Contacting an Agent

All Real Estate Agents in Perth offer free market appraisals so you don’t need to wait till you get a flyer in your letter box. Selecting a company can be tough as many suburbs offer 6-10 different companies that can service your area.

Recommendations from family and friends that have sold in the area are always good but as long as they are recent. Some agents have personal circumstances change and they are not as efficient and hard working as they may have once been.

When contacting a local office, the next representative on the list will receive your enquiry unless you specifically ask for an agent by name. This is kind of the luck of the draw method and hope that the agent they send out will be effective. I generally recommend people go out on the weekend and start attending some home opens. Here you will meet local agents directly and get a feel for how they operate at a home open, interact with buyers walking through and follow up your attendance. You may want to let them you are keeping an eye on the market or looking to purchase but have only just started your search. Providing a name and number will allow you to see how efficient this agent is in following up attendance from the home open. You want a hard working agent who follows up every potential buyer that views your property. Attending 6-8 home opens in the area will short list the companies and representatives you feel comfortable with and offer the communication and service you would like for your property when it comes for sale.

If the agent leaves you unattended at the home open, doesn’t ask you questions and doesn’t follow up, how effective will this person be in looking after your sale and providing you with the information you need to know like

How many people through my home today?

What did they think?

Is there anything the buyers didn’t like that we may be able to change?

What was every buyer’s opinion on price?

When you get an offer, you are only going to be able to decide if this is a fair, low or good price from the market if you know what everybody else has thought after coming through. Without this information, you cannot make an educated decision. This is where an agent who communicates well and provides written reports is of huge value to you.

Once you have shortlisted 2-4 agents you like and were efficient, you need to contact them and book a time to have them attend the home. Calling them on the mobile and just leaving name and number and no reason for the call will be another test as to how quick they return your phone call. In this era of instant not being fast enough, a buyer left waiting for a day or two before a phone call back may move on to another home.