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Can you trust your estate agent?

Matthew Griffin • Feb 24, 2020

There are few professions that have as bad a reputation as the humble estate agent. Both buyers and sellers it seems have reasons to complain about the level of service and professionalism they receive during the sales process.


Buyers complain that agents lie about receiving multiple offers in an attempt to fraudulently increase prices, while sellers complain they were promised high prices and a sale within a few weeks, only for the home to stay on the market for months and the sellers having to significantly lower their price to sell.

Some of these complaints have merit. As an honest hardworking real estate agent with nearly a decade's experience in Brisbane, I just wanted to set the record straight, that not all estate agents are the dishonest money-grabbing vultures the media would have you believe. Most of us are honest hardworking individuals working in an industry which, let’s be honest, has its ups and downs. We as estate agents do not have control over the underlying strength of the property market. There are plenty of factors that will affect how the campaign goes which are beyond our control.

Our job as real estate agents is to help you, our customer, navigate these forces to the best of our ability.


The good, the bad and the ugly

That being said, as a professional working in this industry since 2012 I have seen my fair share of dodgy practises. It is not unknown for agents to misrepresent the number of offers in an attempt to inflate the price. And I have seen agents promise a quick sale on the back of a ‘non-existent’ database of eager buyers. The point I am trying to make is that there are a few bad apples which give the rest of us a bad name. We hold a position of trust in the sales / buying process, people are naturally concerned when they read stories in the press about rogue agents committing offences within our industry.

It only takes one agent to get caught misrepresenting or misleading buyers or sellers and the press jumps on it like a rabid hyena. The question is, how can you identify the good agents from the bad? In this article I want to highlight some of the tricks rogue agents get up to and how you can protect yourself from being on the wrong side of them.


Some warning signals to look out for

1. Lies about multiple offers
This has to be one of the most common complaints I hear about selling agents. I hear it so often that even when the agent is being sincere, people tend to not believe them. Be warned, however, that this can lead to complacency which may cause you to lose the home of your dreams for as little as a few thousand dollars. Yes, a handful of agents do misrepresent the number of offers they receive. But such agents are in a minority. The fact is all agents operate under a strict code of ethics which prevents us from misrepresenting offers. If found out – and agents are subject to audits – they risk the possibility of infringements or heavy fines.

If you feel that the agent is being dishonest with you regarding multiple offers, it is your decision as to whether you still want to proceed or walk away.
 
If you decide to proceed and the agent calls you back to inform you the owner has accepted another offer, then you know they were telling you the truth. However, if you walk away and the property is not under contract a few days later, it may very well be that the agent was operating dishonestly.


2. Promises of buyers waiting to buy
We’ve all heard it straight from the horse’s mouth and we’ve all seen it in the letters that flood our letterboxes:

“I have buyers that want to buy your house NOW!”

Many agents hope to obtain a listing by promising sellers a quick sale by giving the impression they maintain a large database of eager buyers. Sometimes this is true, but most of the time it is not. So, I recommend treating such promises with a pinch of salt.

If you aren’t sure whether an agent is being honest with you about having buyers for your property, sign an exclusive listing agreement for two weeks or an open listing allowing the agent time to get their buyers through. If they can’t produce any buyers or they don’t get you an offer that you are willing to accept, then perhaps they were just trying to tell what you wanted to hear in order to get your business.

A good way of calling an agent’s bluff on whether they actually have buyers, is to ask them to waive their marketing fees. After all, an agent with a long list of eager buyers does not need to spend thousands of dollars marketing your property, they can consult their list, call a buyer relatively quickly and work out a time to get them through.


Most estate agents are hard-working, trustworthy individuals

I will finish up by saying most estate agents I deal with are honest, professional, hardworking individuals. Most agents are smart enough to realise that the people buying homes today are the potential sellers of tomorrow, so it makes no sense for us to compromise our integrity by lying to make a quick sale. Would you go back to an agent who tried to rip you off? such agents are quickly found out and don’t stay around long enough to build a solid business capable of withstanding the volatile swings of the property market.

Stick with agents from reputable companies, who have many years of experience and reviews / testimonials to back up the service they provide. You will find most of us to be open and honest individuals, who know that buying or selling a home is a stressful experience and will do our best to help you navigate the process as quickly and painlessly as possible.

If you are looking to sell or buy a home in Brisbane and are looking for an honest, reputable real estate agent to deal with, give me a call on (07) 3054 7050 or send me an email at matthew@sparrowrealestate.com.au.

I’ve been selling homes in Brisbane for many years and have helped hundreds of families find a new home during that time. Many of them have become good friends and have come back to me thanks to the professional and dedicated service I offer all my clients, old and new.
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