There has been a lot of talk in the real estate industry lately about a few agencies deliberately under-quoting potential buyers.
But just how prevalent is this illegal technique and how does it affect you?
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8 Things a Real Estate Agent May Hide From You
Being a real estate agent isn’t always easy. It’s the agent’s job to guide their clients through every step of the purchasing process. This includes finding suitable buyers or sellers, negotiating property sales and closing out deals.
But sometimes an agent prioritises making a sale over serving the needs of their client. They cut corners in order to close out deals as quickly as possible. Some even engage in underhanded tactics just to get a huge payday. This often leaves clients dealing with the repercussions of a bad purchase.
If you’re looking to hire a real estate agent, I suggest reading this article first. We’ve uncovered 8 important things that some agents try to hide from their clients. Check and see if your agent is already trying to pull one of these on you.
Consider using a Buyer’s Agent
A buyer’s agent is someone that acts as a middleman between property buyer and the real estate agent. In the market, sellers are eager to close out the deal with the highest price possible for any given property while buyers need to lock down the price at the lowest possible. If a property seller needs a selling agent (usually the real estate agent) to help them sell the property at the highest price possible, a buyer may hire a buyer’s agent that will help act as a middleman between both parties and negotiate for the lowest price possible, or at least reach a compromise between buyer and seller.
Agents Conspire With Sellers To Inflate Prices
No game is short of its share of villains and the great game called the property market also has its fair share of real estate agents who ply their trade dubiously. In an article for the website Smart Property Investment, Stefanie Garber talks about how they conspire along with the sellers to inflate prices of the properties.
Hot agents Can Heat Up Property Prices
“But you see I am trying to look beyond you; it’s just that you are “clever as a devil and twice as pretty”. Are these the lines going through your mind when you meet a hot property agent looking to fix a deal with you? An interesting (and I am not using the term ‘interesting’ loosely) article on the website news.com.au suggests that attractive looking agents sell houses faster and for higher prices.
What To Do If You Fail A Property Settlement Date
Rob Balanda for the Property Update advises how buyers should act if a real estate deal fails being closed on its intended date of settlement.
In cases when you do not show up on the property settlement date, sellers get one-up on the buyers and often quote a higher price (let us say $100,000 more than the agreed amount). Buyers give in, fearful of the Breach of Contract nightmares. However, the best way to go ahead is to engage your solicitor.
Let the seller or his solicitor know about the delay (and purely banking reasons for it). In the event of their asking for a higher sum, politely refuse citing paucity of cash. Do so over phone rather than through a letter.
If they do not agree,lure them with the ‘deposit’ bait. Tell them that you are ready to free the deposit amount right then instead of paying at the time of settlement.
If they act fastidious, go one notch higher on negotiation- tell them that you are ready to increase the deposit amount (do not increase the amount more than the penalty they are seeking, in this case less than $100,000).
Your solicitor will invariably take care of the situation and you won’t need to cough up a higher purchase rate.
You can read the original article here.
