Real Estate Appraisal, Save $2000 on Real Estate Agent Appraisal, Property Advice

clients say - "Hi Scott, Thanks for the refund cheque, Your service was a very great blessing to us as we never expected to get a refund until I found your website so thanks heaps." - Naomi S. April 2008 - " Hi Scott, we are very happy with how the sale went and we are very pleasantly surprised to get a refund of $2248.00, thanks again " - Paul Thomson April 2008 - Hi Scott, " Thank you so much for your email. I would be happy to give your customer service as a 5 star. Thank you so much for everything It was lovely working with you " - Lea Aitken. April 2008 - "We are over the moon to receive a refund of $1732.50 from our recent sales costs Thank you for making it so incredibly simple from start to finish. We would definitely use your referral service again and recommend it to anyone we know who's looking to sell, after all who wouldn't want a refund. We wish your service had been around years ago when we sold our first home. Keep up the great work! Thanks again!" - Trev & Mel Place - "i have just received a saving of over $1600 simply by contacting the real estate agent through your site, thank you" - Diane Teo - "Thanks Scott. The cheque has been gratefully received. Your system has worked very well for the quick sale of our house." - Regards Pat McKeown - 15/01/08 "we would not hesitate to recommend this service to our friends working to sell their homes. again thank you" - Ted and Jeanette - "just a short note to let you know how thrilled we are with the quick sale of our house" - Jeff Brown -

Save on average $2000.00 simply by contacting your real estate agent here

7 Essential questions to ask when the real estate agent at the appraisal interview.

Real estate appraisal Question 1.

Do you have any extra fees if my property doesn't sell ?

You have to also be prepared if the sale does not go as planned.

If this happens and you decide not to sell at a latter date or you decide to change agents, protect your self by finding out if there are any charges from the agent if the property has not sold.

A lot of agents have advertising and marketing charges which are on top of selling commissions and these are chargeable regardless of whether the property is sold or not

Be aware if this is the case with your agent, look at as a form of risk management, used to protect yourself against any undisclosed potential financial loss.

Real estate appraisal Question 2. How many properties have you sold in my suburb ?

Although enthusiasm is probably more important in sales than experience, you do want to employ a real estate agent who has reasonable track record in your neighborhood. Providing they can report that they have been active with a couple of recently negotiated sales in your suburb, is probably sufficient.

This may even give you a opportunity to speak to one or two of their past clients, which is a great way to get a true insight into the agents ability, you can do this if you know which properties that they have sold.

Real estate appraisal Question 3. What is the average time the agency takes to sell a property ?

This is the type of information any decent real estate agent will probably offer to you anyway, but if they don't tell you ask the question, and make a note of the answer. Follow the question up with "Why does it take that long ?" this is a little bit more probing and the type of question you want to fire at the agent, remembering this is probably more than a $10,000 fee you are going to be paying, you want to know your agent has all the answers particularly when they are dealing with potential buyers for your property.

Real estate appraisal Question 4. Are your selling commissions negotiable ?

Now we are talking their language, I would be probably more impressed if the agent answered that they don't negotiate on their fee on initial questioning because what you are really looking for in a good real estate agent is someone who knows how to negotiate, and if the agent is prepared to quickly drop their own pay/fee just because you asked it is a fair guess that they will probably also quickly drop your selling price when asked by potential buyers.

Most agents will probably offer you some type other type of incentive to get the business of selling your property so definitely ask the question the answer you get and how it is handled will give you a terrific insight into what type of negotiator your potential agent is.

If you can't get a reduction in selling fees perhaps they can offer some other type off incentive to make it more attractive for you to sell with them, particularly if they are confident of selling your property, ask them to pay for the advertising or marketing, there are still plenty of no sale no charge real estate agents which at the end of the day is a fair system.

Real estate appraisal Question 5. How long is the listing agreement for ?

This too should be negotiable, most agents will want a listing agreement for between 2 - 3 months, I would advise any potential sellers not to list for any longer than this and to be fair a good agent will be investing a lot of time and effort into selling your property and this amount of time is a reasonable time bracket for them to work in, but definitely do not list for any longer than 3 months.

Some agents will insist to you that they have a buyer for your property and will only need to list it for one or two weeks to sell it, be very skeptical of this type of approach as it could do damage to the value of your property if you list with one agent for a couple of weeks and then change to another agent.

Selling real estate, there are some rules to selling real estate that will put you ahead, read more...

Real estate appraisal Question 6. As an agent do you recommend auction or private treaty sales ?

A good real of thumb for suitable auction properties are properties that are unique and hard to accurately assess for market value also properties that there will be extremely high demand for and you are almost guaranteed there will be more than one party who would be interested in bidding for, may be suitable for auction.

Having said that in most cases an auction increases the margin for error, and it puts an extra amount of pressure and stress on everybody who is to be involved in the transaction.

An auction will bring the marketing and advertising to an end day and will possibly deliver a result because of this deadline, but this is also what puts the pressure on the potential buyers, you the seller, and the agent and their agency.

I personally prefer to avoid pressure and stress where I can, I find I make better decisions when I am relaxed, how do you operate ? If auctions are popular in your area it may make it more attractive for you but I recommend you consider seriously if an auction campaign is right for you.

Real estate appraisal Question 7. Will the agent let you rate them on service on ref real estate web site ?

This will test most agents, and if they agree to this it shows they are really committed to customer service.

What you are saying after the sale is done and the commissions are paid is a true indication of how the agent performed!

This puts the power back in your hand and is designed to encourage the agent to deliver good service all the way through the sale transaction, and hopefully ensure that the rating you put on our web site for the agent be positive and a glowing endorsement for the agent that will bring them more business.

If your real estate agent does not want to participate in this system be careful because there will only be one or two reasons why a real estate agent would not want to participate in this system:

1. They don’t want their service levels monitored by their own customers!

2. They don’t want to refund back to you some of your own money!

Research here to see if any of your local agents have been rated, and learn more about saving money...

Interviewing real estate agents other things to consider.

If possible have all property owners present when the real estate agent makes their presentation, this saves mixed messages being passed from one property owner to another about what the agent did or didn't say.

It also can give you some extra confidence to ask the agent the hard questions if you have some strength in numbers , remember the real estate agents are trained sale professionals and a large percentage of their training is taken up learning how to list property for sale.

Be prepared to ask the hard questions, don't be misled by the some large price some agents may mention just to get you to list with them. Focus on the person and find a sales agent who you feel you can trust, one who offers a sensible marketing campaign and who gives you some sort of written guarantee that if the sale is not progressing as you had expected within a reasonable amount of time you can be released from the listing agreement.

Do your research before listing your property for sale it may save you from some heart ache down the line if the property takes longer to sell than you first imagined.

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Home loans, what to look out for when searching for a home loan click read more here...

Get a cash refund on your agents selling commission

At ref real estate we offer a real estate service with a genuine difference.

We organize for you a cash refund on your real estate agents selling commission.

We are paid a referral fee by the real estate agents, but the difference is we give you 75% of what we have been paid back as a refund.

We don't charge any fee for our service and we help you to choose the most suitable agent to sell with.

We are gathering data on real estate agents from all over Australia, so we can give you some insider knowledge on your local real estate agents before you list your property for sale plus you have the added bonus of a real cash refund.

Learn how we provide a refund...

We are members of the NSW real estate institute and recommend agents who are members of the following real estate institutes.

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