A few years ago, I bought a condo unit and wanted to rent it out. I met a property agent who stays in the same condo. In our 1st meeting, he began by showing off his pile of sales and tenancy agreement. He claimed that they were all from units in this condo. In fact, he was the major agent selling and leasing most of the units here. For the next hour, I was sitting there listening to his great achievements.
At the end, he suddenly said,
“You know I just rented out unit #xx-xx, #xx-xx and #xx-xx at (very low rate). They have good facing and better decoration than yours.”
When I looked puzzled, he added,
“I have a tenant who can only afford (even lower rate). But getting this amount is better than nothing at the end of the month. If I were you, I would let go at this rate. Who knows, you may not get a better offer in the coming few months.”
Luckily, the next day I found a tenant who is paying my expected ‘market rate’.
Later, I found out from other owners that this is his ‘tactic’ to help him close more deals, and in a ‘super efficient’ way.
Years later, when I want to sell the unit, I found the same agent using another trick when it comes to units for sale.
In one of the popular property listing website, this agent and his partner advertise units at ‘dirt cheap’ prices.
Of course, all buyers want to view units from ‘sincere’ or ‘desperate’ sellers. This is how they get all the calls. Competition is automatically eliminated by preventing potential buyers from calling other agents.
But when you call them, they will say,
“Sorry, you are late. The units were just sold by me (or owner withdraws the sale, or owner now wants to sell at higher price, etc.). But I have other units selling at slightly higher prices. Do you want to view?”
“You can only view on Tuesday (at certain hour) because this is the only time that the tenant can make it. But I can show you a few units at the same time.”
“Buyers are queuing up to view. Every Tuesday after viewing, my partner and I can easily sell a few units.”
Really? But, where are the sales transactions lodged?
“You have a similar unit for sale? Ok, leave the key with me and I will try to show it together with other units.”
Sounds like he was was full of crap. Unfortunately many agents are useless and emply all sorts of unethical tactics
That’s why cannot trust property agents 100 percent. But over time you’ll be able to tell the good from the bad ones. Always try them for small tasks before engaging them in bigger projects.