How to get secrets out of a Real Estate Agent?

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Rather than try and give you tips and tricks that might help you get an agent to ‘give away’ a home they’re selling by telling you too much about the seller’s reasons for selling, and the sellers motivation for selling (there are two tips just there!), I’d prefer to provide you with a way that will get the agent to give you what you need to make a balanced decision and one that benefits all parties.

A great Real Estate Agent is one you’d buy through and then sell through down the track if there was ever a desire or need to do so, whereas an average Real Estate Agent is one you buy through but you’d never sell with in the future! What’s the difference?

A great agent will give you enough information to help you decide to buy without giving away the seller’s home. If you encounter an agent such as this, never let them go, because if you do buy and then decide to sell sometime in the future, you’ll need an agent who’ll respect you in the same manner, they respected the people you bought the home from. As all professional agents say, ‘a current buyer may one day be a future seller’ and when an agent lives by these words, you can rest assured, they’re long-term career agents and not agents with ‘commission breath’! An average agent will tell you everything and more than you should know and more often to the detriment of the seller.

It’s true that real estate agents, other than buyers agents, are acting on behalf of the seller but at the same time they need to build a relationship with a buyer, because if and when negotiations are required, the agent can be a buyers friend or the most difficult person you have ever dealt with, so, following is a list of points you should strongly adopt when dealing with a great agent, remembering that it’s the great agents who get the best properties for sale!

  1. As previously mentioned, understanding the seller’s reasons and motivation for selling, can help you to negotiate your position better. For example, if the sellers require a quick settlement because they are being transferred, you may be able to offer a quick settlement and that should form part of your offer. Most sellers’ instructions to the agent will allow them to provide this information so ask for it!
  2. Build a relationship with an agent. Do not wait for them to call you! If you are top of mind with them, you will often be the first person they call when a new property comes up for sale. No tricks but only plain common sense!
  3. Always be the last person at an open home as this is often where the agent has began compiling the results for a seller and with a quick five-minute conversation you can be provided with a similar ‘wrap up’. This will help greatly in any future negotiations.
  4. Humanise yourself! Let the agent know who you are, a little about your family and your family’s needs. I have often had a seller reject an offer outright because they did not like the look of the buyer or the buyer’s attitude when inspecting their property. They would say things like, ‘is that offer from the person driving the red 4-wheel drive? If so, I don’t care if they offer full price, I wouldn’t want them living in MY home’!
  5. More often than not with the seller, it’s not just about price. Sellers can become extremely attached to their homes for many reasons so if you are going to take away one ‘secret’ out of this, remember that relationships count and not only should you respect the seller should you meet them during an inspection, but build and maintain a relationship with a great agent. Remember that the agent will be representing you to the seller, either positively or negatively when negotiating.
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