WTF do estate agents actually do in OZ?

[Halo]

You have to do all the work..... no, you can't register with X saying I want this that or the other..... and please call me when you have something up my proverbial "alley".

No, I have to spend HOURS sifting through homes form the 70's.. lovely, charming and with character.

What gives....?

I am looking to do a estate agents course as I think its a winner. "Here you go sir..... here is a few bits of photo-copied paper for you to enjoy over a beer...... now p__s off as I have something to sell........."

[kaz101]

The answer is as little as possible!

It took us 4 attempts to find a decent estate agent locally - that means one would actually listened to us. Since we bought in just a few days of viewings we didn't actually have to register.

The difference with estate agents is that mainly they don't get paid a salary so it's all commission basis so they are always trying to get more people in, and I think the ones that are looking to buy now get preference over any others.

We were used to floor plans, measurements on houses but as you say all we got was a one sided photocopy with very basic details - in some cases I got more details from the websites than the paper.

My husband went for a real estate agents job and that's when we learned that here there isn't any basic salary, you have to bring the clients (you're basically self employed with the parent company doing some advertising), and you may not get paid for months since properties don't sell that quickly around here.

What I really don't understand with the paper details is that the seller actually pays for that (whereas in the UK it's all included in the commission) so I'd expect them to be better. When we come to sell a place it'll be interesting since I won't put up with what they usually do

Regards,
Karen

[Dolly]

We've just come out of rented accommodation. The EA totty did her 6 month inspections, walked around the house in less than 5 minutes each time then left.

Come to the day we move out and she quibbles over carpets being steam cleaned and the garden being weeded.

Re the garden: firstly, she never looked at the property before saying this as I spent 5 hours weeding the darn gardens. She said they had to be in the same state as when we moved in...when I quickly reminded her that the gardens were totally overgrown (so badly that we didn't even realise there was a path down the side of the house!) and that we'd got dated photographs of said state of gardens did she back off.

Re the carpets: when we originally viewed the property there was a note on the front door for all to remove shoes as the carpets had just been steam cleaned. We and the other people viewing couldn't see which carpets had been steam cleaned as the stair carpets in particular were still grubby. Anyhoo, me cleaning them wasn't good enough so I had a day before the other tenants moved in to arrange a company that would steam clean the carpets 'professionally'. I told her that we'd got photographic evidence that the carpets were grubby when we moved in and she said she'd cleaned them herself (er, I think not!). I have to note that it does state in the contract that carpets have to be 'professionally' steam cleaned prior to leaving which is why I rushed around getting them done...otherwise she'd have a fight on her hands.

Motto of story is when moving into a rented property, take photos of everything so at the end of the lease they can't try to pull fast ones which would affect the amount of bond returned.

So Halo, basically they do nothing for the duration of the tenancy and then when it comes to trying to get all your bond back they try to stiff you.

Dolly

[Tiffani]

short answer: not much

longer answer: it seems like, given the shortage of rental properties in the area, there are oftentimes more applications than houses available so the rental agents don't really feel the need to go out of their way to help you find a place that's right for you. But, I had a very good experience with my realtor once I found the place we liked; she gave me advice on how to "look good" on the application since we were coming from elsewhere (with a dog in tow, no less) and also gave advice on general life in Melbourne when we had questions about how things worked. So they won't break their back trying to help you find a perfect rental (with buying it may be different though) but once the ball is rolling they'll be very helpful... at least that was my experience.

[Halo]

And those "montages" of the sales people want to make me throw.... you would swear they are Nobel prize winners or something not brain dead home hockers.......

Anger building

[northern mover]

Not sure wether to laff or cry, with htis thread.

As the Oh would say; least said........sorry things aren't any better yet Halo.

Good tips Dolly, i will surely bear it all in mind!

J

[snipfer]

estate agents aside - i 've been searching online for houses in sydney.

cant stop scratching my head why would houses still costs $300k-$1m when they are just beside the nuclear reactor....

[Tiffani]

Sydney is one of the most expensive places in the world to live.

Melbourne is not on that list but it's still way pricier than what I was used to in the US!

[snipfer]

Originally Posted by Tiffani

Sydney is one of the most expensive places in the world to live.

Melbourne is not on that list but it's still way pricier than what I was used to in the US!

you are right - but lands around the nuclear reactor is considered as PRIME HOUSING AREA = something i really cant accept hahaha.

[Tiffani]

hehe I think Sydneysiders believe that anywhere in the Sydney area is "prime real estate"

(oh man I'm turning into such a Melburnian already -- feeling the rivalry hehe)