{"id":13980,"date":"2017-09-20T01:00:00","date_gmt":"2017-09-19T15:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/realestatetalk.com.au\/?p=13980"},"modified":"2017-09-20T01:00:00","modified_gmt":"2017-09-19T15:00:00","slug":"how-to-work-with-the-agent-josh-masters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/channels.realty.com.au\/realtytalk\/how-to-work-with-the-agent-josh-masters\/","title":{"rendered":"How to work with the agent – Josh Masters"},"content":{"rendered":"

In today\u2019s marketplace you really need to be on top of your game to be successful. So when approaching agents, should you be putting forward multiple verbal offers aimed at getting a great deal, or taking a more precise approach with a written offer on a single property?\u00a0 \u00a0We talk to Josh Masters<\/strong> about what he believes is the best way forward in this market.
\nTranscript:<\/strong>
\nKevin:<\/strong>\u00a0 In today\u2019s market \u2013 I guess in any market \u2013 you really have to be on the top of your game if you want to be a successful property investor. When you\u2019re approaching agents, how should you go about it? There are some different ways, depending, I guess, on whether it\u2019s a buyer or a seller\u2019s market.
\nLet\u2019s talk to a man who does this quite often. He\u2019s a buyer\u2019s agent. In fact, he\u2019s Sydney\u2019s best buyer\u2019s agent, Josh Masters, who we\u2019ve spoken to in the show before.
\nJosh, thanks for joining us again. How are you?
\nJosh:<\/strong>\u00a0 My pleasure, Kevin. I\u2019m very well.
\nKevin:<\/strong>\u00a0 Good. How would you suggest someone go about buying a property in this market? Is it good enough just to test the waters with a verbal offer?
\nJosh:<\/strong>\u00a0 I don\u2019t think so, but it\u2019s an excellent question. One of the first things I tell clients or prospective buyers when they\u2019re going out into the marketplace is really get a gauge on the market. Is it a buyer\u2019s market? Is it a seller\u2019s market?
\nI think a lot of people look at the marketplace and they think, \u201cOh, I\u2019ll just use a bit of negotiation, a bit of hard line tactics,\u201d and they\u2019re quickly surprised when it\u2019s actually in the seller\u2019s favor, that they\u2019re not really getting the traction that they thought they would, and they\u2019re not actually getting taken seriously by any of the vendors and quickly get walked over.
\nKevin:<\/strong>\u00a0 What are some of the warning signs for a buyer that they\u2019re not being taken seriously, Josh?
\nJosh:<\/strong>\u00a0 Unfortunately, I actually had a prospective buyer call me yesterday. They contacted me and said, \u201cWe approached a sales agent and offered them what they were asking as a price guide, and they laughed at us.\u201d I thought, \u201cWell, what a terrible experience,\u201d but it is so true, because typically, the agents will under-quote a property by a standard 10%.
\nIt\u2019s almost industry standard these days that they\u2019ll be about 10% under that asking price, and having that reaction from an agent quickly tells you that you\u2019re not even in the ballpark.
\nKevin:<\/strong>\u00a0 What should someone do in a situation like that? Obviously, buyers who aren\u2019t skilled or as skilled as you are, should they actually offer more? What sort of dialogue should they use with the agent?
\nJosh:<\/strong>\u00a0 That\u2019s an excellent question. This person actually knew me personally, so he gave me a call and I could help them out. But normally, I would go back to the agent and say, \u201cI\u2019m not very experienced.\u201d I would actually put my cards on the table. Tell them honestly, \u201cWe\u2019re really trying for these properties but we seem to be missing out. Can you give us a little bit of a hand of what this vendor\u2019s expectations are?\u201d
\nHe might give you an over-inflated price or might blow it out of the water for you, but at least you get a little bit of feedback and you can actually say this is where you really should be playing. In the future, if you go for any other properties, rather than waste everybody\u2019s time, maybe go in at a higher level and you\u2019ll quickly get a gauge on whether that\u2019s appropriate or not.
\nKevin:<\/strong>\u00a0 I quite often think that testing the waters with verbal offers can be a very big mistake. You show your hand to start with and you\u2019re not indicating that you\u2019re serious.
\nJosh:<\/strong>\u00a0 I agree.
\nKevin:<\/strong> \u00a0Let\u2019s talk for a moment about serious offers. What would you class as a serious offer?
\nJosh:<\/strong>\u00a0 Kevin, the first thing I would actually do \u2013 and we do this for every property we purchase regardless of size or amount \u2013 is get an independent valuation done. A lot of people attach valuations to bank valuations. Obviously, the banks engage their own valuers, but you can do yours as well.
\nRather than taking things on a hunch, you can actually get a professional opinion, get a list of comparable sales that say \u201cBased on the market today, this is what we think this property is worth.\u201d And this is a professional, independent opinion.
\nYou can take that opinion and then say \u201cThis is our line in the sand, and this is where we can go forward from here and gauge our offer.\u201d
\nKevin:<\/strong>\u00a0 The thing I love about what you\u2019ve just said, too, Josh, is that the listing agent is going to know that you\u2019re getting a valuation done. They\u2019ll then know how serious you really are, too. It\u2019s a good message to send.
\nJosh:<\/strong>\u00a0 That\u2019s right. If a valuation goes over the expectations of the asking price, then I don\u2019t tell them what our valuation is. But if it goes under, I actually take it back to the agent and say, \u201cI know you\u2019re asking $750,000, but our valuation has come in at $700,000 and this is where we think a fair price would be.\u201d
\nI give them the valuation because the agent can then take it back to their vendor and say, \u201cThe market is getting this response.\u201d The agent is just trying to do their job as well. \u201cThe market is getting this response and they\u2019ve had a valuation done. There is some serious background research into this. Maybe we should consider bringing our expectations back a little bit.\u201d Sometimes that can help.
\nKevin:<\/strong>\u00a0 Indeed, it can. Very good advice, too, from Josh Masters there. If you want to contact Josh, of course, you can through his website, JoshMasters.com.au. Josh, I look forward to catching up with you again real soon.
\nJosh:<\/strong>\u00a0 My pleasure, Kevin. Thanks for having me.
\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In today\u2019s marketplace you really need to be on top of your game to be successful. So when approaching agents, should you be putting forward multiple verbal offers aimed at getting a great deal, or taking a more precise approach with a written offer on…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":176692471,"featured_media":13086,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[32,10,11,13,36,22,25,27],"tags":[101],"class_list":["post-13980","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-buying-a-property-topic","category-kevin-turner-sponsored-channels","category-kevin-update","category-latest-story","category-property-investment-topic","category-research-topic","category-sponsored-channels","category-trends-topic","tag-podcast"],"yoast_head":"\nHow to work with the agent - Josh Masters - Realty Talk<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/channels.realty.com.au\/realtytalk\/how-to-work-with-the-agent-josh-masters\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How to work with the agent - Josh Masters - Realty Talk\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In today\u2019s marketplace you really need to be on top of your game to be successful. 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