Although the majority of Australian real estate agents act in good faith, it’s crucial that you understand the marketing techniques that some sales agents may use to attract interest in a property and generate a larger pool of prospective buyers.
Sometimes referred to as “bait pricing”, underquoting occurs where a real estate sales agent markets a property for less than the genuine sale price to attract greater interest from potential buyers; in other words “underquoting” happens when estate agents quote a property below where the market value lies, misleading buyers who waste energy and money on pest and structural reports and lawyers checking contracts.
Unfortunately, underquoting is a common practice within the Australian real estate industry. Recent data from realAs indicate that some agents in NSW and VIC underquote by 20-30%. Nearly 50% of participating agents in the 2014 Real Estate Business poll claimed it was a major issue within the industry.
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