New auction TV program "Under the Hammer" highlights why buyers need to be better informed

The new channel 7 program called Under the Hammer provides a couple of great examples as to why buyers need to take the time to better understand the real estate market before parting with several hundred thousand dollars.

This week’s episode highlighted the nerves of buyers attending auctions as well as those who are prepared to bid against themselves during the auction and in the post auction environment – even to the tune of $60,000. I nearly fell off my chair when I watched a buyer bid 60k against himself which was almost 10% of the final purchase price.

The scary thing is with over a thousand auctions a week nationally literally hundreds of people every week spend tens of thousands of dollars more than they need to in order to buy a property. Add to that the extra stamp duty and interest they will pay and you’re talking about a serious amount of money.

The program also gave a good example of how selling agents underquote. The fact that some of these selling agents are going on a TV show and blatantly underquoting shows the level of arrogance and the contempt they have for buyers.

One selling agent even sold a property without even giving a strong buyer the opportunity to better the offer. Hmmmm, is that acting in the best interests of your client or closing a sale at a price they know the vendor will accept and moving on to the next one?

For those who are new to the property market and looking to buy a home or investment property in the near future it would be worthwhile taking a look at the weekly program as I found that the show provides a little insight into what you can expect.

It shows you the type of discussions that are held behind closed doors between the selling agents and the sellers while then showing the language and some of the negotiation techniques that the selling agents use when speaking with buyers.

To be frank it really only touches the surface but certainly gives you a better look than any other property TV show at what happens behind the scenes.