To quote from this FREE book: "There is an annual poll conducted by Roy Morgan, which looks at the perceived ethics and honesty of various professions. Real estate agents consistently rank in the third lowest position, just above advertising people and car salesmen."
And it continues, "What many people don’t know is just how low the bar is set to enter this profession. For example, in Queensland, for about $600, almost anybody can become a licensed and practicing real estate agent within a few days of undertaking a very easy course." (the real estate "expert" who offers you a $30 taxi ride to a property on which he then wants to collect a $30,000 commission may not even be licensed himself but only works for someone who holds a real estate licence)
And it gets better, "In an article in the Daily Telegraph on 1 December 2015, Kathryn Welling quoted the president of the Real Estate Institute of NSW, John Cunningham: 'You have to do more training to become a barista than you do a real estate agent. There are stories of agents being trained in a matter of hours online'".
"You would never trust the wonderful people making your delicious morning coffee to sell your million-dollar house, yet there are many real estate agents out there with even less training willing to take around $30,000 in commission to do just that."
Of course, the book is preaching to the converted, as I rank real estate agents even lower than second-hand car salesmen, but it's good to have my opinion confirmed by someone from inside the industry.
I was never convinced that "Real estate agents sell properties", and the book confirms it: "Think back to when you bought your home. What made you buy it? If you were dealing with a real estate agent, did they actually do or say anything to sell you the property? Like most buyers, you probably saw the property advertised on the internet; you had a look at the pictures and thought they were interesting enough to justify a closer look."
"You probably went to the open home, looked around and within about ten minutes decided that you liked what you saw. You probably made an offer to purchase and maybe it was accepted. Otherwise, there may have been a couple of counter offers, but in the end you signed the contract and bought the property."
"It is likely that even before you set foot in the property you knew what your budget was, how many bedrooms and bathrooms it needed to have, what general condition it had to be in, how large the living areas or the block of land needed to be, and what general area it had to be located in. When you inspected a property and it did not fit your criteria, was the agent able to say or do anything to make you change your mind?"
"Were they able to sell you a property that you did not want to buy? Were they able to convince you to buy something you didn’t like, especially when so much money was at stake?"
"Of course not. You went there with certain expectations and certain criteria, and if the property met them, then you made an offer to purchase. You did not need to be sold on the property."
David Kaity, the author of this book - well, booklet - finishes it with the florish, "Help somebody else join the real estate revolution and pocket tens of thousands of dollars by passing this book on to them."
Consider it done, David! - click here. And if you want to know more about him and what he's selling, go to revolutionaryrealestate.com.au.
