Is The Real Estate Agent Playing Games with Me?

anonymous01 on 01/05/2025 - 12:54
Last edited 01/05/2025 - 13:39 by 1 other user

Hi Guys, need your opinion.

Quick Background: Bought a house last year, s#*t happened, got separated from the Mrs., and put the house back on the market. Has been around 1 year since been living here, and house has been on the market for last 4 weeks or so.

I made things very clear to the The Real Estate Agent that I won't be selling the house for a huge loss, I am not in a rush. Bought it for $xxxK and after taking the 2% REA commission and $4.2k just for advertising + Conveyencor costs + other costs, I decided to settle for $xxxK + 10k of buying price, even though I am still taking a loss of about 10k at that point.

Originally, the property was listed at -15k of buying price to +35k. There was not much interest after 2 weeks of inspections, so the REA asked me re-sign a contract to put the advertised price lower to attract more buyers. I agreed and now the property is listed at -30k to +25k of buying price. I only agreed for this because he convinced me that this is only to attract more buyers, and I still get to choose whether to accept or reject an offer.

The Section 32 is now ready and I am being pressured by REA to sign it as soon as possible.

Just want a opinion from those who have sold properties before, do I still get to accept of reject offers after signing the Section 32? I don't want to sign anything without being 100% certain.

Thanks for your help.

EDIT: The REA called me yesterday and told me that he found a potential buyer. He asked me couple of question regarding the sale of the property. I asked him what's the offer that the buyer is proposing and he flogged me off saying that he is still negotiating that with the buyer. The signing of the Section 32 urgency came during that same call. Hence I am being a little cautious.

Financial Real Estate Agent

Comments

  • Mechz on 01/05/2025 - 13:00
    +2

    Yes

    • anonymous01 on 01/05/2025 - 13:03
      +1

      Yes to which question? "Do I still get to accept of reject offers after signing the Section 32?"?. Thanks.

      • Mechz on 01/05/2025 - 13:03
        +11

        Yes, you can reject any offer.

        • anonymous01 on 01/05/2025 - 13:04

          Ok Thank you for sharing that with me. Appreciate it.

        • mskeggs on 01/05/2025 - 13:06
          +27

          And yes the REA is messing you around. They want a quick sale because then they get paid.
          It is better for them to sell $50k cheaper today than haggle for a higher offer that may never come.

          If you are really in no rush why drop the price?

          • anonymous01 on 01/05/2025 - 13:21

            @mskeggs: Yes that is what I gathered from that call. I dropped the price as I want to move on, sell the property as soon as possible time wise, not price wise.

            • oscargamer on 01/05/2025 - 13:32
              +12

              @anonymous01: Those two things generally go hand in hand. Quick sale, lower price and vice versa.

            • mskeggs on 01/05/2025 - 22:00
              +1

              @anonymous01:

              ” I made things very clear to the The Real Estate Agent that I won't be selling the house for a huge loss, I am not in a rush. ”

              It’s tricky if you tell the REA you are not in a rush, if you actually do need to sell quickly. You need to communicate to the REA your priorities so they can do the best for you. The REA will always favour selling quickly, but if that is what you need, the REA will be able to get it done.

              • voo123 on 03/05/2025 - 00:42
                +1

                @mskeggs: REAs hear this “in no rush to sell” statement all the time. They see right through this and run their usual campaign and spiel regardless. Its a difficult one, because of you tell them of your genuine urgency to sell, they will try their best to create maximum urgency in the first 4-6 weeks to sell. But after this point, they will reveal your need to sell to the buyers directly and condition you down to lowball prices. Imo, best to not reveal that you’re in a rush to sell unless things get dire (after 8 weeks on market).

            • gromit on 02/05/2025 - 15:51
              +10

              @anonymous01: That is very different to your first statement that you are in no rush. If you are in no rush then you don't need to consider dropping price unless you are significantly outside market prices, if you want to move on as soon as possible then more buyer through a slightly lower bottom end range can attract offers that end up getting what you want anyway. Our REA did the same to us when we sold last year, I ended up with 6 offers to consider and got over $50k above what I wanted and the winner ended up being someone that would not have even looked at our house had we put the bottom end where I really wanted it to be.

