I’d like to share a story with you to highlight a few cautionary details about underquoting and dealing with Real Estate Agents.
Our clients were interested in two properties – a Zoom viewing of an off market home on the Friday and another, which was being auctioned on the Saturday.
We ended up purchasing the off market property for our clients at a very fair and reasonable market price, without the “emotional tax” that many buyers end up paying at auction. Given the market conditions at the time meant in-person inspections and live auctions were banned, buyers were becoming more and more concerned about when/if they would be able to purchase a home. However, auctions at any time are stressful and it is understandable that there are a lot of emotions at play. By engaging a Buyer’s Advocate, you take this emotional element out of the equation. We keep you focused on the end game.
Thanks to the established relationship we had with the selling Agent on Friday, he knew we were serious and who he was dealing with – a seasoned professional able to line the ducks up quickly to make the deal happen, whilst still protecting the interests of our clients.
At 10.00am on Friday morning, we undertook a Zoom video walk through with the Agent. There was only one other interested party who was also using an Advocate. Going off market often gives us the advantage of avoiding a competitive bidding war, which can’t be said about auctions. Following the Zoom walk through, our clients were quite keen and we weighed up their options about putting in an offer for this property or attending the Zoom auction on the Saturday.
We decided to put in an offer. The other party and their Advocate were advised of our bid and while they dragged their feet making a decision, we acted swiftly and bought our clients their perfect home for a perfect price by 8.30pm that evening!
On the other hand, had we gone down the Saturday auction path for the property our clients were originally interested in, they would most certainly have missed out as it sold for $280,000 above the Agent’s top of price guide. This was a combination of:
- gross underquoting by the selling Agent (at least $160,000 of the price achieved was due to underquoting); and
- buyer competition. Emotion clearly kicked in here for buyers to take this property to the price it sold for.
Prior to the auction, there were a couple of red flags that had gone up for us.
- It was clear the property was being underquoted. None of the comparable sales provided by the Agent in their Statement of Information were at all accurate and our own due diligence, which we always undertake, also confirmed this.
- It was also concerning that the Vendors had paid for and provided their own building and pest inspections. This can be considered somewhat of a conflict of interest. It is not ideal to rely on reports, which have been provided by the Seller. The best option is to have an independent inspection performed by someone who has your best interests at heart.
If you are still wondering why you’d work with us, let me put it in these terms… How would you feel if you viewed a home at 10.00am tomorrow and by 8.30pm that evening, you had secured your home? That’s right, you would own a home within 24 hours! No more scouring the internet. No more attending Zoom walk throughs. Just peace and contentment knowing that you had finally found your new home. We are here to make it easy for you and help relieve the stress, especially in these difficult times.
Looking to buy in Melbourne and sick of missing out at auction? Talk to me about how I can help you buy your new home faster, for less.
We do offer our negotiate service for those buyers in the market looking to pounce on opportunities that arise. Get in touch if you’d like to know more.
Ask about our Home Buyer Search and Acquisition Service, where we do all of the legwork on your behalf to MAKE IT EASY to secure your new home.
Give me a call on 03 9686 2288 to discuss how I can help. I offer a free consultation, so why not call today?
