You may have done some online research in your efforts to find the right agent to sell your home. Say you’re located in Kelmscott, so you google “Best agents in Kelmscott”. Up comes a number of websites which claim that they can find you the best agent to sell your home.
They ask you for your details and where your property is and then send you four or five agents to choose from. Here is a little insight into what happens from there…
They then contact the agents to say “We have a lead for you!” They know nothing about these agents or how they operate, or how good they are; it’s based on absolutely nothing. You as a prospective seller could get in contact with those agents yourself by checking out some of the Sold Sections on any of the major real estate portals.
Then if you end up using one of these agents, the agent has to pay them around 20% of their commission; for giving them a “lead”. So if you agree to pay a commission of $15,000 to your agent at settlement, around 50% will go back to their agency and 20% will go to back to ‘pay for the lead’… That’s over $10,000 out the door for the agent… How motivated do you think they will be to sell your home?
There’s a brand new industry, and it appears to be thriving! It’s the ultimate “middle man” syndrome. They make out like they are doing you, the customer, a great service by recommending the best people for you to go to in whatever it is you’re looking for. All these companies are, are data collectors selling your information wrapped as a ‘lead’ to agents that cannot get their own leads.
If you are looking for a good agent, check out who’s selling the most in your area. Check their website and see how they project themselves there; that will give you a hint as to how they will project your home. Go to a few home opens and see how they are presenting their homes and how they conduct themselves. And please, don’t choose an agent who slashes their commission to get your business because those agents never get you the best price. If that’s how they negotiate their fee, that’s how they’ll negotiate your sale.
So, be on the lookout out for the “skimmers”; people who skim the cream off the top of other people’s incomes for doing absolutely nothing, apart from showing you a few statistics. Unlike other “brokerage” type professions, there is no research done here, there is no knowledge of the product, there is no advice offered and there is absolutely no substantiation for their referrals so please don’t get “sucked in” to providing an income for someone who does not deserve it.
Just call REIWA and ask for their recommendations; they have all the statistics you will ever need at no cost to you or your agent.
Click here to find a Naked agent who specialises in your suburb.
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