Their role is to make sure the seller’s property is positioned well against its competition on price and presentation, and ensure that the best agent in town is representing the vendor.
Secondly, they make sure the real estate agent behaves ethically when dealing with vendors and buyers alike. A vendor advocate leverages their extensive real estate experience to get more value out of the real estate agent, more money out of the buyer and make the process of selling easier for the vendor.
When dealing with a real estate agent for the first time, it can be hard to pick up on the ethical warning signs. Like most things in life, you learn from your mistakes and regret the times you tripped up.
Below are some hot tips on the strategies of real estate agents use and how vendor advocates can help.
1. Agents put pressure on vendors to set a high commission rate. If you negotiate a lower commission rate, you’ll likely get a lower level of service. An excessive rate of commission can be negotiated if a good price is achieved. This sounds normal enough, and in a strong real estate market, it’s common for a property to sell over the exceed market value with little work from the agent.
In cases like this, agents can walk away with double their normal pay cheque. It’s only fair for an agent to be paid well for good work, but there is a limit that is fair and reasonable, regardless of what the market is willing to pay.
2. Real estate agents push expensive market campaigns on vendors that are usually not necessary. This sort of advertising campaign is aimed at public exposure of the real estate agency, rather than the seller’s property. Platforms like print media and excessive digital advertising can cost thousands of dollars and add very little value to a selling campaign.
3. When interviewing real estate agents for the job, they tend to quote a higher price for your property to win your business. The agent then spends a large part of the real estate campaign conditioning the vendors with negative public feedback to accept a low price. This can be a very emotional and stressful experience for the seller. The agent is more than willing to put their client through a roller coaster of doubt and uncertainty just to put them out of their comfort zone.
4. It’s common knowledge that real estate agents underquote a property’s true price to attract attention from buyers. Since early 2018, Consumer Affairs Victoria has implemented rules around underquoting, but agents still find ways to use price quoting to their advantage.
5. Every agent claims that they are the best in town, or they work for the best agency, but how do you work out fact from fiction?
In any metro suburb across Melbourne or Sydney, there are hundreds of properties for sale that are competing for a small pool of buyers. To put your property ahead of the rest, a vendor advocate can give wise advice on:
– Property presentation: decluttering, conducting minor repairs or renovations and property staging.
– Pricing strategy & sales method: when your property hits the market, price is the main source of buyer interest. Therefore, an educated decision on which pricing approach will be most effective for the campaign. For instance, to use a single price, a selling range, sale by set date or an expression of interest. Depending on the local market, they will also decide on an auction or private negotiation
– Marketing: Professional photos, advertising on digital sites with high buyer traffic, advertising signage and running open for inspections when it is convenient for buyers. All these factors need to be perfect to make sure that your property doesn’t stay on the market too long and become a stale listing.
Vendor advocates bring balance to each of the above scenarios. How? They started their real estate careers as agents, and understand the ins and outs of selling property.
From staging your property for sale, organising an effective well-balanced advertising campaign, negotiating with buyers and making sure an estate agent behaves ethically.
The best part about vendor advocates is how they get paid. Vendor advocates take a percentage of the real estate agents commission once a sale is achieved. So in the end, there is no extra cost to the seller than there otherwise would be.
It’s unclear to most property sellers as to why someone might need a vendor advocate. It’s normal to assume a real estate agent will do all the work when selling, hence there is no need to complicate a complex process.
The vendor advocate assists the real estate agent during the selling process. Think of it like a manager that oversees:
The real estate industry has a high turnover of agents for many different reasons. It’s easy to accidently hire a sweet talking real estate agent that has little experience in the small details that can help you achieve a higher price.
Vendor advocates have had in-depth experience in the real estate industry and have often sold hundreds of homes themselves. As a result, they understand the all the complexities of selling a home.
Real estate agents, buyer’s agents, vendor advocates and property valuers alike, use the same figures to conduct a property appraisal (work out the market value).
The only accurate way to work out what the market is willing to pay for a home is by referring to recent sales that are directly comparable to your property.
The only reasons why there may be a variation in price are:
A vendor advocate will assist you with all aspects of selling property, even the things you might not think of. For instance, hiring a conveyancer or solicitor, renovation advice, how to declutter, dealing with tenants and interviewing the right real estate agent for the job.
The real estate market moves in cycles and timing is everything.
Our vendor advocates can advise you on:
Address:
Level 27, 101 Collins Street, Melbourne VIC 3000
Email:
info@vendoradvocatemelb.com.au
Phone:
03 9108 4266
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