1. News
2. ›Avoid Real Estate Agent Tricks

Avoid Real Estate Agent Tricks

Most of us use a real estate agent at some point in our lives and whether you are selling or buying a property you are more than likely to come across real estate agents who use some selling tricks. Real estate agents use tricks to make their job easier, to speed up the sale and make their commission.

If you are selling a property, you may encounter the following tricks. The agent might use tricks to drive your price down. Conditioning is a main tactic used by agents. This is where the agent offers you a high valuation in order to get the contract to sell but then slowly feeds you negative feedback, usually in the words of the buyers, to get you to lower your price. Real estate agents will say things like ‘the buyers think the property is only worth x amount' or ‘the kitchen is too small' to make you think your property is worth less. This may also be honest feedback but the best way to avoid this trick is to know your property's worth. Get an independent valuation before speaking to real estate agents. This way you know what you can expect and will not be convinced to lower your price below its real value.

If you are buying a property the agent will talk up the property to make you believe it is worth the price listed and to make you move quickly. Common tricks agents use are telling potential buyers that there is another offer to put pressure on the buyer and/or to have them increase their offer. The legitimacy of this statement and statements such as ‘a lot of interest' and ‘a second inspection' can be questionable. The best way to handle this trick is to do your own assessment on the value of property and work out what it is really worth to you, and then be prepared to put your best offer forward and be prepared to walk away if the offer is rejected.

Source | Australian Loan Company