All Topics / Help Needed! / Buyers Agents

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  • Profile photo of Lady24Lady24
    Member
    @lady24
    Join Date: 2004
    Post Count: 7

    Hi everyone

    I have just found the website for a buyers agents that operates around the country. The fees are expesnive being a contract fee of about $2,500 for 1st year and $6000 when you purchase. Just wondering if anyone has used a buyers agent – this one focusses on +ve CF properties – but being alone and new to the market and still having to work to earn a living (very long hours) in todays market I don’t have the time to do the footwork which I now know is where the mistakes can be avoided. Just wondering if anyone has experience with these guys and whether it is worth the commission?

    Thanks Linda[blush2]

    Profile photo of TerrywTerryw
    Participant
    @terryw
    Join Date: 2001
    Post Count: 16,213

    It can be worthwhile. I’ve used one myself, and have seen a client that made lots of money on a property sourced through a buyers agent. They can be good at negotiatiing too, often saving more than their fees.

    Terryw
    Discover Home Loans
    Mortgage Broker
    North Sydney
    [email protected]

    Terryw | Structuring Lawyers Pty Ltd / Loan Structuring Pty Ltd
    http://www.Structuring.com.au
    Email Me

    Lawyer, Mortgage Broker and Tax Advisor (Sydney based but advising Aust wide) http://www.Structuring.com.au

    Profile photo of Mortgage HunterMortgage Hunter
    Participant
    @mortgage-hunter
    Join Date: 2003
    Post Count: 3,781

    I would unreservedly recommend

    http://www.hunterhousehunters.com.au

    Having had business dealings with them on several ocassions. They are good people.

    Cheers,

    Simon Macks
    Finance Broker
    [email protected]
    0425 228 985

    Comments may not be relevant to individual circumstances. If you intend making any investment, financial or taxation decision you should consult a professional adviser.

    Profile photo of depreciatordepreciator
    Member
    @depreciator
    Join Date: 2003
    Post Count: 541

    Speaking from the other side, I’ve sold through a buyers agent (and will do so again in the next few months).

    A good buyers agent will really put a vendor through the hoops to make sure their clients are getting value for money. Minimogul does exhaustive research on a property, including ‘crunching the numbers’ before she sends it out to her date base. If a deal doesn’t stack up from a cf+ perspective, I think she’ll state that. I bet Hunter House Hunters operates similarly.

    I found it much tougher to sell through a buyers agent than a real estate agent, but from a sellers perspective I didn’t pay advertising costs or commission – the buyer pays the agent. I’m not sure whether they pay $2,500 annually + $6,000 for a deal, though.

    Tax Depreciation Schedules
    Australia wide service
    1300 660033
    [email protected]
    http://www.depreciator.com.au

    Profile photo of ss2306ss2306
    Member
    @ss2306
    Join Date: 2004
    Post Count: 55

    Which state are you looking to purchase? If Melbourne, I can recommend metropole.com.au.

    I am currently dealing with them in order to buy my first IP and so far fantastic service and communicaton and well worth their fee as they know more about the area than I do.

    Regards
    Shelley

    Profile photo of MichaelYardneyMichaelYardney
    Participant
    @michaelyardney
    Join Date: 2001
    Post Count: 616
    Originally posted by ss2306:

    Which state are you looking to purchase? If Melbourne, I can recommend metropole.com.au.

    I am currently dealing with them in order to buy my first IP and so far fantastic service and communicaton and well worth their fee as they know more about the area than I do.

    Regards
    Shelley

    Thanks for the plug Shelley

    You are correct that Jack Henderson who runs our buyers advocacy service http://www.buyingmelbourne.com.au
    is very experienced – knows everyone in the industry and is very client focussed, lots of research and no hard sell

    Michael Yardney
    METROPOLE PROPERTIES
    Author of Australia’s leading property e-magazine.
    Join over 10,000 readers each month.
    FREE subscription http://www.metropole.com.au

    Profile photo of Don NicolussiDon Nicolussi
    Participant
    @don
    Join Date: 2005
    Post Count: 1,086

    Hi Lady 24,

    IF you don’t mind disclosing can you tell us the price range or end house value that the 8k fee applies to..
    .
    Good Luck

    Don Nicolussi | Mortgage Broker - Home Loan Warehouse
    http://homeloanwarehouse.com.au
    Email Me | Phone Me

    "I think of finance as a technology, a way of getting things done." Robert Shiller

    Profile photo of MiniMogulMiniMogul
    Participant
    @minimogul
    Join Date: 2002
    Post Count: 1,414

    Scott!!!

    “A good buyers agent will really put a vendor through the hoops to make sure their clients are getting value for money.”

    Indeed!!! As it should be! And so it follows that….

    “I found it much tougher to sell through a buyers agent than a real estate agent,”

    Chuckle, chuckle!!!

    It was hard for me too (and not through lack of clients wanting the deal) because the Australian system is so different and I wouldn’t do that again. For NZ Bird Dogs deals it’s clean, we sign up the deal, have 30-50 pics, local market knowledge, inspected by a spotter and in good condition, we have all the documentation, it goes out, a client takes it, and we assign the deal for a fee -.No other agent can gazump one of my clients because we have a firm contract on the property.

    In this case it was ‘none of the above’, basically. I tried….not for lack of clients. The gazumping thing that can happen in Aus just can’t happen in NZ if you sign deals up the way we do and so it’s so much cleaner and elegant the way we can do the NZ deals.

    However, I’ll still sell another deal for you direct if you like, provided I get it for 3 days exclusively, and provided that the contract is ready and I have a copy upfront!

    cheers-
    Mini

    Profile photo of eesholeeeshole
    Member
    @eeshole
    Join Date: 2005
    Post Count: 63

    I concur with the recommendations for Hunter House Hunters. I have personally met with the proprietors and the impression I got from them was that they were sensible, down to earth, and very experienced property investors themselves. They go all over the country researching not just property, but towns, regions, infrastructure development plans, population trends etc etc.

    I am currently deciding whether to join up with them. I haven’t yet, the reason is that I only have enough equity for 1 IP at this stage and I am limited to a price which would make the buyer’s agent fee quite a large slice out of the property value.

    If I had enough resources to finance 2 or more properties at an average price > $200k each, I would definitely use them as their fees would be a small enough percentage of the property price to be swallowed up by the gains made on the property (they charge a flat fee regardless of property value).

    Profile photo of depreciatordepreciator
    Member
    @depreciator
    Join Date: 2003
    Post Count: 541

    Hey Mini, there was no criticism in that post.

    I was writing in support of buyers agents (especially you) from the perspective of both buyers and sellers.

    As a buyer, I would much prefer to buy after you had put a seller through the hoops.

    As a seller, I have to provide more information, but things happen more quickly and there are fewer costs.

    Like I said in the post, I’ll use a buyers agent again and that will be you.

    I reckon anybody looking for cf+ deals these days needs to be in touch with a buyers agent (as well as doing their own searching) because lots of properties don’t make it into the hands of traditional agents or onto places like realestate.com

    Tax Depreciation Schedules
    Australia wide service
    1300 660033
    [email protected]
    http://www.depreciator.com.au

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