              Make sure you are also calculating in how much the property is costing you to hold. For me it worked out at about $4k per month in lost interest on the funds (as I owned it outright), for you it might be the interest paid to bank? taking an extra 4-8 weeks to "maybe" get your sale price can be completely lost in your holding costs.

      • Dr Phil on 02/05/2025 - 08:40
        +2

        yes can we please have REAL numbers
        This + and - stuff just confuses people

        But yes, the market is a bit fickle at the moment.
        Best to hold off until next interest rate cut which will spur buyers into action

        PS You name the deal with the agent.
        Dont agree to pay any advertising fees, you are paying enough already in commission

        PSS The agent is playing the same game with you as they do with everyone else
        Dont sign anything! Dont agree to a price lower than you want. Especially on the contract!

        • Herbs on 02/05/2025 - 22:29
          +4

          *PPS

        • voo123 on 03/05/2025 - 00:46

          If you’re intending to buy after selling, it will likely work against you if interest rates drop.

      • RTX9090Ti on 04/05/2025 - 07:28

        Yes to the question you asked "Is The Real Estate Agent Playing Games with Me?"

        10k for them is only $200 commission, they won't fight for you, they just want to secure the deal so they get the big chunk of the 2%, not the 10k variation.

  • Ozbar Gain on 01/05/2025 - 13:12
    +29

    The agent needs your signed Section 32 to be legally able to market and sell you property. Without it, they can't let a seller write up an offer. You have to sign it for the agent to do their work.

    Apart from that, you still have the option to accept or reject any offers presented to you

    • anonymous01 on 01/05/2025 - 14:54
      +1

      Thanks for that clarification.

  • oscargamer on 01/05/2025 - 13:19
    +1

    You can advertise your house at any figure

    You can accept or reject any offer

    What do you think the rea is going to do? Sell it for less than you agree to?

    • anonymous01 on 01/05/2025 - 13:22
      +18

      Knowing few people in my life who got screwed around by signing things without thinking, it always makes me think twice before I sign anything.

      • oscargamer on 01/05/2025 - 13:33
        -2

        Surely you have a lowest figure you'll accept?

        • anonymous01 on 01/05/2025 - 14:55

          Yes, the purchase price + 10k.

            • anonymous01 on 02/05/2025 - 01:36

              @Downvoter: I am being serious. If I sell it at purchase price + 10k, I am still losing around 10k. Around 2% or around 11k-12k is going to REA, then 4.2k for advertisement, and couple of grand for Conveyancer. I don't know what other costs will come yet.

              • rumblytangara on 03/05/2025 - 00:11
                +1

                @anonymous01: Purchase price plus ten K… aren't you losing way more cause of stamp duty? That's a huge chunk.

              • RTX9090Ti on 04/05/2025 - 07:30

                @anonymous01: Dude, after divorce, no such thing as $10k profit. you're lucky you still $10k loss.

    • Sinnerator on 03/05/2025 - 09:43

      the REA will work the weakest link (seller or buyer), to get the sale as easily and quickly as possible for the REA

      • leigh8904 on 05/05/2025 - 07:19

        True. And most likely the seller is the weakest link, because seller is contracted to the REA, but the buyer can easily walk away and go buy another property.

  • sghetti on 01/05/2025 - 13:24
    +9

    In some areas, the market has cooled off. Just because you don't want to sell at a loss, doesn't mean you can advertise higher and expect a sale. You said within the OP that there wasn't much interest in the price range you wanted initially. It could've been a slow couple of weeks, but that's the most telling thing that you said in your post.

    You set a price and people weren't interested. A couple of options:

    1. You continue to reject lower offers and the agents request to lower the price range. You could potentially have the property on the market far longer than you anticipated and you'll probably have an agent that's annoyed that he's working for someone who refuses to budge in a moving market, has to continue to provide open inspections and possibly be lucky to snag a desperate buyer.

    2. You lower the price range and take the hit. The market moved insanely in the past 4-5 years, you've potentially bought at the top of the market (at this point) and may not get out of it close to your original investment

    The Section 32 is a vendor statement on the property, ensuring that the buyer is aware with all of the ongoings with the property before a contract of sale.

    • sghetti on 01/05/2025 - 13:29
      +2

      Or 3, find an agent that's happy to do what you're asking of them

    • voo123 on 03/05/2025 - 00:50

      Market stalls abit leading up to election as everyone is waiting for housing policy spiels from the politicians.

