4. ‘Bid them low and watch them go’
Harvey says a popular tactic by many real estate agents selling via private treaty, is to do what he calls ‘Bid them low and watch them go’.
“In a good market, such as the first home buyer market at the moment, when the agent lists the property as ‘offers over’, they create lots of interest as the price seems quite low, and lots of buyers come in and view the property,” says Harvey.
“The vendor thinks that the agent has listed the property too low, but if they’re clever they’ll convince the vendor to list it low, and you just watch the bees come around the honey pot – the competition from buyers will be strong and often push the price up.”