F***n real estate agents

[awayatc]

A house on internet listing sounded interesting....POA....
Ring up to find out price....
Sorry you have to speak to listing agaent, can I get her to ring you back?
Yep, sure, am serious cash buyer, just need to know if it is in my range...
Next day: No news, so being rather the impatient type I ring up again...
Sorry you need to speak to listing agent....
"Well" I say "she didn't ring me back, so unless you can give me a price in the next few minutes I will barge up to this address and ask the owner myself...."

Agent rang 2 minutes later,full of assorted bullshit excuses and we made appointment to view......
Nice house...."how much?"
Blahblah
"how Much?"
yadeeyadee yepyep...
Give me a contract, I make an offer on the spot, cash only subject to Lim....
Not sure I got papers in car, can you wait 10 min? etc yep yep...
" no" am in a hurry, will sign monday or so..

papers somehow magicly appeared out of boot of car and I made a very reasonable offer (based on RV), explaining to her that I don't subscribe to the up and down countersigning load of crap game.
He has got a price in mind, I got a price in mind, we agree /we got a deal, if not we dont...

She rings me up 15 min later, and asks me where I am.
tell her i am busy but she insists we meet somewhere to discuss why my offer wasn't accepted....
"i had no clauses to object to, so he wants more money,
How much?"
she keeps insisting that she wants to meet with me to discuss it, over and over and over.....
In the end I said, If you refuse to tell me how much he wants just forget about the whole deal, I am not going to rearrange my day to convenience you.
So FINALY she spat out a number into the phone..(not that far removed from my offer)
"Sorry not paying that much!"
Oh, she goes, we can still make this work, blah blah.
I say, I will only MAYBE make a second and final offer in the next few days.... Nothing you can do to make this work....Is just a number game, always was.
I will ring you one of these days and tell you when and where suits me IF I want to make another offer....Thanks, have a good evening!

She was fuming and sizzling,
Somebody ruined her game and didn't play by her rules.
I took over the initiative.
And knowing I can easy afford the "asking" price made it worse for her...

The art of war...
Only negotiate from a position of strength.....

Rant over, deal isn't
Still undecided.
House mainly so kids have Base near Uni.
Will probably buy a yacht,
easier to piss off if you dont like the neighbours...

[smoky]

It really pisses me off all the auctions and POA bullshit around, it makes the job of filtering out the possible properties to look at a bigger job than it needs to be. Surely if you're selling you have a figure in mind?
The only reason they don't put a price on it - is just in case there's a silly sod out there who doesn't know what it's worth and will pay too much for it.
Real estate agents also use the no price thing if they think it's worth way less than the vendors expectations

So generally anything advertised as POA or auction - I don't bother with; because it tells me the vendor wants more than the market price for it

And for some reason people are paying silly money at auctions?

I'm currently looking around for a deal as well, good time to be buying I think - but I'm not to sure about taking on larger mortgage given the current economic environment, I think I'll leave myself plenty of wriggle room.

[James Deuce]

Yes, they have a unique perspective on things, don't they?

Auction, Tender, POA are just tools to see what the market will bear.

[davereid]

She is being paid by the vendor, so I guess that she assumed you would be easy to push up to a higher price, as the first offer came so easily.

Her big mistake !

In general, the few dealings I have had with real estate agents have been miserable corrupt little affairs, with agents dabbling in all sorts of dodgy shit.

I have an elderly auntie who has been caught a few times. The usual deal, auntie is bored and looks at a few houses for inspiration.

Agent catches on, and comes around and appraises aunties house, valuing it way to high.

Bolstered by the high value of her house, she buys one off the agent.

Then of course the high offers never eventuate, and the agent changes to the "you have to meet the market luv' line.

[Pixie]

It really pisses me off all the auctions and POA bullshit around, it makes the job of filtering out the possible properties to look at a bigger job than it needs to be. Surely if you're selling you have a figure in mind?
The only reason they don't put a price on it - is just in case there's a silly sod out there who doesn't know what it's worth and will pay too much for it.
Real estate agents also use the no price thing if they think it's worth way less than the vendors expectations

So generally anything advertised as POA or auction - I don't bother with; because it tells me the vendor wants more than the market price for it

And for some reason people are paying silly money at auctions?

