Can a buyers’ agent save you money?

We are often asked this question. The best answer, we believe, is an actual example. Here are some of the ways in which our clients have benefited (or could have saved) from engaging our services:

Apartment 1 – the agent gave us information about the vendor’s circumstances and had we acted on it we could have got the property for $500K. It subsequently sold a week later for $515K. $15,000 potential saving.

Apartment 2 – we were advised by the agent prior to auction that reserve was going to be $510K, and that we possibly could pick it up for $505K. Passed in and sold 3 days later for $521K. Minimum $11,000 potential saving.

House 1 – passed in at auction in December for $1.355M. The agent had been quoting @$1.3M and we felt that it would probably achieve that. The under-bidder was at $1.35M, so this had been a competitive auction and the vendors regretted not accepting the highest bid. In the three months after the auction, Xmas had come and gone, the market had destabilized at this price level, and the property was tainted from having been on the market so long. Through protracted negotiations with the agent we held firm and secured the property at $1.255M. A saving of $100,000.

House 2 – our client came to us after her offer of $727K on a property that was being quoted as “early $700,000s” was rejected. She did not know whether to believe what the agent was saying and was prepared to pay $780K for the property prior to auction. This property uniquely suited her needs and she was prepared to pay a premium for it. After many discussions with the selling agent and assessing the competitive situation, our advice was to wait till auction. Our client was so keen on this house she instructed us to bid up to $827K!! We secured it for $745K, a saving of $35,000 over what she would have paid if left to her own devices and $82,000 less than what she was prepared to pay.

House 3 – similar circumstances to the property above. Our clients were about to make an pre-auction offer and were considering the figure of $807K. Once they engaged our services, we advised them to wait for the auction. Their instructions were to go to $813K if necessary. We secured it for $780K, a saving of $27,000 over what they would have paid without our advice and $33,000 less than they were prepared to pay.

Apartment 3 – Our clients had found a property that they were desperate to buy, and it was in a price bracket that was definitely a buyers’ market. However they agent had suddenly procured another buyer and this was putting pressure on them to pay more than they needed to. Our advice on offer strategy was carefully planned and we secured the property for $2,500,000, which was $50,000 less than the premium they had been prepared to pay. Our clients admitted that without our guidance, they would have succumbed to pressure and fear of losing the property and increased their offer, possibly even over the amount that they had felt comfortable paying.

For more examples, contact us via http://www.gooddeeds.com.au/