Which AGENT would you choose?
In my experience there are two (2) types of agents. There is a Buyer’s Agent and then there’s a Seller’s Agent!
What I mean by this is that there are some agents who really do work for the Vendor and they are there to ensure you achieve top dollar for your property. They work tirelessly with the owners of the property and negotiate hard on their behalf to ensure they get the Seller (YOU) top dollar for your property! (The preferred alternative to giving it away, right?)
Then …
There are agents who work for the buyer – they simply just want the property sold so they can get their commission cheque and move on to the next one (just like a factory assembly line). These agents don’t try to even reach the top dollar as it’s easier and quicker to just sell it and move onto the next one – with less effort and work.
Here’s an example …
I was house-hunting (as a genuine investor-buyer) a few years ago (before I entered the real estate industry) and went through the Open Home of a lovely canal frontage property that was listed for sale for $839,000. As I walked through the property I asked the agent some questions. The agent was all too eager to quickly volunteer that the owners were in a desperate situation and needed to move on. As I was walking out the door, the agent said “I know they would take $750,000!!” This memory has stuck with me every since.
As an active investor myself, I have seen this happen countless times throughout the years and it makes me very angry and frustrated. In fact, it was part of the reason why I DIDN’T want to become an agent.
Now, my mission is to educate and help people sell their properties for top dollar! And I have certainly been achieving great results.
So, there are some things that you can do to ensure that you are not going to choose an agent who doesn’t really work for you.
⦁ Prior to employing an agent, you should go to their open home if you can and pretend you’re a buyer to see how they behave.
⦁ Assess how they conduct themselves at the open – are you impressed with them? Is this the agent that you would want to be selling your home?
⦁ Ask them for a list of the last 10 properties they have sold. Get them to show you the price they listed the property for and what price they sold it for. How wide is that gap?
This will also help you identify the agent who will appraise your property at a higher price at the start to tempt you into listing with them and then once you’ve listed, beat you down in price.
Your home is probably your most valuable asset, so I implore you to ENSURE you choose the RIGHT agent for you!
I can assure you, you won’t find a harder working agent who will try their utmost to get YOU Top Dollar $$$$
Keep Calm & Call KYLIE
