Secret tactics of dodgy agents exposed

FOMO can be weaponised against home buyers when it comes to what price a property settles at.

Secret tactics used by unscrupulous agents to drive up home prices have been exposed by Aussie homebuyers who are now warning others how to spot it.

As housing affordability falls to record lows across the country, home buyers and former agents have begun sharing tips for how to tackle agents who resort to deceptive tactics to force more money out of buyers – a major issue given surging prices now have many already bidding at their borrowing peak at auctions.

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A Redditor questioned whether they were “being played” after an agent kept coming back post auction even after contract offers were signed.

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The Australian property community exploded with advice and shared experiences after a Redditor asked “post auction, am I being played” over a real estate agent continually coming back for more, claiming there was a second party gunning for a house.

“Went to an auction, there was just me and a buyers’ agent bidding. Buyers agent’s last bid was $1.4m, mine $1.45m. Property passed in. Went to negotiations, vendor wanted $1.56m. Bid against myself and offered $1.48m. No deal, walked away. Buyers’ agent had left.”

“Phone call 3 hours later, buyers’ agent had offered $1.50m. Asked if we would submit a better offer. Submitted $1.51m. Agent sent through contract for signature. Signed offer. Received a call the next day, buyers’ agent has submitted a higher offer. Said they won’t reveal offer, and want my best and final offer. I think I am being played.”

Many buyers are now finding that they are bidding at their limits, with tactics that drive up prices further now a major concern.

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The feedback was fast and furious, with many urging the buyer to walk away or even drop their offer back to the original auction top market price.

One user said “the seller wanted the highest price the market would pay. That’s why it went to auction and that was demonstrated – market price: $1.45m. After that the b*llshit started because they don’t agree with the market price.”

Several former real estate agents chimed in, one confirming the tactic, saying “when I worked in real estate we would do this quite often and it was all legitimate, reason being to stop the back and forward especially post auction and to get a deal done (mostly at vendors request)”.

Another said “having been on the selling side, this is exactly what a ‘good’ selling agent does to squeeze every dollar out of you.” The ex-agent’s suggestion was “go back with a LOWER offer, as the owner is often desperate to sell. You have power with your offer”.

Auctions are generally considered a true open test of the market price, with visibility for all parties around what others are prepared to pay.

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Among the experiences shared was one saying “house was up for $399k, my offer was in at 375k before the open home, they apparently got another offer and the agent kept giving me the FOMO treatment to get me to offer more, and said they had another offer. I said I will only go up to 380k, that’s it. Still tried pressing me for more and I got annoyed and said ‘if I lose it, I lose it’. Call came in next day and my offer was accepted by the owners”.

Another said “agent called for 2 days straight talking about another buyer and hubby said a number 40k over what we had offered and agent says yep $1000 more than that amount and it’s yours. We said no, house sat for another 6 weeks and ended up going for 25k under our offer”.

“Same thing happened to us,” said another, “property range around 1-1.25 mil, we offered 1.25 because we wanted a quick sale and ready to move in. Agent played around and said owner wanted more than 1.25 mil … We walked away … That property ended up selling for 1.105 mil. Sometimes agent and seller just have to learn to say yes to a good deal and not trying to push for an extra 5k or 10k”.

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Another said “I told the agent that my final bid was x amount (the amount I’d already offered), and they could accept it by the end of the day, or I would pull out. By the end of the day I was signing contracts. So it turns out that there likely was no other party”.

A last minute tactic was also exposed by another Redditor: “we were all good to proceed with signing the contract, confirmed this with the agent … Then 10 minutes later the agent called, sounding all sad, saying that there had been another offer that had come in late that was substantially higher than ours and that he was legally obligated to present that offer to the seller etc etc. Pushed for us to offer more in response.”

“We told him to do what he had to do and left it at that. Another 15 minutes later the agent called again, sounding rather sheepish saying that the other buyer was not serious and that the house was ours … It really soured us on the agent who otherwise had seemed like a genuine (for an agent) straightshooter. He just carried on like that whole event never happened.”

Several people have been sharing their experiences in the tough housing market.

After the flood of advice, the original poster told the community “this morning I sent off an email and have withdrawn our offer. So if they don’t have the other offer, they have nothing. We are happy to walk. It’s not our perfect place and if it does go, we are happy to let it go above our offer”.

This was followed by an update: “Got an email just then. Apparently the other buyer has pulled out. Hahahahahahahaha.”

Among the tips from those suggesting buyers walk away was one Redditor saying “make sure you rescind your offer in writing” while another said “if passes in at an auction, give an offer, but say it is withdrawn in 3-4 hours if I don’t see a signed contract. I have done it and been successful thrice. Agent typically wants to sell and move on”.

Another said “as a rule of thumb, don’t make an offer before an auction, that’s when they play you against an imaginary buyers’ agent”.

“Typically if there are no other real buyers, they will advertise a firm price on the Monday (after the auction). If they put up a range, walk away. Ideally you want to close it before 6pm Sunday or walk away otherwise they Dutch auction your offer”.

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