Having ‘discussions’ with RE Agent

[Pushka]

As context our house is going up for auction in a few weeks. We are in discussions with the RE Agent currently. He has inserted a price in the online advertisement that will go ‘live’ Wednesday. We do not want a price inserted. His argument is that it will attract more buyers and therefore generate interest to the opens and the auction. Our argument is that the price is not the price we would ever contemplate and it will pee off a lot of buyers who can’t match the price.

In SA we cannot use the words ‘from $xx_x’. We cannot have a reserve price that is more than 10% above the price advertised or written on the sales agreement. We are fine with that.

So basic question. As an auction sale do we insert a price. Please vote in the poll.

 

[love_the_life]

Read my lips Mr Agent - which bit of No don't you understand? - if it were me

 

[DC3]

For what it’s worth, I believe that RE agents act in their own interest, rather than the vendor’s best interest, including in SA.

 

[Hvr]

Why don't you want a price point inserted? You won't sell below your chosen price and would surely sell if an offer was made at or above the desired price.

Frankly, I find any agent who doesn't put a price point in the advertisement annoying. Buyers self select according to price and will devote more attention to a property in their range.

To me no price point suggests something to hide or that something is wrong with the property.

 

[Pushka]

Why don't you want a price point inserted? You won't sell below your chosen price and would surely sell if an offer was made at or above the desired price.

Frankly, I find any agent who doesn't put a price point in the advertisement annoying. Buyers self select according to price and will devote more attention to a property in their range.

To me no price point suggests something to hide or that something is wrong with the property.

Thankyou. Interesting view point. How about the opposite. The price listed is below the sale price we’d consider selling at?

 

[moa999]

In some states that would open the agent up to fines.

No point attracting buyers who can't afford it. The whole point in an auction is to have multiple buyers that can.

 

[love_the_life]

Why don't you want a price point inserted? You won't sell below your chosen price and would surely sell if an offer was made at or above the desired price.

Frankly, I find any agent who doesn't put a price point in the advertisement annoying. Buyers self select according to price and will devote more attention to a property in their range.

To me no price point suggests something to hide or that something is wrong with the property.

Properties here that are listed for auction never have a price - potential buyers can discuss this with the agent. There was a lot of bad press about agents who posted artificially low prices to get people in but they were of course disappointed and pi$$ed off when the final price was higher. There is also the risk that if the home goes to auction it will be hard to surpass the ‘advertised’ price.

 

[Hvr]

The price listed is below the sale price we’d consider selling at?

Which is also wrong. A price point should reflect the price range you're actually willing to sell.

Both you and your REA would be in trouble here in Victoria.

Understanding property prices and underquoting for buyers

Information for consumers on understanding property prices, including underquoting, plus tips for home buyers.

www.consumer.vic.gov.au

It is a legal requirement for all residential properties for sale in Victoria to have a Statement of Information that includes:

• an indicative selling price - this can be a single price or a price range of no more than 10 per cent

Even advertisements which don't have a price must include the Statement of Information which does list the price.

 

[Pushka]

Which is also wrong. A price point should reflect the price range you're actually willing to sell.

Both you and your REA would be in trouble here in Victoria.

Even advertisements which don't have a price must include the Statement of Information which does list the price.

It is different in SA. At Auction you must have a Reserve Price that is within 10% of the price in the sales agreement and we will comply with that. Agent is using the price in the sales agreement as the advertised price and that isn’t our reserve price although we are not obliged to disclose that reserve price anywhere I would like the advertised price not to be mentioned but if it is, to be closer to our reserve price. Agent has advised that they cannot use any descriptor words.

 

[DC3]

Pity that you can't get a new agent. Or can you?

 

[Pushka]

Pity that you can't get a new agent. Or can you?

I suspect it’s the nature of the industry.

 

[JohnK]

For what it’s worth, I believe that RE agents act in their own interest, rather than the vendor’s best interest, including in SA.

Real estates also act in the interests of the buyer? Interesting conflict of interest.

 

[Hvr]

Real estates also act in the interests of the buyer? Interesting conflict of interest.

The vendor is the seller of the property. Not the buyer. If the buyer wants support their best bet is to engage a 'buyer's advocate'.

 

[VPS]

Interesting point and I can see it from both sides. It is nice to have a bit of a price point so that when a prospective buyer looks at it they know if they are in the ballpark. My agent told me that if you don't have a price some people will ignore because they don't think they can afford it

 

[Pushka]

Interesting point and I can see it from both sides. It is nice to have a bit of a price point so that when a prospective buyer looks at it they know if they are in the ballpark. My agent told me that if you don't have a price some people will ignore because they don't think they can afford it

Yes and that makes sense. The figure that is currently being used is our likely Reserve Price less 10%. And this is simply not an amount we would sell for. It was their idea to set it at this amount and they did not say it would be used in printed and internet exposure. It’s an auction not a sale. So in that sense they didn’t value the property but simply used the 10% margin. In hindsight we should never have told them what our likely reserve was. We trusted them with that info. I think that is what is rankling the most - the manner in which that figure was derived. Ive read in the last few days from Consumer and Business Affairs that the figure is supposed to be the Agents fair assessment of the home value. Not some kind of mucky derivation thing. And of three Agents interviewed, none of their estimated lower range was near this amount being used.

 

[VPS]

Frustrating indeed - I had three agents look at my place - two were almost identical with their valuations - the third was $50K less (he was wrong thankfully)

 

[Eija]

Have used these guys twice - Bertacco Ferrier Pty Ltd – National Property Valuations
Within -$28K 1st time on $730K valuation. +$120K on $1.5M valuation. They charged somewhere around $1K for an extensive report. Well worth doing before talking to REA's.

 

[Daver6]

Just DIY it. When it came to selling our old apartment (that we lived in) I did a bit of research for similar in the same suburb. Got a couple of agents in to get their thoughts on pricing and their charges. In the end, sold it myself saving on agent's fees and for a little over 10% more than the so called "experts" said it would sell for. Effort to do it myself wasn't that great. I'd say less than the effort required to book a OWA in J.

 

[Happy Dude]

Having a price that is lower than you'll accept is worse than having no price at all. Your agent must like wasting his time with time-wasting low-ballers trying to start the offers even lower.

 

[Pushka]

Having a price that is lower than you'll accept is worse than having no price at all. Your agent must like wasting his time with time-wasting low-ballers trying to start the offers even lower.

I think it’s all about getting lots of registered bidders to the auction and I’m not sure that’s a great yardstick if they are expecting a lower price. We’d rather sell to a reasonable offer prior. Must be some kind of RE kudos in getting a lot of registered bidders or something.