The widening gulf between price guide and the auction result has revived an often-asked question: are buyers over-eager or are agents telling fibs on the price guide?
Is this happening in the USA? In some markets it may be yes as the “typical” home buyer may be in competition with a lot of cash buyers.
Each market is different. Get an appraisal and you will get a disinterested party’s opinion of the value of the property instead of taking someones word for it. For example: You are in Australia and you see a property on the internet that you may like to buy in San Diego (contact www.scappraisals.com). You have all the great photos on the website and contact info but that is about it. You could order an appraisal from an appraiser in San Diego (www.scappraisals.com) and they will go out and inspect the property, research the property and give you opinion of value of the property. Not only do you have an unbiased opinion of the value of the property (that may help you in negotiations) but the property was inspected by someone who has no interest in the sale and will make recommendations if more inspections are required (the appraiser is not a building inspector, but if they see a mold-like substance they may recommend a mold inspection). Contact the appraisers at www.scappraisals.com for appraisal questions.
Buyer’s agents are divided.
”I’m not seeing a lot of underquoting, I’m just seeing a lot of silly prices being paid and that’s borne out of frustration at the lack of stock,” said Patrick Bright, from EPS Property Search.
”People are paying ‘fed-up’ money so they don’t have to keep looking.
”I’ve had clients tell me to do that recently.”
But another agent, who did not want to be named, said underquoting was on the rise especially in the eastern suburbs, lower north shore and to a lesser extend in the inner west. In most cases it involved properties under $2 million and some agents were underquoting by as much as 20 per cent.
”They’re just getting back to their old ways now,” he said.
The Department of Fair Trading launched a crackdown on underquoting at the height of the spring selling season last year.
Undercover officers swooped on more than 50 auctions around Sydney after receiving more complaints from buyers. Eight agents were found to have kept inadequate or non-existent sale files to substantiate the estimated price of 17 properties.
Read more at: http://smh.domain.com.au/real-estate-news/the-2m-question-agents-fibbing-or-overeager-buyers-20130730-2qxbg.html
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