  • Gunnar on 01/05/2025 - 14:02
    -1

    The Section 32 is now ready and I am being pressured by REA to sign it as soon as possible.

    Basic issue of consent here. You should not be coerced into a decision. If you’re not in a rush to sell tell the REA where to go

  • JIMB0 on 01/05/2025 - 14:17

    I take it that buying the ex out not an option?

    • anonymous01 on 01/05/2025 - 14:57

      Nope. Bank won't give me that loan on single income :/

      • AustriaBargain on 01/05/2025 - 15:19

        Sounds like as far as your house goes, it's a buyer's market, if you can't afford to keep it and keeping it even a month longer is hurting you.

        • anonymous01 on 02/05/2025 - 01:43
          +1

          I can afford to keep it, but rather not. Cheaper to rent to be honest. I am not struggling with mortgage or anything, just want to move on from the whole chapter.

      • JIMB0 on 02/05/2025 - 10:55

        What if you rent it out? They should loan more when considering rental income.

  • onetwothreefour on 01/05/2025 - 14:46
    +8

    Bought it for $xxxK

    That's what I said when I bought my house!

  • joka on 01/05/2025 - 15:04
    +4

    A Section 32 is completely different to a Contract of Sale. The Section 32 needs to be available technically as soon as the property goes on the market. At the very least, an offer cannot be made without a Section 32 being available.

    Once an offer is made, a Contract of Sale seals the deal.

    Verbal contracts mean absolutely nothing.

  • brad1-8tsi on 01/05/2025 - 15:11
    +3

    Sometimes you lose money on property. The first place I bought I lost 10% after 18 months ownership

    • mskeggs on 01/05/2025 - 21:54
      +5

      That’s un-Australian, as far as everything in the media has ever said!

      • brad1-8tsi on 03/05/2025 - 08:58
        +1

        That’s un-Australian, as far as everything in the media has ever said!

        lol. We were young & dumb. In hindsight I think the RE or associated entity may have been the purchaser. It was a learning experience. Rented for another 2 years after that.

    • voo123 on 03/05/2025 - 01:00

      I lost about 5% after 24months ownership.
      Bought 370k peak 2017, did 50k in renos.

      Sold 430k 2.5 years later, just prior covid stage 4 lockdown.

      After transaction+ holding cost+ reno, break even price would have been about 450-455k.

      • Oofy Doofy on 04/05/2025 - 10:38

        you lost more than that if you factored for 2.5% annual inflation (gov target is between 2 and 3% annually).

        • voo123 on 04/05/2025 - 17:59
          +1

          Yep pretty much. Goes to show net profit isn’t just a simple calculation of sold-bought price.

  • p1 ama on 01/05/2025 - 15:29
    +14

    Whilst I have no love for some real estate agents and their behaviour, I think in this case, you're the one "playing games".

    Your situation is really unfortunate, and I understand that separation is really difficult and likely a very challenging time in your life. However, it doesn't change how much your house is worth.

    I made things very clear to the The Real Estate Agent that I won't be selling the house for a huge loss, I am not in a rush. Bought it for $xxxK and after taking the 2% REA commission and $4.2k just for advertising + Conveyencor costs + other costs, I decided to settle for $xxxK + 10k of buying price, even though I am still taking a loss of about 10k at that point.

    There is no reason to expect that you would not be facing a significant loss.

    The REA commission, purchasing costs, stamp duty…etc. are all irrelevant in terms of how much your property is worth and how much the market is willing to pay - those are sunk costs. No buyer will be willing to pay more just because you happened to pay all of these costs one year ago.

    The property market in Melbourne has basically stood still in the past 12 months (e.g. see https://reiv.com.au/market-insights/victorian-insights), so even selling at the same price will be challenging (let alone asking for more than what you paid).

    In general, buyers are cautious of properties that are sold not long after they are bought. Rightly or wrongly, it usually signals that there might be something wrong - e.g. problems with the building, bad neighbours, noise…etc.

    Originally, the property was listed at -15k of buying price to +35k. There was not much interest after 2 weeks of inspections, so the REA asked me re-sign a contract to put the advertised price lower to attract more buyers. I agreed and now the property is listed at -30k to +25k of buying price. I only agreed for this because he convinced me that this is only to attract more buyers, and I still get to choose whether to accept or reject an offer.

