MY experience with RE agents is not positive. At all.
Their job is to turn over listings fast to make as much money for them selves as possible.
The sellers best interests are secondary
My experience...
The agent I hired sold almost all of the punjabi farms here for high prices. Thats why I picked him
RIght away he tried to "manage" and lower my expectations. He focused on the negatives and tried to coerce me into a lower price on the listing contract. I struck out the figure and added 200k, he did not like that at all
After, I discovered he had listed the property on mls as a much smaller size than surveyed and a different lower price than what was written and I agreed upon in the listing contaract.
He did not provide us with a copy of the contract as rewuired by law until I insisted and cajoled him for one. Thats when we discovered the falsehoods
He manipulated the sale to direct the property to a "pocket buyer" that is the buyer and price is pre agreed upon by the 2 agents and they conspire to manipulate the sale price.
After 6 months of absolutely "no interest" there was a parade of 6 "buyers" over a 14 day period when I talked to them on the side I found that they were brought on a "tour" one couple said "I dont understand why we were shown this property we soecifically asked to be in a different town!" None of these people brought any offers.
Eventually, the very last people to see the place brought me a much lower price, super low ball than I had authorized him and specifically told him not to.
What he did was supressed interest in the property for 6 months untill he thought we were worn down enough to accept a low offer, except me and ex were on the same page, we were constantly reasarching the market in the direct local area.
We had previously listed the property privately and had over 100 hits 24 phone calls and i showed the place to 6 people in 3 month period. The agent? .. crickets..for 6 months. Not one showing
The buyers agent tried to pressure us into the low offer. There was much more about it than I write here.
Then I caught Mr. Agent in a bold red faced lie.
He thought we were stupid and malleable but in the background we were keeping track of the market closely. He lied about and supressed sales that were recently completed and the prices. He did not want us to know about a sale just down the street that went for a very high price but we knew about it through an appraiser friend. I asked him "are there any other completed sales in the area, he said NO and that was the lie I caught him in he damn well knew about the sale and the price.
I went to the financial regulator in BC
After I told him the long list of what happened he said "Mr. W...... , If what you are telling me is true you need to terminate this agreement immidiately!"
Which i did right in the middle of their offer. What i did was basically stab this guy in the neck with an ice pick.
I wrote an email to the managing broker of Remax office in Oliver with my intention around 8 pm I sent it and by 9:30 pm they cancelled the listing and the offer without a single word being said in response.
I re appraised the place cost 5k then sold the place on property guys 5 months later for another... $540k.. yes thats right, over half a million more that he tried to cheat me out of.
F*****g worthless piece of S**t.
A distressed less informed buyer prob would have taken the offer.
I had every ground to sue him and I would have won but at the time I couldnt go through the stress of it so I let it go.
A couple months after this, his many for sale signs in the community were all gone.
My ex moved out into the basement suite of a woman...real estate agent.. when she left here, stayed there for 2 yrs.
She tried to get the listing of course and was quite angry at me because I wouldnt let her have it.
Turns out that was her business model, befriend and support divorcees put them downstairs, get the listing. Sell for low price.
2 of them (women) before my ex and they both recieved far less than the ask.
My father bought and sold many properties by private sale. He was quite adamant "Dont trust real estate agents..theyre just a bunch of crooks!!" And that was one of the most valuable things my father ever told me.
My advice?
1) Hire a REGISTERED APPRAISER.
pay the money, do not balk at the price. It is worth its weight in gold.
Do not trust any figure given as a "market evaluation" Agents are NOT registered appraisers they will tell you any price they think they can to make the sale. In an up market there can be multiple offers above ask. That says the set selling price is too low. In a down market they will use their tricks.
They collude.
2) Do an internet search " Real estate agent scams" that will be an eye opener for you. Educate yourself.
3) List on an alternative platform like Property guys, 1% realty and so on, or do it as private sale face book or something
All u need is a decent lawyer to handle the paperwork it will only cost you a couple thousand.
My ex and I each pocketed 54 k, the fee that would have gone in the agents pockets She was reaaal happy about that. We both were
Good luck
Their job is to turn over listings fast to make as much money for them selves as possible.
