Defend You, Protect You
DEFENDING YOUR PRICE, PROTECTING YOU FROM REAL ESTATE AGENTS
Defend You, Protect You, it sounds strange that you would need to do either once you have employed an agent.
I have been asked many times what I do and why I am so passionate about my advocacy and advisory services being needed.
You will all know a real estate agent. You probably believe that the one that you know is a nice human being and they will look after you. Generally true.
If you are selling your home or investment property then the agent will be very helpful – you are paying them a great deal of money so they should be both nice and helpful.
One of the greatest contradictions comes from price. An agent will tell you that your home is worth a certain price (in a vague kind of way), and almost from week 1, they will try to influence you on lowering that price. “Price fixes everything,” “quote them low and watch them go” real estate is motivated around price. The agent only gets paid when the house gets sold. They want to sell the house as quickly as possible, the amount it sells for is a minor concern.
Depending on the sellers motivation, they may be relying on their house sale to not only buy their next home but also to help fund their retirement. The ‘when’ is not as important as the ‘how much’.
Agents similarly want you to paint, primp, and stage your home. Why? It makes your home sell faster (sometimes) and they therefore get paid faster. It makes them look good too. “Look at me, look at how fast I sold that home” It doesn’t always work like that though.
Defend, Protect, Keep the Agent Focused on YOU
Real estate is about timing. The right person at the right time with the right wish list and the right budget. This right person may come to your home in week 1 or week 30. Part of my role in your house sale is to keep the agent focused on you and your house sale. Agents are very quickly distracted. They try to run with as many listings (homes on the market) as they can. Your home will be their focus for 2 to 3 weeks but after that their interest wanes.
There are many examples of homes going to market that have been polished to perfection and languishing on the market. An equal number, going to market that have not been polished and languishing. The root cause of this is the state of the market. How many buyers in the area have a matching budget to the house price? Obviously, more people have under $1,000,000 to spend than over. Whilst viewing numbers are important to generate perceived competition, it’s getting the right buyer at the right time with the right budget that may take time.
Typically, regional areas take longer unless there is a (hopefully) one off event like covid lockdowns when anything regional flew out the door for huge prices. Inner Melbourne is faster – more people want to live there. The outskirts are more variable. It’s part of the reason why auctions are more successful in and around the city – more people in the buying pot. It’s also why these agents get away with underquoting – “market forces pushed the price higher”.
Defend You, Protect You
As an advocate, together, we do research before we call the agents into your home. The agents provide us with a price (or thereabouts) and hopefully an explanation or justification of the price. We have done our research too and we can tell if they are quoting high to get our business (‘our’ because you and I are in this together) or low because they want to quote a low price, create competition, and sell the home fast.
From that point on, regardless of how many conversations the agents want to have about price, I defend your price. Any price change depends on your motivation and the agent proving to us that they were wrong. Agents hate to be wrong and are quick to deflect to ‘the market’ or a failure of the home that buyers have seen that they didn’t. This last one always astounds me (see me roll my eyes). They are the area expert, they have used their expertise to quote a price, and now they are saying it’s not true but it’s not their fault or their responsibility.
I know.
More than two decades in real estate and I have been there, done that, and heard that.
Now as your real estate guide, your advocate, your partner as you buy or sell, I will defend your price, your home, and protect your future. Working together to save you the pain of handling the real estate process alone.