    Well if there is no interest, then there is no interest. Not sure what you want to do here. Obviously the REA is correct in saying that you still get to accept or reject any offers. If there has been interest, then the REA would have already presented offers to you. No reason for the REA to lie that there's no interest.

    The Section 32 is now ready and I am being pressured by REA to sign it as soon as possible.

    You need to sign the S32 in order for the property to be listed for sale. All serious buyers will ask for a contract and S32 when looking at a property.

    Just want a opinion from those who have sold properties before, do I still get to accept of reject offers after signing the Section 32? I don't want to sign anything without being 100% certain.

    It's not an opinion, it's a legal question. Nothing is binding until you sign the Contract of Sale. If you are unsure of the legal technicalities of transacting on a property, you need to speak with your solicitor or conveyancer, who will be able to answer these questions for you. These are not questions of people's opinion. You pay a solicitor or conveyancer so they can guide you through the legal aspects of the transaction.

    EDIT: The REA called me yesterday and told me that he found a potential buyer. He asked me couple of question regarding the sale of the property. I asked him what's the offer that the buyer is proposing and he flogged me off saying that he is still negotiating that with the buyer. The signing of the Section 32 urgency came during that same call. Hence I am being a little cautious.

    Again, let the REA do his job. He will negotiate with the buyer, and he will come back to you with a signed (by the buyer) contract. This process cannot happen until you've signed the S32, so you need to do that ASAP. You are the one holding up the process here. You are then open to accepting or rejecting the offer based on the price and the terms. Again, if you are unsure of how this works, you need to speak with your solicitor or conveyancer ASAP.

    I'm not sure I see where anyone is "playing games", aside from you delaying the signing of the S32.

    • anonymous01 on 01/05/2025 - 15:40
      +4

      Thank you for breaking down the post and explaining every step to me. Really appreciate your detailed explanation.

  • tenpercent on 01/05/2025 - 15:32
    +1

    I asked him what's the offer that the buyer is proposing and he flogged me off saying that he is still negotiating that with the buyer

    Tell him to only contact you with serious offers that include a price. It's not an offer if there is no price, it's only an expression of interest.

    REA may just be hungry to churn your property through and get it off the books. The marginal benefit (to the REA) of keeping your property listed for longer to get you to at least break-even is small. The marginal benefit to you is much greater.

  • MrMarket on 01/05/2025 - 15:33
    +8

    if you buy and sell within 3 years most buyers wont pay your last bought price let alone more unless we are in 0 rate environment.
    when you buy and sell within 3 years you are usually a force seller so time is not on your side
    most buyers will think along this line

    1. owner over commit and cant afford the repayment
    2. depend when you bought people can figure it out if you bought at peak and now it has cool down and need a hair cut
    3. circumstances change like divorce and force to sell.
    • aliam on 03/05/2025 - 21:09

      @anonymous01 - there's a good point above, about buying and selling in a short time span. Buyers who do their research will know your house is sale for a second time in 12 months. That usually only happens if the owner has financial difficulties, or there's a relationship breakdown. I can't recall too many properties that even achieved the original purchase price. I've watched the property market pretty well over the last 3 years, as I sold my house, and bought another - so have been on both sides.

      • dcep on 04/05/2025 - 20:24

        Naa mate… it's all on timing of market.

        I bought my shoebox unit for 400k in 2017 and sold for the same price in 2023 (as with other units in the same building transacted within the same 400k range).

        12 months later , saw plenty of units of the same building got flipped for 500k range during 2024 frenzy boom time in Brisbane.

  • Porker on 01/05/2025 - 17:02

    From my experience, yes you can accept or reject any offer. However, if an offer is generally at or even over your upper limit, and then it's rejected by you, the buyer can then complain to another body.

    At that point, you/REA may need to re-adjust the price range, as it could be argued that you never had intention to sell within the lowered range. The way REAs circumvent this is to not accept offers. That is, list at a range that many are happy with, but refuse offers and only go to auction.

    The above is only from my experience with both selling and buying properties, it may not be an industry standard.

    Sell experience: REA informs to list at lower range to get a bidding war starting with me already informing REA what I was after, which was higher than the listed range. One submitted offer was higher than the upper limit of the lowered range which I refused as it was still off my target, but REA starts banging on about complaints and that we could be accused of X, Y and Z. I only then realised the dodgy game being played.

