But it is about on a par with REAL when they came in with low commissions and went under six months later. This gentleman is not a well-known person in the area and only time will tell if he is around in five years.
REAL based their system on the Scottish one. This person talks about the Dutch system. I thought we were in New Zealand.
I am proud of what I do, and believe I earn my money. I have a lot of satisfied customers who have appreciated my efforts enough to use me again and again, so I respectfully suggest you give us a break.
A. I'm not anti your industry. I've used agents for my last four house sales, and been reasonably happy with them.
But the letters keep flowing in from others who are angry, or who have done very nicely thank you without using an agent.
Other points:
* Real estate agents are among the first to say that house prices rise faster than general inflation.
And, in fact, they do rise on average about two percentage points more than inflation - which adds up over the years.
What about your costs? I would guess that they have risen roughly in line with inflation. If so, you've creamed off the extra.
* It's a pity nobody has taken up your hourly rate offer. Perhaps they're worried that you might spend hours bringing unsuitable buyers to their house. If an agent offered me an hourly rate, I would take it up. But they would have to account for their time.
* On Guido, time will indeed tell.
* As for Scottish and Dutch systems, bring 'em on, I say. I like the way most New Zealanders - if not you - are open to learning from other countries' experiences.
* * *
Q. This may come as a surprise, but as a real estate agent in West Auckland, I agree with nearly everything you and your correspondents have said.
We used to run our agency the way most agencies are run, using auctions, vendor-funded advertising and open homes.
We were aware that auctions did not always get the best price, that vendor-paid advertising was there merely to raise the "profile" of the agency, and that open homes were really there to find more sellers rather than find buyers. But that was just the way it was.
In June 2000, we found another method of selling. As a result:
* We pay our salespeople $52,000 a year guaranteed plus a $3000 a year training allowance and performance bonuses.
This has eliminated many of what we would consider the evils of commission-only selling.
* We will not touch auctions, vendor-paid advertising or open homes. All of our properties have prices on them.
I believe that we have about the best training going. And our sales people must complete a six-hour written exam, which includes a number of ethics-based questions, as well as a four-day practical exam.
Finally - a note on that advertising!
I've asked a number of sellers how, as serious buyers, they would go about finding a property to buy. Invariably they have told me that they would drive to the area where they wanted to live, see whose signs were out there and see all the agents in the area. Widespread advertising is unnecessary.
I hope you have the space to print this as we are really trying to give the public what they want.
A. There you go. It can be done.
I do have one reservation, though. I've known of a few people who didn't intend to change houses, but just popped into a neighbourhood open house out of curiosity. Next thing you know, they had bought it.
They certainly wouldn't have driven around checking signs.
There are so many scenarios in buying and selling homes that it's hard to make definitive statements on what works.
* * *
Q. For anybody who wants to track their money, spending, loans, net worth, bank accounts, investments and plans, I can strongly recommend
Quicken
.
I have been using it since 1995 and have a total knowledge of my wealth, spending and income since I first began. It is awesome (not a word I use lightly).
A. Quicken was most often recommended by readers who responded to Money Matters' request a few weeks back for a program to monitor investments. Others recommended other programs, or doing it yourself using Excel and so on. In total, 14 readers responded, and I really appreciate that. Quite a few went into considerable detail on what has worked badly and well, traps for young players and so on.
I had planned to run their replies, but there's been so much correspondence about real estate, to say nothing of many other interesting issues that I hope to get to soon, that I've given up finding room. Instead, I will email a Word document of all 14 responses to anyone who
emails me
, putting "Money programme" in the subject line.
Please note that I haven't tried any of these programmes, and I'm not endorsing them.
* * *
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