{"id":7423,"date":"2016-03-21T01:00:38","date_gmt":"2016-03-20T14:00:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/realestatetalk.com.au\/?p=7423"},"modified":"2016-03-21T01:00:38","modified_gmt":"2016-03-20T14:00:38","slug":"find-the-best-agent-to-sell-your-property","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/channels.realty.com.au\/realtytalk\/find-the-best-agent-to-sell-your-property\/","title":{"rendered":"Find the best agent to sell your property – Mark Dwyer"},"content":{"rendered":"

 
\nYou might have seen the ads on TV that promote a website that offers sellers the opportunity to get assistance to select the best agent to sell their property. Mixed with that is the inference that if you go with them you will get up to $100,000 over your reserve. The site is Open Agent. There a number of similar sites offering the same inducements. We talked to an agent about them.\u00a0Mark Dwyer<\/strong> joins us.
\n <\/p>\n

Transcript:<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Kevin:<\/b>\u00a0 I want to read you a post that I read on Facebook regarding what I believe could be very misleading advertising. That\u2019s actually the way it\u2019s purported in this article, too. I\u2019m going to introduce the writer to you in just a moment.
\nMark Dwyer writes: \u201cI\u2019ve seen the same advertisement appear at least 20 or 30 times with the same subtext: Hear how Wendy sold for $100,000 above her reserve price with the agent recommended to her by, in this case, it was a company called Open Agent. You might have also seen the television ads that say exactly the same thing.
\n\u201cCuriously, the image always changes from one property to another, so they can\u2019t all possibly have belonged to Wendy. But it appears that they \u2013 that is, Open Agent \u2013 would like you to think so.
\n\u201cThe Wendy text clearly suggests that Open Agent recommended the agent. Yet, in the following text, it now reads \u2018Compare local agent sales and reviews, and see who is best. Sell faster and at the best price free and independent service.\u2019\u201d
\nThere are a number of those words in this post by Mark that have been treated with an asterisk. I\u2019ll give you an example of a few of them: best, sell, faster, best price, free, independent and service. He makes the point that these are onerous, and in his opinion, a real estate agent making these suggestions would be held accountable for this type of advertising.
\nMark Dwyer joins me. Good day, Mark.
\nMark:<\/b>\u00a0 Hi, Kevin. How are you?
\nKevin:<\/b>\u00a0 Good, mate. This is not something where we\u2019re picking just on one website because there are a number of websites like Open Agent, aren\u2019t there?
\nMark:<\/b>\u00a0 It\u2019s almost like an awakening commercially for a number of ventures where they\u2019ve realized that agents, for years, have paid each other in kind and reciprocated with referrals and paid each other 20% of the fee gained. They\u2019ve taken advantage of this, really. I can\u2019t think of any other way to say it.
\nThey\u2019re kind of taking advantage of agents by recognizing that there is an in for business and they\u2019re doing it under the pretense of referring people or trying to portray to the public that they\u2019re referring them, knowing them on the same sort of basis that agents know each other, for commercial gain.
\nKevin:<\/b>\u00a0 I think Troy makes a very good point. He responded to your post and said one of the things that they don\u2019t say is that they\u2019ll only then refer you to one or two agents who are prepared to pay them their referral fee. They\u2019re aiming for 20%, which is industry standard.
\nIt\u2019s a case of not necessarily referring them the best agent for the job \u2013 that is, for the seller \u2013 but only the best agent for the middle man \u2013 that is in this case, Open Agent. While they purport to give you a list of all of the top agents in an area, they\u2019ll only ever refer you to someone who commercially has said they\u2019ll pay them a referral fee.
\nMark:<\/b>\u00a0 This is where the onerous part comes in because the inference that they created is that they\u2019re referring people as a free service to a commercial service, and what they fail to disclose is that if the agents refuse to agree to their terms and conditions \u2013 in other words, sign up for them \u2013 then they\u2019ll be precluded from being referred.
