Property report: Your dream home for $600k? Get real

Indecisive buyers drive agents nuts. The agent spends time taking you around properties, but you just can't decide what you actually want. Photo / Thinkstock

Buyers having unrealistic expectations is one of the pet hates of real estate agents, says Diana Clement.

Real estate agents are often maligned and the butt of bad jokes but the majority are professionals doing a great job. And those agents are also the subject of some pretty poor behaviour from the buying and selling public.

We asked a number of top agents for their pet hates.

At open homes buyers sneak in the back door and do anything they can not to sign the register, says one estate agent.

Martin Dunn of City Sales wants sellers to be honest about why they want to sell.

He says: "I wish people could walk in and say 'My wife has just run off with my brother' or 'I've been diagnosed with cancer and if the property isn't sold in a month I'll be bankrupt'."

Only five to six times a year does Dunn get a client who tells the full story and he moves heaven and earth for them.

Don't be rude, or City Sales will send you to one of its competitors.

"If they present as hostile or resentful before we get started we just politely say we're not going to get on and that's it," says Dunn.

If you make an appointment, stick to it.

Real estate agents work long hours and the last thing they want to be doing is getting in the car to meet you and you don't arrive.

"Most times this happens the vendor has prepared the home for the appointment and vacated the property," says Sherelle Benson of Harcourts in Takapuna.

The different breeds of timewasters include "sellers" who just want a free appraisal from time to time, but have no intention of selling.

Buyers expect a beautifully restored Auckland villa on the right side of the tracks with indoor-outdoor flow, a designer kitchen and playroom for the kids for $600,000.

Then there's buyers who won't buy anything except "a bargain". The agents know you'll waste their time.

Indecisive buyers drive agents nuts. The agent spends time taking you around properties, but you just can't decide what you actually want.

Their advice, do your research on where you want to live, what your needs and wants are, and how much you can really afford. Dreamers abound in real estate.

"Buyers expect a beautifully restored Auckland villa on the right side of the tracks with indoor-outdoor flow, a designer kitchen and playroom for the kids for $600,000."

Sellers also come in the dreamer variety and think their property is worth much more than it actually is.

Take the time, says Sam Yeung of Bayleys Mairangi Bay, to give feedback, rather than fobbing the agent off.

Feedback tells the agent and sellers a lot about the price they're asking and what might need to be done to the property to help it sell.