More than ever sellers need an agent who can deliver in a sluggish market and one of the country’s leading auctioneers has decided to reveal his secrets to finding the best.
Harcourts auctioneer Aaron Davis, who has carried out more than 10,000 auctions over his 20-year career, admits some of the questions might put some agents on the spot.
But he said in uncertain times people deserved to have the best real estate agent working for them.
“It’s just more critical now that in certain volatile times people deserve to have the best. Skillsets are amplified in moderating markets and the consumer deserves to find the best agent,” he said.
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“There’s some questions they can ask to help sort out whether they are dealing with a real estate professional or not.”
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Firstly when it comes to asking how much the property is worth, Davis said was important to tell them that they wouldn't be choosing an agent who gave the highest price.
“If you want the integrity around the price, tell three agents that whoever gives you the highest price you automatically won’t hire them to sell your house and then you will get the truth on what the agent actually thinks they can sell it for.
“You are not hiring an agent to tell you what the property is going to sell for, you are hiring an agent who is the best marketer, best negotiator to get out of the way of price and let them show you the market. Agents who have very, very strong opinions on price are not good agents because they are not buying the property – that's not their job.
“Properties don’t sell for appraisal ranges; properties don’t sell for internet ranges. Properties sell when true market forces are at play with real buyers.”
And when it came to price, Davis would also ask them how they would answer any questions from prospective buyers around what it was worth.
“You are dealing with a true professional when they know how to deal with the question around price. Can they quote the recent sales that have happened in the last four weeks – if they can they’ve got their finger on the pulse and they know where the market is today.”
Harcourts auctioneer Aaron Davis: “Properties don’t sell for appraisal ranges; properties don’t sell for internet ranges. Properties sell when true market forces are at play with real buyers.” Photo / Fiona Goodall
If they were quoting old numbers, then it was probably a sign not to choose them, he said.
“Markets move faster than people and buyers don’t give any validation to old sale numbers.”
A strong marketer and negotiator were also key in ensuring a seller got the top price for their house, so Davis also had some tips to help hunt out those with the best skills.
He would ask how they plan to market it focusing particularly on their digital marketing plans.
“Does the agent understand one of the five best searched words in the market place? A marketing expert should be able to tell you those words around freehold, pool, views – so even if the property doesn’t have a pool, a smart agent will go it’s 1.3km from the local swimming pool because they all show up on a search.”
He would also do his own homework and research their digital profile including Google reviews and how they were marketing their current listings.
To check whether they were good at negotiating, he would want to know the last time they traded a property.
“An agent’s job is to find cash, find conditional interest and sometimes when properties don’t sell go ok who can do a trade and they are showing you they know how to negotiate. People who know how to hustle, who know how to negotiate, they know how to trade property.”
He would also check their views on conjunctionals so whether they would work with other agents and therefore be willing to split the fee.
“The agent’s job is to make you money not save you money. You need to ask them about conjunctionals because some agencies are focused on thinking the commission is there, they’ve got to show you that they are client-focused not agency-focused.”
Davis’ six questions to ask when hiring an agent:
- What’s the property worth (but tell them you won’t choose the agent who gives you the highest price)?
- Will they do a conjunctional sale?
- When is the last time they did a property trade?
- What is their marketing strategy?
- What will they tell buyers when they ask how much the property is?
- Can they quote recent sales in the area?
