About real estate agents and commissions…

Today’s property investment tip is all about Real Estate Agents and their commissions.

Love them or loathe them, it’s worth understanding something about the amount of commission an agent charges.

As with any industry, in Real Estate, there are both good and bad agents. Not only that, some agents provide good value for money, whilst others don’t.

Realistically, if an agent is charging very LOW fees, it stands to reason that they probably don’t have the time or sense of obligation to get the best deal for the vendor.

This can be an advantage when you are buying.

I’ve heard of agents charging as little as $1,000 to sell a property and ruthlessly pushing ANY offer they can get onto their vendors, because they don’t want to spend the time to get the best outcome for their vendor.

Often very cheap agents aren’t really working for the vendor, they’re working for themselves!

Here are two important points to remember:

1. If you are selling a property, don’t think that by using the cheapest agent you’ll necessarily get yourself a bargain.
2. If there’s a ‘cheapy’ in your area, you’ll probably find that he or she is open to promoting your low priced offers which can result in a good buying opportunity for you.

However, if you’re selling don’t feel you need to pay the highest commission.

In fact, before you sell your home or investment property, test the agent you’re considering listing with.

Get them to show you properties they have listed for sale in the area and push them on the asking price.

Ask questions that will reveal how well they represent their vendors.

These will be questions that you as a potential purchaser may want answered, but that you would NOT want answered if you are the vendor.

Questions such as:

• What sort of offers have you received for this property?
• How long have you had this listing?
• Why are the vendors selling?
• When are the vendors planning to move?

This will give you an idea of what they’ll do for you.

Warm Regards

Hans Jakobi – Your Wealth Coach®
Real Estate Secrets