how to not answer a real estate agent??

if I already know what I am looking for – I usually say a price range about 20k under what I am willing to pay as most agents will show you properties just above what you have suggested is your price – they cant help themselves!

TD

Turn up in an old bomb and ripped bogan clothes and explain that you have the money toaday from an inheritance/lotto win. However you are about 50 grand short of the asking price. But want to buy it today.

Lifexperience

I rarely give them a price range at all.
I tell them, it doesnt depend on my piggy bank, but the the property itself. If the property is good and I like it, I will give u an offer for that particular property.
Every single property has their own set of qaulities and niche potential.

Remember the old saying, treat others as u would like to be treated!
Have you any idea how difficult being an agent is?
Why do u think 95% of agents only stick the job for under a year.
Apart from the unsocial ours, inconsiderate purchasers ringing at all hours including 6am on Sundays, Dealing with vendors who want ridiculous high prices, purchasers who want something for nothing. I think the hardest thing to deal with is the hostility,

YES I am an agent, honest, ethical, hardworking. I cried buckets in my first year. Mainly because of the hostility and attitude from clients, both vendors and purchasers.
YES I agree there are some real dodgy agents around, but please dont tar them all with the same brush.
I had to grow a really thick skin to deal with my emotions, every day people treat you as if u are the scum of the earth, and quite honestly the more aggressive they are, the less u are liukeley to help them.
I gave this matter a great deal of thought and concluded that buying and selling, naturally makes people very anxious.
So what do I do?
I remain calm and friendly and polite and quite often this is enough to reassure.
If I come across clients who are openly agressive for no good reason, I am just not going to go out of my way to help them[human nature isnt it?]
Please remember this, and perhaps give the agent a chance, BE NICE, and I can promise u that u will get a better result.
Remember the agent has to take instructions from the vendor and work in their best interests, after all they are paying the fees. If there are two or three offers on the table why wouldnt they accept the best offer in front of them. Remember people do change their minds so take what is in front of u, it is their call.
All this ducking and diving to try and get the property for slightly less is usually just an ego thing, and u risk losing a good buy, in the big scheme of things the amount involved is not worth worrying about.
If you are not willing to change your attitude I suggest u put your money where your mouth is and appoint your own buying agent, then you are in control.

Good Luck

Thanks for the sympathy

I am also an investor and of course I too am always looking for a bargain.
My main objection to the original writer is that as usual the poor old agent is always to blame.
If u want to get a good deal, I will give u a few pointers.
Dont treat agents as the enemy, give them some respect.
Do your homework, ie know what is value in the area, pay for some research on rpdata, that way u find out what properties in the area have sold for, not just asking prices.
Sort out your finance before you look for a property, get pre approval in writing.
DO give the agent a price range otherwise u are seen as a time waster, u can always ask them for a list of current properties available.
Register your requirements with a number of different agents, and dont make the mistake of asking one to find a property for u via a conjunction with another agent.
Again if there are two offers on the table for the same property, the agent is likeley to recommend their own offer rather than a conjunctional as no 1 they will get the full comission and no2 the vendor has appointed u because they wish to deal with u rather than jo bloggs real estate.
We do of course offer conjunctions but very often the out of town agent does not follow through the sale properly and I can recall several nightmare scenarios one of which involved a townee agent requesting a termite test on the whole block including the fencing posts which were steel! Both the purchaser and vendor get very stressed for nothing.
If you are looking for value, u have to be detatched and accept that u will probably not be succesfull on a number of occasions. And dont get bitter and blame the agent PLEASE.
Best scenario is to have a line of credit and be in the position to make a cash offer, also dont start adding pedantic clauses which will just piss off the vendor.
My advice is to go in at a realistic price, if it is a stupid offer you will insult the vendor and get nowhere.
Be as flexible as possible on settlement dates, offer to rent back to the vendor if they have not yet found a suitable property, but not at an inflated rent.
Alternatively offer a longer settlement ie on or before a certain date say 2-6 months by mutual agreement, this way in a hot market as in Perth u are securing the property at todays price, and giving the vendor a breathing space to look at their leisure.
We purchased a property last year and offered the vendors full asking price cash, via a line of credit, but got them to repaint internally and polish the floorboards, therefore the settlement was longer to allow time for the work to be done, and by settlement the property was worth substantially more.
Basically try to cooperate with the agent and dont try to score points
If all else fails I live by the adage of fairness, and remember what goes around comes around.

AMEN