    Buy experience: I offered $100,000 over the upper range limit and selling REA refused. I asked if the offer was too low or if that they weren't accepting offers. The answer was the latter. I asked if it was it because they were trying to sell at a higher price and if they received (and rejected) my offer, that it would then influence their price listing range? They responded 'yes and that's why we're only going to auction'. Price sold for $250,000 over the upper advertised limit.

  • MrMarket on 01/05/2025 - 19:44
    +1

    When I sell my properties, I don't bother with the range I usually put say 900K+

    900K being my lowest which I know will get a quick sale
    If there are competing buyers they can go for higher and knock themselves out.
    after a week or two I will settle for 900K if there are not much interest and get it over and done with.
    time is money every month I dont sell the place worth a million bucks I missed out 6K, the longer it goes on
    the further I am behing the 8 balls

    buying and selling market will dictates your price not the price you want, If I am selling I work out what it can sell for based on current market and
    recent sales data and list accordingly to get a sale, and if I am buying it the same thing I wont pay a lot more for than what I think the current price for that particular properties, other can do that but I wont.

  • AndyC1 on 01/05/2025 - 20:28
    -1

    Move to a different REA and make sure the REA you move to is well aware that you will NOT be selling for less than $X and put this in the agreement/contact you sign with the REA.

    Learn from dealing with dodgy REA and adjust and get a good deal from the next one.

    • dtc on 01/05/2025 - 21:51
      +2

      House near me has been on the market since February 2024 with exactly the same price on it as when it was listed in February 2024. Doesnt matter if OP says he will NOT sell for less than $x, because its not up to OP to decide what price someone will pay. Same as the people around the corner from me dont get to decide what someone will pay.

  • ForkSnorter on 02/05/2025 - 07:50

    If you sell it $10k above the price you bought it for you're still losing money because agent fees + stamp duty on your next house will be >$60k.

  • 2esc on 02/05/2025 - 08:50
    +1

    You have to be firm with the real estate agent with what you want.

    Readvertising at a lower price after just 2 weeks is not being firm. When we sold our house we choose a price 25% above what the market was doing everyone(real estate, family and a neighbour) said we wont get that price well 4 months later we got our price.

    Dropping the price after just 2 weeks looks like desperation to sell and its very hard to talk the price up than stand firm or drop always in any negotiation start your selling price higher than you are prepared to except.

  • LFO on 02/05/2025 - 10:21
    +1

    I asked him what's the offer that the buyer is proposing and he flogged me off saying that he is still negotiating that with the buyer.

    Alarms bells ringing !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    YOUR agent should not have "secrets" or private negotiations without your precise knowledge.

    Check around what other properties that agent had. Sometimes an agent of the agent buys the house at a lower price and then sells, weeks/moths later, at the real, higher, market value.

    The fact she/he hides details (price on offer) is a worrisome aspect. Not good.

    • Gareth on 02/05/2025 - 13:13
      +1

      It seems likely that the (potential) buyer has mentioned a low figure that the agent knows OP is unlikely to accept, but the agent is hoping to talk them up towards a target. Perhaps the agent figures telling OP this low figure is not conducive to working towards a sale.

      (Admittedly, the agent will probably then be trying to talk OP into accepting whatever the final offer is)

    • rumblytangara on 03/05/2025 - 00:19
      +1

      Stamp duties can come out to hundreds of thousands for a house. I find the idea of agents commonly flipping properties via proxies a bit unlikely.

      I've never seen a property that was resold within months.

      • LFO on 03/05/2025 - 12:59

        I've never seen a property that was resold within months

        It might be you weren't looking for such.

        Funny thing I did.
        House in Coomera, QLD. Well under the $800K mark.

        • rumblytangara on 04/05/2025 - 16:45

          I'm sure it can and has happened. But equally sure that it's very rare. So rare that you'd almost have to go out of your way and look for it.

          It might be you weren't looking for such.
          Funny thing I did.

  • SlickMick on 02/05/2025 - 11:48

    If you paid up front for advertising, then yeah, you've been suckered into REA's game.

    Now you really don't want to sack them and find another agent or sell it yourself, right?
    So they'll exert the minimum effort to find buyers, and continue to pressure you to accept low-ball offers.

    You're more likely to eventually cave and accept an offer than throw away what you've already invested in this agent.

