Here you’ll find some tips and strategies for buying and selling your next property. These tips will go a long way in making your next real estate adventure a smoother process.
1… Don’t use Agent Referral Sites …
One of the first things I recommend to people deciding on their next real estate move is to avoid 3rd Party Agent Referral sites and contact your agents directly.
There’s plenty of these referral websites out there, but these guys are just the parasite middlemen of the industry, offering very little in the way of quantifiable service, yet charging many thousands of dollars for the privilege.
To put this as bluntly as possible: AVOID 3rd PARTY AGENT REFERAL SITES LIKE THE PLAGUE, THEY WILL JUST END UP COSTING YOU HEAPS OF MONEY FOR VERY LITTLE RETURN.
2… Choose your real estate agent FIRST …
Before you make the move to do anything at all regarding real estate, whether it’s buying or selling, choose your real estate agent first.
I know today is all about DIY. The temptation is to simply get in there and get things moving by yourself, but even if your buying a property, you are SIMPLY CRAZY if you don’t get some advice from a local agent before you make the move.
A good agent has their finger on the pulse of just what is happening in their area: what locations are more valuable, issues that may impact certain estates, future property developments, specific nuances that only someone that lives and works in the area would know. A good agent will be able to point you to properties that may have not even hit the market yet. This can expose you to a gold mine of potential opportunities. Oh, and if you’re buying a property, this service is free!!
3… Beware of cheap fees …
In order to provide full service to a listed property, a certain amount of time, effort and expense must be outlaid by your real estate agent. Doing the job correctly takes time and effort. It’s as simple as that. This is what you are paying for. If an agent is willing to cut his standard fees by 30%, you need to ask yourself, just what part of his sales package will you be missing out on?
These “discounting” agents work on volume: they work on the principle that some houses sell quickly whilst others take more time. They sell the easy houses and ignore the homes that take a bit more effort. These “slower” properties eventually go out of contract, and the cheap agent let’s them go, looking for the next easy sell. Cheap fees should set your alarm bells ringing, as this is often the sign of a desperate, and sometimes lazy, sales agent. Lack of consistent home opens, poor communication, missed appointments and insufficient advertising, are just some of the issues we hear of with this type of agent.
4… Inflated Property Prices …
Many people have a pretty fair idea what their property is worth. If you are not sure, get appraisals from a number of prominent agents to help you. Beware of agents that come in with an over priced appraisal.
If it seems too good to be true it probably is. Quoting high property prices on appraisal is known in the industry as “trying to buy your listing”.
The idea is the naive seller will choose the agent offering the highest property price, thinking they are getting the best deal. A few weeks down the track when no interest is expressed in your over priced home, the agent will approach you to reduce your asking price. You have lost valuable exposure time and buyer interest in the market with your over priced property.
5… Wonky Sales Statistics …
“There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics”
The manipulation of data can be made to drive any narrative.
The details are often found in the fine print.
I recommend using sales statistics as just one part of your decision making process It’s vital to look for an agent with an outstanding career and the ability to demonstrate an ongoing legacy of successful sales. Prominence in the local industry, combined with a large volume of customer reviews also go along way to helping you choose an agent you are comfortable working with and confident will get you the best results.
6… Sales Teams are not superior …
Real Estate “Sales Teams” are 2 or more agents working together under a single team name. You see a lot of husband and wife sales teams, and this makes sense with the “sharing the load” format this team implies. There are a number of very successful teams out there, great examples of how well this sales model can work.
What you need to be careful of are the teams that insist they have an advantage over the individual agent. They make all sorts of claims along the lines of “2 agents for the price of 1”, “More time to open you home”, “Double the service” etc etc. This is an unimaginative gimmick used in an effort to differentiate themselves from single agents, After all, were these claims of superiority to be the case, market forces would necessitate all agents adopt a team structure in an effort to compete. This is simply not the case. In fact the opposite is true. By far the overwhelming majority of top gun agents in the industry work individually.
A more nefarious use of the Sales Team model is to artificially inflate the sales statistics of one member in the team. This is done when the listings from all members in the team are passed on to one agent. To the casual observer, this agent is selling lots of properties. The casual observer doesn’t realize the rest of the sales team are recording no sales activity!
You’ll find most teams (outside of the family framework) arise when inexperienced / less successful agents get together to broaden their exposure in the local market. That’s it. Otherwise it would be fair to expect these teams to sell twice as much as the lone agent…… after all there are two of them, but no, this is rarely the case.
In defense of the lone agent, much can be gained with a one on one working relationship, eliminating miscommunication, knowing at all times who you are dealing with, and taking comfort in the understanding you’ve always got the best agent on the job at all times.
I am a full time agent. I have behind me a group of industry professionals that handle much of the necessary day to day operations, allowing me to concentrate on home opens, following buyers, and getting the best price possible for my clients. With these sales teams remember this: If you’re not seeing both team members at all appointments and home opens, then you’ve got a team that is halving the workload, not doubling their efforts.
Good Luck with your property experience …
In Summary:
- Avoid Referral sites
- Find an agent first
- Cheap fees aren’t cheap
- Unrealistic pricing hurts
- Statistics don’t tell the full story
- Teams don’t double the effort
Using these tips I guarantee your experience with the property market machine will be far more rewarding and less stressful. I have found these lessons to be invaluable and have been learned over many years of buying and selling property as both a customer, and professional in the real estate industry.
I only wish I had been given advice like this when I started my journey in the property market!
If you’re looking for houses for sale Canning Vale or surrounding suburbs I would love to be given the opportunity to help you.