What do we really think of real estate agents?
Posted on: 13/01/2016
Are they smooth-talkers with no ethics or much maligned hard workers?
Only people in advertising and car sales rate worse than real estate agents for how the public score
their ethics and honesty, according to the2015 Consumer Perceptions of Real Estate survey by Roy
Morgan Research. Only 9% of us believe they have any ethics or honesty. In strong contrast 92 % of
Australians rate Nurses as the most ethical and honest profession.
But does this stereotype reflect the truth?
The 2015 Consumer Perceptions of Real Estate survey asked people who had sold their homes with agents
what they thought. 31% rated the overall experience as excellent, 35% as good and 34% as average or poor.
How could it have been better? "More research" was the most common response from those surveyed.
These statistics are a concern. If most businesses had 34% of their customers rate their service as poor they
would soon go out of business.
What can you do to make selling your home a positive experience?
Whether you decide to use an agent or not, research is your best friend. What does that mean?
According to the2015 Consumer Perceptions of Real Estate survey 82% of sellers did some of their own
research. They looked at similar properties online (79%), read up on the local market conditions (55%), and
attended open homes for similar properties to their own (37%). Nearly 25% had obtained a property report.
Seller comments:
"I need to do more research myself beforehand to make sure my home appeals to its target
audience. I will do more preparation myself and start earlier."
"I will do my own research on market price and only approach an agent after having solid opinion
of market value."
At Next Address have a range of blog posts, links and a chat button to support your real estate research. Our
goal is to give you all the information and control you need to successfully sell your home yourself.
"No surprises here, communication and openness are vital."
What information did agents provide?
Agents were good at providing general market knowledge, showing sellers recent sales information (79%) and
giving an estimated property value (74%). Fewer gave personal sales information (52%), showed sales of
similar homes (54%), or gave information about the suburb, such as median sales or growth rates (55%). Only
28% of agents gave current time-on-market information. The agents that rated most successfully were those
who were open, transparent, and provided detailed market information, including Local Auction Clearing Rates
and Average Time on Market information. No surprises here, communication and openness are vital.
Seller comments:
"Our agent followed up on everything and was proactive with all communications to me. I never
had to initiate contact to find out information - she provided feedback regularly and promptly."
"Agents need to follow up on buyers rather than just wait for them to contact the office or walk by
an open house. They also need to communicate what is going on, not just "Oh well, no one came
to the open house."
Do you need an agent to access the information you need to sell your home?
No! At Next Address we show you how and where to find it! It's all there on the net. Using our blog posts, the
links to relevant websites and our tips will put you in control of the sale of your home. You pay no commissions
or advertising.
How do you select an agent?
If you decide you do want to use an agent, make sure you interview more than one before making a decision!
38% of sellers only talked to one agent, though 55% talked to 2-3 agents. The most common influences on
choosing an agent were the successful sale of a local property (58%) and personal recommendation from
friends (36%). At Next Address we believe the following are the skills you should look for in an agent:
Do they communicate clearly?
How often will they provide feedback and how?
Do you feel they are listening to you?
Can they demonstrate market expertise and back it up with data?
Do they provide advice on home presentation?
Research them online as well as by talking to friends!
Don't be afraid of youth! An interesting finding was that sellers with the least experienced agents were most
likely to have sold their properties above the expected sale price.
Seller comments:
"Next time I will spend more time identifying an agent's local profile."
"I will meet with more than one agent to compare their advice, offers and expectations."
If you sell through a community marketplace like Next Address, you don't have to worry about any of these
skills
know who has inspected your home
contact buyers directly
know if there are offers on the table and at what price.
"be in complete control"
What makes a good agent?
According to the survey: Honesty. Communicating regularly and behaving in an accountable and dependable
manner builds trust and a personal connection. 66% rated their overall experience as excellent or good and
68% said they would recommend their agent to family and friends. A good agent can take a lot of the worry
and stress out of the selling process. Honesty, reliability and empathy are the key qualities that separate an
outstanding agent from the pack.
Seller comments:
"My high expectations were met by my agent. I didn't need to experience anything out of the
ordinary to be happy with the service - I just needed the agent to do what he said he would do."
"Our agents did what they said they would do and they were respectful."
"Only 41 % were happy with their agent"
How did sellers feel about their agents after the sale?
At the beginning 57% were confident the agent would do a good job and they would get a good price, 39%
were hopeful and 4% were dubious. After the sale, 41% were happy with the performance of the agent, 42%
were okay and 17% were unhappy. Confidence in real estate agent services declined as sellers went thought
the sale process. Sellers most commonly identified that agents needed to be more realistic and upfront about
price expectations earlier in the process.
Seller comments:
"They should provide a realistic expectation of what the property will sell for. I was very
disappointed at the explanation on how to set the price for our property."
"Agents need to be more honest about the price appraisals upfront so they don't have to condition
you down through the sale and leave you disappointed."
We don't believe that a satisfaction rate of 41% is good enough. Save yourself disappointment - and money by using Next Address! Once again, using a community marketplace gives you complete control. We take you
step by step through the process of selling your own home. We link you to great resources to ensure you know
all you need.
Do you really need an agent? At Next Address we believe we have a great alternative.
Using an agent suits some people and at Next Address we recognise that. But if you'd rather put the time
you'd spend researching and negotiating with an agent into selling your own home, we have the tools to help
you do so. You can do everything an agent can do! You have everything to gain.
At Next Address we passionately believe property owners should and can sell their own homes. All you need
are the skills you use every day: from researching on the Internet, to communicating with staff or bosses,
through to negotiating. Add the simple tools and resources we have on our site and you are well on the way to
successfully selling your own home and saving yourself thousands and thousands of dollars in commissions
and advertising fees.
Never before has there been a real estate platform which links buyers and
sellers directly to each other.
Next Address is Australia's first community marketplace for real estate. Giving the control back to you
and saving your thousands.
So, why not sign up today?
https://nextaddress.com.au/blog/104/what-do-we-really-think-of-real-estate-agents