  • Muimuimorris on 02/05/2025 - 12:36

    I sold my house last month. Your real estate agent will be trying their best to get you the best price as it is tied to their commission and reputation. Another perspective I want you to consider is the “on the market figure” on auction day. On my auction day three consumer affairs inspectors attended hoping to catch out our real estate agent for underquoting the estimated selling range. Thanks to a case relating to Barry Plant Doncaster, almost all auctions in our area had inspectors attending the auction. My reserve price was within the estimated selling range so I didn’t have a problem with underquoting. However it does happen. I will not lie. On auction day I wanted to cry when I saw all these official looking people turn up. I needed to sell my house so I could move on with the next chapter of my life. However my real estate agent had warned me that this had happened to other properties and we had nothing to worry about. We would not want to waste people’s time visiting our house if the price range that it actually sold for was not within their budget. We only wanted genuine buyers.

    • Cluster on 02/05/2025 - 15:26
      +1

      Wouldn't the agent try to get any sale, rather than the best possible price? Would an agent really haggle and risk the sale falling through for maybe a thousand dollars more in comission?

      OP mentioned a 2% commission. If the house sells for $850k instead of $800k, that's just $1k at the risk of the buyer walking.

      • gromit on 02/05/2025 - 16:21

        You aren't generally having them haggle, the best price usually involves drumming up the most interest to engender a FOMO in the potential buyers so they offer up their realistic best offer rather than trying to lowball it in the hope of saving 10 or 20k.

      • ol mate on 03/05/2025 - 11:05

        Hit the nail on the head.

        Agent is looking for the quickest sale with the lowest risk. At 2% commission, the agency and agent probably take half each - so $50k extra is a total of $500 to the agent before tax. From the agent's point of view, if they can sell it to a cash offer today vs $50k more in 2 weeks but subject to finance, they'll go for the cash offer now and move onto the next listing that will get them a bigger commission.

  • afah0447 on 02/05/2025 - 13:33
    +1

    Dont even need to read it to answer this question…YES!

  • Muppet Detector on 02/05/2025 - 15:47
    +2

    If there is no immediate reason for you to sell your house, set whatever price you feel comfortable with selling it for.

    You only need one person who values it in the same way that you do ie you only have to get lucky once. The REA has to get lucky every day.

    Setting a sale price for a house doesn't need to make financial sense or even need to achieve a positive financial outcome.

    Presuming there are no legal impairments, it is even ok to let emotions drive a price that is acceptable to you.

    A few things I have learned:

    1) if a REA thinks you need a quick sale, they will usually low ball you and almost force you to take offers hundreds of thousands of dollars below what you could otherwise achieve.

    => we once had a house that we wanted to get away from quickly but not for financial reasons. In our minds, we wanted to see a sale price of $550k or we weren't interested in selling. We were prepared to sit and wait.

    Somehow our REA interpreted our desire for a quick sale as "we will bring you offers as low as $300k (I kid you not) and tell you how lucky you were to get even that much.

    Not once did they bring us an offer over $380k in the two months they represented us.

    Changed agencies and scored a real fire cracker! First thing she said was install new carpet (cheap stuff cost maybe $1500 for whole house) and SHE bought some butt ugly straw like mulch from Bunnings and put it in herself along one of our side garden beds a few hours before her first open for inspection.

    Don't know what else she did but by the end of the weekend we had six offers at or above the $550k pending B&P.

    We lost one bloke whose offer was towards $600 (apparently a cash offer but wanted a 90 day settlement) as there was termite damage in a side fence (treated long time ago - no active termite activity anywhere) but next one on the list was $570 with a 30 day settlement which went through without a hitch.

    First agent achieved bugger all in two months. Second agent had it sold for more than we wanted in less than a week.

    As for letting emotions dictate a sale price. I probably paid more than I had to for at least three of my properties.

    1) First one was the next door neighbour's house which was on land that could be subdivided. We already had the block next door, so bargained more for this one than we probably would have otherwise.

    2) The house my grandma lived in while I was growing up. Absolutely nothing special about it. 3 bed 1 bath wooden house on a main road, but damn I didn't want anyone else getting that house so I took no chances.

    3) similarly with a house my parents built and lived in for a big chunk of my life. It was a great house but there was also a lot of sentimental memories there too so I wanted it. It helped that I knew what standards my parents had towards maintaining the place etc, so I also had that security too, I wasn't going in blind.

