How to understand what agents want
We all know that agents have quite a name in the industry. Most people hate them for a reason, but I guess as investors we need to look at them from another angle.
Putting aside their agent status, they are people after all. They also have emotions so all we need to do is connect with them like we would with anybody else you meet on the street.
Of course, it might be difficult to do this during the open inspection, especially when there are groups and groups of people coming to inspect the place! In times like this, then all I can say is ask intelligent questions and ask for a copy of the contract to show that you are truly interested in purchasing the property.
If you are able to convey this message across, then it’ll leave an impression with the agent to let them know that you are not a time waster.
Why are we doing this? Two main reasons:
1. They want to be able to sell the property at the best price
2. They want to be able to sell the property in the shortest time frame possible. Ideally, even before the property hits the market, that way they don’t even need to do an open inspection!
So based on this understanding, they want to filter out the hot leads – buyers who are not time wasters and show good interest in purchasing the property.
On top of that, if you are able to ask intelligent questions to further show that you have already done some homework before hand, then you’ll definitely stand out from majority of other inspectors who stroll in, have a squeeze and then leave without much conversation.
Some examples of intelligent (and probing) questions include:
- Why is the owner selling?
- How long has the property been on the market? (Assuming the property is not on the market for the first week)
- What is the rental demand for this area? What type of demographics would this property attract?
Avoid asking questions which can be found from an ad or online. You definitely don’t want to be seen a time waster with lots of questions.
More from this writer:
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Why you should avoid buying property with a pool
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Why you should avoid off-the-plan
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CG v cashflow — Which type of property should I buy next?
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3 more types of value adds for a property
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2 types of value adds for a property
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New v existing — which one should I choose?