Scott Collins

[Scott Collins @ScottCollins365]

@JacintaAllanMP Now make it mandatory from day one. On private sales too. It won’t just make it more transparent for buyers but it will level the playing field for agents who price honestly. 🙏

[Scott Collins @ScottCollins365]

@Cryptofly777 😂

[Scott Collins @ScottCollins365]

@Cryptofly777 While they’re making changes, I think Ethereum needs a rebrand too. A new name perhaps. You know? Something intellectual, something with a nod to a great mind of the past? Something that rolls off the tongue? I don’t know, but how about “Cardano”. 🧐

[Scott Collins @ScottCollins365]

@bigpey Only the ONE TRUE dRep would push power away for the benefit of others! All hail big pey! 😃

[Scott Collins @ScottCollins365]

@JacintaAllanMP How about just require seller and agents to promote a reserve/acceptable price from day one of a campaign?

[Scott Collins @ScottCollins365]

Aside from the obvious conflict of interest issue here, it’s the loop holes in underquoting laws that are resulting in buyers paying for these building reports unnecessarily. If the buyers knew from day one what the seller wanted, they could save loads of time, money and stress by not having to invest in homes they never had a chance of buying.

[Scott Collins @ScottCollins365]

@justthink1 It’s actually not a big ask to have a seller/agent be required to promote only their reserve/acceptable price from day one. I’ve worked as an agent for 20 years and have never met an owner that didn’t know what they wanted before they committed to a campaign.

[Scott Collins @ScottCollins365]

@Wavell33 @JacintaAllanMP I don’t think that’s the case. For me, I’m only against the sellers/agents that cheat/mislead by underquoting.

[Scott Collins @ScottCollins365]

Further to that, the secondary purpose of underquoting is that the agent wants to grow their business. If they use honest prices then they rely more on outgoing prospecting efforts. I.e hard work. OR they can underquote and use the listing they have to generate more enquiry and therefore more potential sellers. In a way the current laws, allowing underquoting, are anticompetitive against honest operators.

[Scott Collins @ScottCollins365]

Ah I understand! If that were true I would agree but it definitely isn’t just auctions. You can break the process down into three parts: Finding buyers, conducting inspections and negotiating the price. Underquoting’s purpose is to guarantee the first box is ticked with loads of initial interest. The inspection method (I.e private or open) is there to deal with the volume created - when underquoting the only option is open home. The negotiation method (eg public auction) is simply the process that happens once the first two parts have already happened. This is equally relevant to private sales as it is to auctions…

[Scott Collins @ScottCollins365]

@chugginloads69 @JacintaAllanMP Even if we had zero immigration we would still have underquoting unfortunately. Because agents and sellers are competing for buyer attention and the most effective way to do that is by underquoting. Two separate issues.

[Scott Collins @ScottCollins365]

How so? I mean, in an even a balanced market, sellers and agents underquote their properties because selling the home is a battle for attention. Unfortunately, what gets a buyers attention is a competitive asking price. Housing affordability/supply issues shouldn’t be mixed up with th issue of underquoting. They are genuinely separate issues in my opinion…

[Scott Collins @ScottCollins365]

@MarkoMatvikov @JacintaAllanMP Agree that it’s not a bad change but we shouldn’t pretend it tackles underquoting. It seems they will do anything BUT the one thing that would solve the problem.

[Scott Collins @ScottCollins365]

It wouldn’t solve a thing. The only change that will go some way to eliminate underquoting is forcing sellers and agents to promote their reserve/acceptable price at day one of a campaign. I’ve worked in real estate in Victoria for 20 years and have never met a seller that didn’t know what they wanted in return for the $5k in advertising they pay for the privilege of being on the market. This isn’t a difficult problem to solve.

[Scott Collins @ScottCollins365]

@ForSureNotElon @JacintaAllanMP For the most part you’re right. Some can say contact agent. But either way it’s not addressing the actual problem.

[Scott Collins @ScottCollins365]

You know what would save a lot of time and money for buyers who are paying for building inspections? Close the unnecessary underquoting loopholes and force sellers and agents to promote reserves/acceptable prices from day one. That way buyers who never had a hope in paying what the owners always wanted won’t waste money on needless reports.

[Scott Collins @ScottCollins365]

@JacintaAllanMP You know what would save a lot of buyers paying for building inspections they don’t ultimately need? Close the unnecessary underquoting loopholes and force sellers and agents to promote reserves from day one.