By Ashley Nickell, Max Aitchison and Antoinette Melinos for Daily Mail Australia
05:52 27 Jul 2024, Updated 05:52 27 Jul 2024
- Prominent Auctioneer Defends Estate Agents From Critics
- The industry is said to be full of respectable, hard-working people.
- He also shares his top tips for real estate buyers and sellers.
- Read more: Australian woman lashes out at auction
An auctioneer has defended the real estate industry against accusations that it is filled with “soulless” and “corrupt” scammers focused only on their huge commissions, as he shares his top tips for potential buyers and sellers.
Estate agents are among the country’s least trusted professionals, but Justin Nickerson, director of Apollo Auctions Australia, argued that the much-criticised property industry is actually made up of caring and hardworking people.
“I know how the public generally feels about real estate professionals, but I think they’re just like any other profession,” Nickerson told Daily Mail Australia.
In Australia, real estate agents usually He charges a commission ranging from 2 to 2.5 percent of the total sale price of the property.
For example, if you are selling a home for $1 million, you will pay approximately $20,000 to $25,000 to the agent responsible for the sale.
Mr. Nickerson responded to critics who believe agents don’t do enough to justify their high fees to sell a home.
“There are some great, hardworking people in the profession but there are also others who don’t do the right thing, just like any other job.
“I think the biggest misconception is that people don’t care, that they’re soulless in how they do their work.”
Mr. Nickerson has been an independent auctioneer for 15 years and has worked with thousands of different real estate agents.
“The vast majority of these people are hard-working, committed professionals, like most other people in their day-to-day roles,” he said.
Mr. Nickerson encouraged potential sellers to take the time to do research and find a good agent who can secure the best price for their home.
“The difference between choosing someone who is good at what they do and someone who is not good at what they do in this case can be thousands or hundreds of thousands of dollars in your pocket,” he said.
“You want to do your research to make sure you are dealing with someone who you feel has the best possible chance of representing your home because they are your ambassador in the market.
Once you do that, you have to trust that person. I know that using the word “trust” with real estate agents goes against the stereotype that they are corrupt, that they are just trying to get a deal.
“But you have to trust what they say because they are your eyes and ears to the market.”
The most important thing for potential buyers, Mr. Nickerson said, is to have a plan.
“A lot of people go into the auction without a plan,” he said.
“They’ll say, ‘I’ll wait and see what happens and see if it falls into my lap.’”
“But that’s like trying to win the lottery without buying a ticket.
“If you want to buy something, you have to make an offer and you have to have a plan, otherwise you will be outbid by someone with a plan.”
The venerable auctioneer recently made headlines when he said, Share video of tense exchange with bidder at recent auction.
Mr. Nickerson was heard asking the woman, “Ma’am, may I include you in this matter?”
She replied, “I am involved, but I will wait for you to do what you have to do.”
Mr. Nickerson told the woman he would “sell her.”
She replied sharply, “It’s okay, do it. Do your job.”
After the third and final call, Mr. Nickerson closed the auction and sold the house to another bidder for $2,115,000.
“It’s unusual for us to have a situation like this,” Nickerson said.
“Although this is an emotional and stressful time, everyone usually sticks to their own path.”
However, he has witnessed some “very unusual” encounters at auctions.
“We had one case last year, when we started the auction, when a car drove by and harassed us,” he added.
“We’ve also had situations where father and daughter were competing against each other.”
His comments come amid warnings that the prospect of higher interest rates for a longer period has drained some of the heat from the housing market, with home price growth slowing in the winter months.
National home values rose half a percent over the four weeks through July 18, according to CoreLogic’s daily index, down from a 0.7 percent gain in the same period last month.
The slowdown in growth may have been due to persistently low consumer sentiment due to high inflation, said Caitlin Easy, an economist at real estate data firm.
She added that high reported inventory levels in some markets also played a role.
“With many household budgets already strained by rising living costs and increased debt servicing costs, it is likely that some potential buyers are waiting and delaying purchase decisions until the interest rate outlook becomes clearer,” she added.
The economist explained that this is likely to have led to a decrease in demand and taken some pressure off the real estate market.
Two stronger-than-expected monthly inflation readings have prompted some economists to push back their timetables for interest rate cuts.
Much depends on second-quarter inflation data due later in the month, with warnings that a disappointingly strong result could put another interest rate hike on the line at the RBA’s August meeting.
The slowdown in home values was most pronounced across all homes, as units became less sensitive to market conditions.
Compared to medium-sized capital cities, which have been growing strongly for some time, prices in Sydney have cooled faster.
“Affordability remains an important factor in determining the pace of growth, with the more affordable segment of the market showing more resilience in the face of a higher interest rate environment,” said Ms. Izzi.
Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth saw a slight slowdown in the pace of house price growth through early July, indicating the first signs of softening demand.
Renters are also seeing light at the end of the tunnel, with the number of vacant rental properties rising nationwide.
According to research firm SQM, vacancy rates are now at 1.3 per cent, with capital rents rising by just 0.1 per cent in the 30 days to July 12.
Tenants still need to wait for market conditions to improve, but “the days of annual rent increases of 10 to 20 per cent are over,” said Louis Christopher, the firm’s research director.
