I am currently looking for a property to buy. Yes, I’m competing with so many other buyers who want to buy in the same low price range and on the road to nowhere, because of the mad frenzy of buyers on the market. So I get it. I feel for you. I have to actually say, I’m disgusted that so many are buying like vultures and over paying on property purchases and creating artificial growth in the market. Some of the real estate agents out there are making it worse.
This is evidenced by my experience yesterday. I went to look at a villa advertised in Southport last night. What attracted me was the low advertised price. Offers over $379,000. Of course, this was done deliberately by the agent to get buyers in the door to look. They knew the property would sell about low to mid $400,000 at a bare minimum. This is called price baiting and illegal in some States. So what happened? First open home they had about 150 people attend. The second, another 100 or more, which I was part of.
The property was in pretty poor condition internally, needing a full cosmetic renovation. It was dirty. So straight away you know a minimum of $50,000 needs to be spent on a quality makeover. The agent then advises there is no contract of sale but all offers need to be submitted online through a bidding portal. The first offer is just a starting point, the next day you will be advised where in the rank your offer stands and then invited to make you best and final offer. This did not sit well with me. In the 20 years that I have been buying and selling property, I have never not had a written contract to fill. It doesn’t have to be on paper, it can be done online. But should be either the process of expression of interest or a signed contract of offer. Not in this case.
Firstly, I had to register and add all my personal details onto the online platform. Navigating through the questions about standard conditions and deposits wasn’t so bad. But then there was no where to register the “extra” conditions and explain the reasons for these conditions. After wasting half an hour trying to find the spot where you enter in the offer price, I found it at the very end of the process AFTER accepting all terms and conditions of the online portal. Definitely not user friendly. Definitely no transparency in the process and quite frankly, lazy on the part of the agent.
This morning I was advised I was ranked 36th out of 45 offers on the property. Obviously I am not going to even bother with a counter offer. But the conditions I offered would have been highly favourable to the vendor. This online system ignores the value of those conditions. There was no communication between the agent and the buyers, except through text messages and email. There is no indication as to where the top price offered is. There is no transparency.
I’m sorry, call me old fashioned, but this is NOT an acceptable “way of the future” to sell a property. To find a mutually beneficial sale that meets the needs of both the vendor and the buyer. This is what being a good real estate agent is about. This online process serves no one but the agent themselves, glorifying the high numbers they attracted, yet doing as little work as possible.
I have worn the hat of both vendor and buyer on many occasions and I can say even with my level of experience, what is happening in the market today is overwhelming. My advise is, buy a property where you can actually negotiate with the agent. If you need help doing that, then I would be happy to help. Not all properties have been marketed unrealistically. Buying a property should be an exciting and fulfilling process and a win / win for all.
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