomplicated.
     
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  9. pully

    pully Well-Known Member

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    Yes it could be complicated or not.
    Some sellers might be unsophisticated about the processes and simply want one point of contact to sell the property and not have to research an agent to sell? Marketing, commission, legal and practical issues can all be time consuming to sort out.
    Ideally independent legal advice prior to contacting an advocate would be wise and necessary complete the process.
    Some offer a complete service of cleaning/preparing/clearing a property, no doubt for a fee.
    Other people may enjoy being involved with all aspects of the sale and would want to be an active participant and decision maker.
    Others may just want the property sold and see the outcome/money, leaving the details to others.
     
  10. Squirrell

    Squirrell Well-Known Member

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    It might also be time consuming finding a good vendor advocate. Maybe someone will start a consultancy to advise on good vendor advocates.
     
  11. kaibo

    kaibo Well-Known Member

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    The time spent to find a good vendor advocate could be used to find a good agent so most of time it is pointless.

    You likely end up paying more as well as vendor advocate often claim "no cost to you" but they take up to half the commission so you aren't going to get a good overall rate from selling Agent.

    I see many vendor advocates picking the same agents to list with (most vendor advocates used to work with that agency). A lot of good selling agents do not work with vendor advocates because they don't want to split the commission as well and don't require the leads as they generate enough business themselves
     
  12. pully

    pully Well-Known Member

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    A brief search online did not reveal many selling advocates or how their business operated so interested in the replies.
    Can be a stressful time selling often coupled with the 3 Ds, death, divorce or debt can see why people may seek assistance and a method to take any further hassle out of selecting a agent.
    Personally would be happy to research but it can still be a lottery.
    Ethical behaviour and making money do not always go together.
    Many variables in human encounters.
    b
     
  13. fantail

    fantail Well-Known Member

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    The principal of the Vendors Agency I spoke with is an ex-estate agent so no doubt has extensive contacts in the Melbourne RE fraternity. I thought this could be very useful as he could steer me away from the not-so-good operators.
    They also oversee a lot of the process and keep the agent on his/her toes - perhaps making agents more accountable rather than not doing the best for their client. I think a VA also gets involved in the negotiation process, which many of us find difficult, and advising client re. offers.
    He also has e-books aimed at sellers - how to avoid common mistakes when selling, how to present your property for sale etc.
    Ultimately I didn't choose to go with them - after weighing everything up I thought it'd be much more convenient to sell through the retirement village office - still sold in quick time and for the price I wanted.
     
    pully likes this.

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