The sellers best interests are secondary
My experience...
The agent I hired sold almost all of the punjabi farms here for high prices. Thats why I picked him
RIght away he tried to "manage" and lower my expectations. He focused on the negatives and tried to coerce me into a lower price on the listing contract. I struck out the figure and added 200k, he did not like that at all
After, I discovered he had listed the property on mls as a much smaller size than surveyed and a different lower price than what was written and I agreed upon in the listing contaract.
He did not provide us with a copy of the contract as rewuired by law until I insisted and cajoled him for one. Thats when we discovered the falsehoods
He manipulated the sale to direct the property to a "pocket buyer" that is the buyer and price is pre agreed upon by the 2 agents and they conspire to manipulate the sale price.
After 6 months of absolutely "no interest" there was a parade of 6 "buyers" over a 14 day period when I talked to them on the side I found that they were brought on a "tour" one couple said "I dont understand why we were shown this property we soecifically asked to be in a different town!" None of these people brought any offers.
Eventually, the very last people to see the place brought me a much lower price, super low ball than I had authorized him and specifically told him not to.
What he did was supressed interest in the property for 6 months untill he thought we were worn down enough to accept a low offer, except me and ex were on the same page, we were constantly reasarching the market in the direct local area.
We had previously listed the property privately and had over 100 hits 24 phone calls and i showed the place to 6 people in 3 month period. The agent? .. crickets..for 6 months. Not one showing
The buyers agent tried to pressure us into the low offer. There was much more about it than I write here.
Then I caught Mr. Agent in a bold red faced lie.
He thought we were stupid and malleable but in the background we were keeping track of the market closely. He lied about and supressed sales that were recently completed and the prices. He did not want us to know about a sale just down the street that went for a very high price but we knew about it through an appraiser friend. I asked him "are there any other completed sales in the area, he said NO and that was the lie I caught him in he damn well knew about the sale and the price.
I went to the financial regulator in BC
After I told him the long list of what happened he said "Mr. W...... , If what you are telling me is true you need to terminate this agreement immidiately!"
Which i did right in the middle of their offer. What i did was basically stab this guy in the neck with an ice pick.
I wrote an email to the managing broker of Remax office in Oliver with my intention around 8 pm I sent it and by 9:30 pm they cancelled the listing and the offer without a single word being said in response.
I re appraised the place cost 5k then sold the place on property guys 5 months later for another... $540k.. yes thats right, over half a million more that he tried to cheat me out of.
F*****g worthless piece of S**t.
A distressed less informed buyer prob would have taken the offer.
I had every ground to sue him and I would have won but at the time I couldnt go through the stress of it so I let it go.
A couple months after this, his many for sale signs in the community were all gone.
My ex moved out into the basement suite of a woman...real estate agent.. when she left here, stayed there for 2 yrs.
She tried to get the listing of course and was quite angry at me because I wouldnt let her have it.
Turns out that was her business model, befriend and support divorcees put them downstairs, get the listing. Sell for low price.
2 of them (women) before my ex and they both recieved far less than the ask.
My father bought and sold many properties by private sale. He was quite adamant "Dont trust real estate agents..theyre just a bunch of crooks!!" And that was one of the most valuable things my father ever told me.
My advice?
1) Hire a REGISTERED APPRAISER.
pay the money, do not balk at the price. It is worth its weight in gold.
Do not trust any figure given as a "market evaluation" Agents are NOT registered appraisers they will tell you any price they think they can to make the sale. In an up market there can be multiple offers above ask. That says the set selling price is too low. In a down market they will use their tricks.
They collude.
2) Do an internet search " Real estate agent scams" that will be an eye opener for you. Educate yourself.
3) List on an alternative platform like Property guys, 1% realty and so on, or do it as private sale face book or something
All u need is a decent lawyer to handle the paperwork it will only cost you a couple thousand.
My ex and I each pocketed 54 k, the fee that would have gone in the agents pockets She was reaaal happy about that. We both were
Good luck