Ever wondered about the nightmarish experiences of dealing with property transactions?
Aaron lists the 2 types of people that contributes most to the tough or painful experiences to an agent for property purchases or sales.
Summary:
The two types of people to avoid are agents that like to 'play punk', and inexperienced buyers. These categories of people tend to be problematic in their own ways.
Why? Read on to find out.
In property transactions, buyers & sellers all want a smooth transaction that goes through well, with all parties being satisfied with the outcomes. This, of course, is true for agents too. However, over the 11 years Aaron has spent as an agent, he knows that there are still scary, tough and painful situations that occur, some of which are avoidable and usually caused by 2 specific kinds of people.
The first kind: Problematic Agents
The first type of people that Aaron recommends to avoid are agents. Not all agents, but agents that are inexperienced, greedy and overall problematic. This could be your own agent, the counterparty's agent or even a co-broking agent.
One example was an agent that brought a buyer for a purchase, but at the HDB appointment, the HDB officer informed that the buyer did not have a loan approved. This was after confirming that the buyer checklist was done and confirming over correspondence that the loan has been approved. Then in the aftermath, the agent comes up with excuses on appealing to MPs, etc.
These usually are agents that are willing to take risks, and take a trying attitude described often as 'playing punk'. They are not ready and likely have not done the legwork for the transaction and causes problems for all involved. They create problems for others in the transaction.
Greedy agents are those that tend to calculate what's in it for them, rather than trying to get the best deal for the buyer they are representing. Examples of such behaviour include asking for a higher commission as a condition to close a deal, or pushing for a buyer to close at a higher price for a higher commission percentage.
Every agent has an individual responsibility to the client that he/she is representing. Therefore, it's important for an agent to take charge of the transaction, understanding the whole situation, acting in the client's best interests and moving on after closing the deal. Problematic agents just create a whole lot more frustration and must be avoided.
The second kind: Inexperienced Buyers
More than problematic agents, it's scarier to meet inexperienced buyers.
Experienced agents in the industry would screen through and qualify direct buyers properly. This is because direct buyers who are inexperienced tend to fall in one of these categories:
Never done a loan before
In a see-see, look-look position
Unaware of how a property transaction works and the timeline involved
Assumes one is eligible to make a purchase, but in reality, is not
Unaware of payments, fees and liability involved
There are buyers that come for appointments only to realise that they are ineligible to make any purchase. Also, there are entitled buyers who make appointments but come significantly late, expecting agents to wait. All of the above contributes to why experienced agents are wary of such buyers, and the need to qualify them before such buyers are allowed for viewings.
One example of such a buyer would be one who goes to view a unit in Condo A, and since they are in the area, calls up 5 other agents and hopes to do viewings of other units in Condo A on the same day, without appointments. This is akin to window shopping, and overlooks the reality that agents are unable to rush down immediately or arrange instant appointments with sellers.
Due to a lack of understanding, the expectations of such buyers creates a gap between them and the agents in the market. Rather than agents being overly scrutinising of these direct buyers, the need to properly screen them is actually a seller's agent doing his job well. There have been too many buyers who end up being ineligible to purchase or not having loans secured. A proper qualification process saves the agent from spending time and effort on nothing, and acts in the best interests of his/her client as a seller agent.
Conclusion
There we have it, the two kinds of people to avoid in property transactions and the justifications why. If you face other problems in the industry while being involved as a buyer/seller or even agent, do share it with us and we will love to hear your stories.
Watch the video to hear Aaron share his stories and experiences dealing with problematic agents that play punk and inexperienced buyers who he tries to avoid!