  • Poor Ass on 02/05/2025 - 16:08

    agents couldn't care less if they sold for more or less as long as they sell they get most of the cut

  • centrelink on 02/05/2025 - 16:13
    +1

    ahh so thats why houses are lowered advertised and I end up wwasting my time doing inspection only to find out they want high…. ahhhh screw em for wasting my time

    • Poor Ass on 02/05/2025 - 16:29
      +1

      username doesn't check out

  • Brick Tamland on 02/05/2025 - 18:30
    +3

    Maybe I am a dumbass but why advertise in a price range that you are not willing to accept an offer in?

    • gromit on 02/05/2025 - 20:25

      It goes on the theory (which often proves true) that many people are more conservative when looking at prices online or in the paper and hence will overlook places just outside their price range. The reality though many of these people have the capacity to push themselvs a little further if they decide they want the place and you lose these people if you dont make your bottom end a little lower than you would accept.

    • voo123 on 03/05/2025 - 00:34

      The vendors preferred price is already in the upper 1/3 of the revised price range. This is a private sale so the vendors undisclosed preferred price needs to be in price guide, otherwise it needs to be updated.

  • voo123 on 03/05/2025 - 00:29

    Generally when I sell a home, I consider the break even cost as the sum of stamp duty, REA commission, interest component of mortgage, conveyancer, advertising, mortgage application fee. Assuming 500k house, your break even price would need to be around 545k or more.

    The s32 lists the details of the property, usually created by a conveyancer or property solicitor. You need this signed prior to the REA taking any formal offers from buyers. Also, perspective buyers need to take this signed s32 to their legal reps for review anyway.

    It also doesn’t make sense that a s32 needs to be resigned when the price guide is updated. The s32 doesn’t have a price guide in it and is usually finalised prior to the house going to market or within the first 1-2 weeks, not 4 weeks later.

    Formal offers are presented on a contract of sale after review of a signed s32. Vendors have the right to reject any offers regardless of what is written on the price guide.

    The reason why the REA is urging you to sign the s32 is because the buyer or their legal rep would want to review it prior to making a formal legally binding offer. It makes the process easier for everyone. The agent wants offers quickly to play off buyers against each other and create urgency. Having an unsigned s32 just hinders the negotiations- your conveyancer should have advised you this.

    Regarding selling price expectations and REA psychology, in my opinion the best research a vendor or buyer can do is checking comparable sold listings within the same pocket in a suburb. Do preliminary search of agents who have sold well in the area. Once thats done, attend open home inspections of house listed in your area and observe REA conduct. Check their communication, attitude, proactivity, knowledge of the home - this is how they will treat your buyers when they try to sell your home. The property appraisals done by REA honestly isn’t important to me because I have already done my research- some REA appraise high to win the listing. Ask how they will market the property to obtain the best price. In terms of REA commission rates, pretend to play them off against each other (knowing that you’ve already short listed them).

    Most good REA will put in the effort within the first 4 weeks of the selling campaign because it is the most important. After this 4 week period, the level of interest from both buyers and REAs die off. Something needs to change to reignite the listing- price guide gets adjusted. Same concept for buyers who research a suburb- they look whats on offer first, then do further monitoring by sorting by most recent first, old listings are bottom of list.

    After 4 weeks of not much interest, REA are expected to reduce price guides to generate an offer to play off against other buyers. REAs just want the property off their books, however Vendors aren’t expected to accept any offers until they are happy. The listed price guide is a pure sales tactic to generate some interest and activity.

  • Dreamcast on 03/05/2025 - 10:33

    Question is, how you holding up with breaking up with the Mrs and the stress of selling?

  • Typical16-bitEnjoyer on 03/05/2025 - 11:23

    Just be careful, rejecting an offer in your instructed price range may result you copping the commission regardless, particularly if you decide to change agent.

  • Melbournedriver on 03/05/2025 - 21:39

    He just wants to make a quick buck literally the title of his role

  • relentless on 04/05/2025 - 04:31

    Like the annual photo flip

  • Muppet Detector on 05/05/2025 - 10:41

    When determining how much a house has cost me, I also consider what utility I have received from the house whilst I "owned" it. If it was my PPOR, I wasn't paying to rent elsewhere and if rented out, it was generating income, both of which offset any costs incurred.

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