I'm currently looking around for a deal as well, good time to be buying I think - but I'm not to sure about taking on larger mortgage given the current economic environment, I think I'll leave myself plenty of wriggle room.

Agents like auctions because they are easy and the vendor pays for all the extras - like advertising etc.

[martybabe]

What a game, I've been through all of this bullshit recently. I was asked by three estate agents, quite earnestly, what price I thought they should advertise various properties. This is after I'd said I wasn't interested in the property.

No one seems to have a clue on values at the moment but it doesn't stop them trying every scam/estate agent trick, to milk you for every cent they can get .

[Pussy]

The jargon, bullshit and game playing pisses me off too.

There are only three things REQUIRED for a real estate deal

A vendor

A purchaser

Some real estate

[Mom]

It is a game that they have to play. I trained as one, yes folks, it is true, but before you start chucking things at me, there is no way I would ever sell real estate. I needed the qualification to legally run a property management business for a company.

During the training, I among others asked the question of the tutor, how can you get the best deal for a vendor if you also act for the purchaser? The answer it seems is in your integrity, and a set of guidelines and rules an ethical agent has to operate under. So what you have is a middle man, whose only goal in life is to make a commission off the sale.

There are many ways you can manipulate a situation to ensure you are getting the best deal for everyone (read yourself). Interestingly enough, I have worked alongside some very professional and ethical agents, who I would not hesitate to recommend to someone who wants to buy or sell a property. There are also the ones I would never recommend, I would not trust them as far as I could flick them.

Best advice is go and talk to the ARIENZ of a real estate office, and ask to be directed to the agent that has been in the game the longest. They tend to be the ones that know how to look after you, and are not totally ficussed on their pay packet.

[JimO]

about 10 years ago i had a student flat here in dunedin and had decided to sell it, up the road there was one for sale so i called the agent, asked him to have a look and give me a value on it, about a hour later he called me back wanting to buy it for himself, he said he would pay $120000 which was top dollar and we would have no agents fees, i thought he sounded a bit keen so decided to have a go at a private sale, put a add in the local paper with the address and that someone would be on site from 9am, i got there at 10 to 9 there were 6 people waiting by 9:30 i had a offer of $135000 and a back up offer of $133000 the first guy couldnt come through with the money as the bank wouldnt lend him any more so buyer #2 got it. I had bought it 2 years earlier for $90000. I have spoken to several realestate agents over the years about the agent i contacted and they have all said what he did was unethical, the property is worth around 350k now

[Big Dave]

There are people who are good at their job and there are people who are bad at their job. Any job.

Most rants against agents involve unmet expectations - realistic or otherwise.

[Usarka]

Most rants against agents involve unmet expectations - realistic or otherwise.

Expectations that are set by the agent?

[MIXONE]

What peeves me is the fact that they don't very often have prices listed.I know how much I have to spend and don't want to waste my time viewing properties that are out of my price range.
We bought our current house on tardme and got it for about 40k cheaper then going through an agent.

[jaymzw]

Interestingly enough, I have worked alongside some very professional and ethical agents, who I would not hesitate to recommend to someone who wants to buy or sell a property.

My grandparents are and have been for a long while Real Estate agents in Warkworth

[Elysium]

Is everyone else here of the opinion that real estate agents are more concerened for their social status then being proper agents? I mean their faces are plastered all over billboards, bus, buildings etc.. and you think they acting like they're movie stars.
I always thought reputation was being good at selling houses and satisfied customers/buyers. They just seem so oragant these days.

[Big Dave]

Expectations that are set by the agent?

Often - but not exclusively.
If the vendor is willing it's not hard to exclude them from the process either.

The problem I have is the 'All' rant. I worked in the construction industry for 15 years and had dealings with real estate agents that were honorable and rewarding - to all involved. They get by mostly on repeat business.

Also met some real car hunts.