Real estate agents: do you get what you pay for?

[nicsa122]

Considering selling our rental, haven't sold a house before. We like a Harcourts agent, but when the difference between using them at 4% or, say, total realty at 1% could be about 9k, it seems hard to justify...do you get what you pay for with estate agents? Will we get a better price and faster sale at 4% with Harcourts or is it much of a muchness? Anyone had good experience selling houses in Dunedin? Thoughts appreciated!

[Anthonyacat]

The fact that Harcourts can justify charging 4% compared to Total Realty at 1% indicates there is something the former can offer that the latter can't.

I personally don't see it. Don't know what the Dunedin market is like, but when the market gets a little heat in it I refuse to believe agents are truly earning their fees. And when you look at Auckland increasing 20% plus over the last two years, agents fees will have increased by a similar percentage while the work required may well be lower.

But if you're really looking to save a few thousand, why not sell privately? The human mind attaches more emotion to a quantifiable loss (ie, a fee) than failure to reap an unquanitfiable gain (the increase in value you may or may not get).

Whatever you do, if your property is worth at or above the average, try to barter with them a little. You won't get anything off the 1%, but you may get the 4% dropped to 3 or 3.5...

[Frezzinghot]

Whats the market like down there at the moment, are properties selling fast? Why not have a go at selling it yourself? You have nothing to lose and can always go to an agent if it does not sell. I know in Auckland if you have the right property they just about sell themselves but thats a whole other story!

[Eugene]

No they don't earn their money, not selling your particular house anyway, most of their time is spent trying to get listings.
You could negotiate. In Wellington even some agents from big agencies will cap their fee at 10k

[jimO]

what part of Dn is the house in? really i dont see what the agents do apart from take a lot of money for F..all, last house i bought we were cash buyers up to 250k (yes is is possible to buy a reasonable house in Dn for 250) went to several open homes, told the REs what we were after never heard back from any of them, most of them are to busy being important

[Frezzinghot]

what part of Dn is the house in? really i dont see what the agents do apart from take a lot of money for F..all, last house i bought we were cash buyers up to 250k (yes is is possible to buy a reasonable house in Dn for 250) went to several open homes, told the REs what we were after never heard back from any of them, most of them are to busy being important

In this market yes, wait till it turns, they wont leave you alone.

[nicsa122]

Whats the market like down there at the moment, are properties selling fast? Why not have a go at selling it yourself? You have nothing to lose and can always go to an agent if it does not sell. I know in Auckland if you have the right property they just about sell themselves but thats a whole other story!

We are out of town so a bit tricky to sell ourselves. Not sure what the market is like, nothing like Chch or Auckland and it's an above average house in a lower demographic suburb so I think it may be a hard sell, but don't really know anyone that has sold down here to compare with.

[phoenixx]

You have nothing to lose and everything to gain ($$$) by giving it a go with a private sale.

[nicsa122]

Tricky when we are a 6 hour drive away from the house....

[BigDreamer]

You have nothing to lose and everything to gain ($$$) by giving it a go with a private sale.

Depends where the property is and where the owner is located. Doesn't make sense to sell privately If you are in North Island and trying to privately sell a house located in South Island.

[JABlog]

In this market yes, wait till it turns, they wont leave you alone.

Exactly right.

My beef with them is how lately they don't provide property address in a listing then when you ring them they ask your name address etc etc if you get hold of them .

and How about this ?

http://www.realestate.co.nz/2516287

"why" would be a nice start.

[Frezzinghot]

"As is where is" so have they started selling car wrecks as well as real estate! Who would write such a heading for a property, just explains the crazy times we are in.

FH

[rocket]

My experience says that agents are absolutely useless or as some people say a necessary evil . While buying I have experienced that most of the agents are just bothered with their personal gains ( their fee, getting a listing or just numbers). They have no professionalism & many a times are a liability for even the vendor.
Recently when I was looking to buy , one of the listing agents didn't reply my txt where I wanted to put an offer. Thinking that i might miss the property I put forward an offer through another agent who was luckily was also the vendor.I ended up buying this property. The facts that surfaced were that the other agent was not proactive & had already brought the vendor some offers which the vendor was still deciding on & this agent didn't wish to waste much of his time here now & was not bothered bringing in more offers

Both for buyer & seller - they are just nuisance. ( bit opinionated). They also charge heaps for the work they do.

[mortgage broker]

How much would you work for if you were given no guarantee that you would be paid.

If the barriers of entry were fairly low so someone who did a short 2 week course could start competing with you.

If you had to be on call after hours and on weekends.

Many low cost agencies have come and gone. People say they prefer low cost but when it comes down to it, cost is relative to perceived value.

[Leftette]

on the other hand, with property in auck changing hands within 5 days, they are hardly extending themselves.