\nOstensibly, what that then means is if I\u2019m getting a referral from an agent and the best agent in that area has decided not to participate in this particular service offered, then they\u2019re not referred. Again, I say how can they say that you\u2019re getting the best agent in the area if that agent decides not to participate?
\nKevin:<\/b>\u00a0 The other thing that I really take exception to is the style of advertising saying that because Wendy, in this case, took the advice and took on one of their agents, they actually got $100,000 over their reserve, which, really, is one of the things that in a lot of states around Australia, agents are being castigated for because they\u2019re being accused of low-balling.
\nMark:<\/b>\u00a0 Precisely. The thing that prompted this post on social media in the first place is that for all intents and purposes, these particular companies are operating outside of the very guidelines that estate agents would be required, whether it be by internal regulatory bodies like the institutes or, indeed, the regulators themselves in each state.
\nWe would just hit all sorts of trouble if we were making these claims. Yet, for want of a better way of saying it, these organizations are not licensed real estate agents, but they\u2019re behaving or operating as such and there is no regulation whatsoever as to what they do and say whereas the real estate agent would be absolutely, as you say, castigated.
\nKevin:<\/b>\u00a0 What reaction have you had from the various institutes around Australia about this issue?
\nMark:<\/b>\u00a0 Aside from social media, I did call upon them to make comment. Thus far, they haven\u2019t. They should. In the protection or the interests of the members themselves, they should be saying something because certainly, if this was actually happening between two members inside the institute, I would suggest here that they would be intervening almost immediately.
\nFor some bizarre reason, because these third-party referrers are operating not as real estate agents but just as standalone commercial ventures, they\u2019re getting away with it.
\nI think it\u2019s also important that we recognize exactly what they are. All they\u2019re really doing is bringing inquiry in, they\u2019re collating data, and they\u2019re just grabbing that data and seeing who is making sales in the area.
\nTheir first priority is making sure that that agent has signed on with them and agreed to pay the 20% referral. In the second instance, they\u2019re looking for the best, but they\u2019re not actually referring the<\/i> agent; they\u2019re referring several agents, three, four, five, or as many as it takes. For want of a better way of saying it, they\u2019re hedging their bets.
\nKevin:<\/b>\u00a0 Yes, leaving it up to the individual to make the decision, but they\u2019ll only ever recommend anyone who has agreed to pay them the 20% in this case.
\nThere are so many issues. We\u2019re out of time on this, unfortunately. Many, many issues. I want to canvas it. Have you had an experience with one of these organizations? Give us a call and let us know. We\u2019d love to have your feedback on it, too. You can do it through our website if you like. Kevin@RealEstateTalk.com.au<\/a> \u2013 that\u2019s the e-mail address \u2013 or just go to RealEstateTalk.com.au and give us some feedback. We\u2019d love to get your comments.
\nWe are going to actually canvas a number of these questions directly with one or two of these. I\u2019ve mentioned Open Agent. There is another one that\u2019s called Sell My Castle. Are there any others that you\u2019re aware of, Mark?
\nMark:<\/b>\u00a0 Rate My Agent is purporting to just, as its title suggests, rate agents, but they\u2019re eventually going to move into the same space. There are any number of companies now that are eyeing off an opportunity to cut into 20% of agents\u2019 fees.
\nKevin:<\/b>\u00a0 As a consumer, it certainly looks very attractive, but I think you really have to ask some questions about what sort of agent they are referring to you and how they are deciding that it\u2019s the best agent to suit you.
\nMark:<\/b>\u00a0 This is what is not understood. It is actually costing the consumer because the money that is being paid to these third-party referrers must come from somewhere, and it\u2019s originating from the consumer. You, as a consumer participating in this, are actually putting more pressure on the agent to charge you more money. That needs to be understood.
\nKevin:<\/b>\u00a0 Be aware. Question it, by all means. If you want to contact Mark or read a little bit more about this, just go to his Facebook page, Mark Dwyer Real Estate Sales Trainer.
\nMark, thanks for your time.
\nMark:<\/b>\u00a0 Thank you very much, Kevin.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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