I have been following the Ubud property market for a few years and I wonder what value do all the property agents really add for the seller and the buyer more than just an ad?
Yes, they do put your vila on their home page. But I have yet to come across even a remotely OK homepage. This goes for the posh international agents too. These pages all remind me of internet 2007 in terms of user experience. The photos looks like ****. Honestly. Both from a technical and artistic point of view. Sometimes the properties are not even cleaned or tidied up before the pictures are taken. There are people and bikes on the pictures. Often no floor plans. Contradicting or missing information galore. I fully understand that the agent wants to be vauge where exatcly the property is since they got no exclusivity.
I also fully understand that more or less broken English is the most spoken language on the planet. Fine. But if you make a claim to represent properties worth hundreds of thousands of dollars you must do better than Google Translate and omit very basic spelling and grammatical errors. Trust is everything in this business.
Sometimes I see photos and texts obviously provided by the seller. No wonder they choose to do that. If I were a seller I am not sure I would let them guide potential buyser around the house. maybe they will do the "Buy now, good price" sales pitch too?
So what value do the agent provide to justify their fee?
Legal expertise? No, you better hire your own lawyer and double check everything starting with who actually owns the property.
Accurate and complete information? Hardly. All sorts of information is missing on the home page. And the information provided is incomplete and not seldom confusing. I saw one example where they obviously added an extra zero too much to the price. Just sloppy work. Error was still there two weeks later on the home page. So much for first impression.
Do they handle the transaction for you? No, you hire your own lawyer and you better be paranoid about everything.
I know that the last idiot is not born yet, but how realistic is it to believe and act like you can turn up a client who will overpay and not ask any critical questions let alone follow the market for a while?
I am curious how much commission do the agent typically ask to sell a villa? 5%?
No deal no commission. Fine. Treating potential buyers like idiots is not a winning concept. And what is the point of putting a property on the market with a fantasy price tag? It just reflects badly on the property agency in question.
** Please move this thread to the Owning Property section **
Yes, they do put your vila on their home page. But I have yet to come across even a remotely OK homepage. This goes for the posh international agents too. These pages all remind me of internet 2007 in terms of user experience. The photos looks like ****. Honestly. Both from a technical and artistic point of view. Sometimes the properties are not even cleaned or tidied up before the pictures are taken. There are people and bikes on the pictures. Often no floor plans. Contradicting or missing information galore. I fully understand that the agent wants to be vauge where exatcly the property is since they got no exclusivity.
I also fully understand that more or less broken English is the most spoken language on the planet. Fine. But if you make a claim to represent properties worth hundreds of thousands of dollars you must do better than Google Translate and omit very basic spelling and grammatical errors. Trust is everything in this business.
Sometimes I see photos and texts obviously provided by the seller. No wonder they choose to do that. If I were a seller I am not sure I would let them guide potential buyser around the house. maybe they will do the "Buy now, good price" sales pitch too?
So what value do the agent provide to justify their fee?
Legal expertise? No, you better hire your own lawyer and double check everything starting with who actually owns the property.
Accurate and complete information? Hardly. All sorts of information is missing on the home page. And the information provided is incomplete and not seldom confusing. I saw one example where they obviously added an extra zero too much to the price. Just sloppy work. Error was still there two weeks later on the home page. So much for first impression.
Do they handle the transaction for you? No, you hire your own lawyer and you better be paranoid about everything.
I know that the last idiot is not born yet, but how realistic is it to believe and act like you can turn up a client who will overpay and not ask any critical questions let alone follow the market for a while?
I am curious how much commission do the agent typically ask to sell a villa? 5%?
No deal no commission. Fine. Treating potential buyers like idiots is not a winning concept. And what is the point of putting a property on the market with a fantasy price tag? It just reflects badly on the property agency in question.
** Please move this thread to the Owning Property section **
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