There are a lot of players in the real estate market, often tripping over each other’s turf.
And when it comes to buying, selling and creating wealth, you have to know who you’re dealing with.
This way you’ll know who you should, and shouldn’t be talking to.
And the best way to figure it out is to simply follow the money.
To help you, here’s a quick guide to all the different players in the market.
Real Estate Agents
According to a survey by the Governance Institute of Australian, real estate agents are the country’s least trusted profession.
And that’s coming from me, a licensed real estate agent.
But either way, I reckon they get a bad rap.
The important bit to remember is that if you’re buying a house, real estate agents don’t work for you.
They work for the seller to get them the best price.
Their specialty doesn’t revolve around building wealth.
That’s not their thing.
If you say you’re an investor, every house will suddenly become ‘a great investment’.
Leave them to show you the house, just don’t listen to their investment advice.
Buyer’s Agent
Now we’re getting closer.
A buyer’s agent works for you, the buyer.
They help you find the best property which meets your criteria, and can handle the negotiations for you to get you the best deal.
And they often have access to deals before they get to the open market.
Typically they charge you a flat fee for their services or a commission on the price.
But sometimes they get paid by a developer, so make sure you know where their loyalties are.
They also help you do your due diligence so the sale goes smoothly.
And they can be a great help if you’re buying your own home to live in.
However, buyers’ agents don’t offer advice on building wealth.
Or at least, they shouldn’t.
Just like real estate agents, they have little knowledge on creating a strategy or a portfolio.
And aren’t experts in how to finance a portfolio either.
They’re great at finding deals, but be careful if they start offering you investment advice.
Project Marketer
A project marketer works for developers to help them sell their properties.
They’re like a private real estate agent who works exclusively for one employer.
And this means they won’t help you get the best deal.
Just follow the money.
Their monthly retainer plus their commissions all come from one source.
Their employer.
And it’s pretty easy to figure out where their loyalties lie.
We work with project marketers all the time to get access to good stock before it hits the market.
And they’re usually really nice people.
But as for getting a good deal?
Probably not.
They don’t look beyond their employer’s stock.
And if you come across a project marketer on your journey, treat them with a great deal of caution.
Property Investment Consultant
A property investment consultant works exclusively for you, the investor.
And this is the role we play.
We aren’t here to sell properties.
Our role is to create a long term wealth strategy, then to find properties to achieve it.
As a result, we need to research the market trends to find the best properties, then help you with the finance, tax and risk mitigation.
Sometimes property investment consultants get paid a commission on the properties we source.
At other times, we are paid a fee for our services.
However, as you can imagine, our success is linked to your success.
If you create a strategy with us and your first property achieves its goals, you’ll continue the journey.
The more rent you get, the easier it is to invest again.
And the more capital growth you create, the sooner you can keep going.
In fact, just an extra 2% of growth per year is worth over $300,000 in a decade. And this is equity you can use as you go to build wealth sooner.
We want you as a client for the long term.
And as we succeed together, we continue together.
Plus we’re certain you’ll tell your family and friends about us too.
I’m sure you’re still sceptical
If you’re still sceptical about who we work for and where our loyalties are, I don’t blame you.
This is why I invite you to get on a call with us to understand who we are, our approach to help you create long term wealth, and how we are compensated.
And of course you can ask us as many questions as you like.
No question is off limits.
There is no cost for this call, and no obligation to do anything further.
It’s simply so you can understand how we work and how we can help you.
And get a feel for whether we’re the right group to help you.