Million Dollar Agent
Million Dollar Agent
5 Dumbest Things Agents Do
Uncover the top 10 mistakes real estate agents make—and how to avoid them. From overquoting and pricing transparency to staying connected with past clients, we dive into the key strategies that drive long-term success.
This episode blends storytelling with practical insights, covering smart delegation, authentic customer service, and the right way to use social media. Whether you're a seasoned agent or just starting out, this conversation is packed with actionable advice to help you thrive in the industry.
4o
Tom Panos, john McGrath, with Troy Malcolm injured. Today he starts off round one of the season. Actually, we've been going for a few weeks but, john, I've got to tell you I was in. Where was I? I was in New Zealand, that's right. I was in New Zealand with the number one parkour agent in New Zealand and he said on a big Q&A he says I really love MDA, he goes, I binge on it and he goes. I learned how to list and sell real estate and I've learned a little bit about rugby league, which I had no idea about. That sport, that's what he actually said. That's Diego, he goes. I had no idea about what that sport's all about, but he goes through. Million Dollar Agent. I have no idea about what that sport's all about, but he goes through million-dollar agent. I sort of get a drift of what's going on.
John McGrath:So, john, I have to tell you, diego, for Rabbitohs and Roosters and Tigers followers, it's going to be a very long year ahead, I suspect.
Tom Panos:Well, I have to say I was very surprised at South Sydney in their first game. I think they over-exceeded what was expected of them.
John McGrath:I reckon they fluked a win. Tommy, I think you're being very generous, but let's hope you're right, let's hope it was a well-deserved win. But I think it's a long season to go, but it's fun just talking about it. We get lots of good feedback as well, Troy and I, which is nice when people kind of say things like oh, you know, you helped me turn my career around and I was thinking of getting out of real estate and you know I learned some stuff. That's what we live every day. To do with this podcast is give people takeaway stuff that's straight talk we're not here to bullshit anyone, we're not here to sugarcoat it and stuff that they can take out to their next appointment or tomorrow in the field. So you know, that's what we're going to try and do today as we unpack.
Tom Panos:Dumb and dumber, john. I came up with this topic on the weekend when I was auctioning on the weekend and a buyer said something to me. He goes. The agent said to me, at 1.5 we would be really competitive. Yep, me, at 1.5, we would be really competitive.
Tom Panos:Anyway, bottom line is first bid was about 300 grand more than that and we hear these stories all the time in real estate and I've got to also say there's underquoting and there's also results that go off. I'm not saying that every result that sells really higher than what a buyer was prepared to pay does not mean it's underquoting. There are instances where the vendor was told I think it's $2 million, it sells for $2.5 million, the reserve was $2 million and that is not underquoting, right. But when we've got situations where we see like this guy said to me something interesting, he goes. But what a dumb thing to do. And I go what do you mean? And he goes, if he's going to tell us 1.5 and then come to me during the auction and say, do you want to kick it off at 1.7, 1.8, like that's a dumb thing to do. And I thought about it. It is a dumb thing to do, isn't it? Because you're talking to a human being, telling him one thing and then, two weeks later, you're telling him another thing.
John McGrath:Well as those that follow MDA would know from you and I, this is at the top of our tree, so I'm glad you've raised it early on. Overquoting with vendors and underquoting with buyers has to be the dumbest, most time-wasting, quickest way to just desecrate your own personal brand. That I know of. Like you know, really simple Do the research before you arrive. Have a good conversation with the owner, try and find out what they're expecting. You give some comparables to have a good discussion, but never take away their hope that maybe it'll go for a bit more. And then you just quote the same comparables to buyers and sellers. Like it's not that hard, and yet the industry falls prey to. You know who can tell the biggest lie? How do I get away? And it's just frustrating with buyers.
John McGrath:The other thing, tom, which is a variation of this, which is kind of almost just as bad you start off quoting 1.5 and you thought that was worth 1.5 to 1.6, so let's just say 1.5, 1.6 is the range. Then you get 27 contracts out and you have people saying you know, would they take 1.8 before auction or whatever, and you never adjust the conversation you have with the buyers, those buyers that saw it early on that were led to believe 1.5, 1.5.50, you'll be in the money or maybe buying it. They need to be updated. You know I had more interest than I expected, tom. I've got to be frank. Up front we thought 1.5 plus I now think to be realistic. You're going to have to be in the 1.6 to 1.750 range. But if you're in that price range, you know this is a property that's in hot demand, as it should be. You can have a conversation but you just update people. You don't want someone turning up to an auction with an expectation of $1,550 when you know the bidding is going to go to $2 million.
Tom Panos:It just doesn't make any sense. So, john, after this conversation I had with the buyer, I actually confronted the agent as I was leaving in my car, putting the auction board in my car, and I had a chat with him and he goes to me oh Tom, it's easier said as a trainer than what it is in real life. And I said to him hey, listen, you know I'm the first person that's going to tell you that no training course will survive collision with reality. But he goes to me. You've got to understand most owners want more for their home in week one than the reserve that you said in week four. And he said and he actually used these words he goes and most owners think that their kids better looking than. And I said I probably don't dispute with what you've just said, but why wouldn't you just speak to a buyer and say listen, like every owner, my owners are hoping to get as much as they can and like every owner, I said use those words. They think they've got the best looking kid. However, I've got to tell you they have to sell the property and I've told them that the comparables that they're comparing their property should be about this. And in light of all of that. I suggest that you come to the auction and he goes oh, you could do it that way.
Tom Panos:On that one. I said you could pretty much do it on all properties. I think we spoke about it on MDA ages ago, john, where we said why wouldn't you just say to them here's my agency agreement. This is what I've told them right? This is what I've told them there. It's transparent. But we all agree the first dumb and dumber on our MDA podcast for today and we're on the same page, john is that over-quoting to get the listing, then under-quoting to the buyers thinking that it's all going to work out. So let's assume we've done two there, we've got eight to go and I'll move over to you.
John McGrath:John, I reckon another one talking, not listening. You know agents think oh, you know, gift of the gab, I've got to talk, I've got to impress them. The more things I say, the more impressed they're going to be, when in fact the reality is it's the opposite. The better you listen, the more space you provide them to tell their story, express their concerns, their hopes, their goals, and then, with following questions, get deeper and deeper into the conversation, the better rapport you're going to have then you're going to be. Pete Foote told us many years ago. He said design a game you can't lose. So here's the problem.
John McGrath:Most agents, they go into a listing presentation, they just talk, talk, talk, talk, talk and they're hoping that whatever they say somewhere, if they say enough things, it's going to hit the mark, whereas in actual fact, if you walk in, you say, tom, if we had a really good meeting in the next 60 minutes, what would be the outcome and what are the key things that you would like to extract from this meeting?
John McGrath:And then this is just an example and you can say a number of things, but that'd be not a bad start. And then they say, well, I really want to know x, y and z and what's the benefit of using you. And then if then you're given the agenda that they want to talk to, not the stuff that you think you might want to talk to. So just remember 75 of a meeting with a vendor and and a buyer, to be honest with you, probably should be listening and 25% might be talking, but even the talking is probably going to involve a lot of question asking. So that'd be my number two Dumb thing is to talk too much.
Tom Panos:Yeah. So on that point, john, everyone listening when you listen, you learn. When you make statements, you get judged. They're the two big differences between asking questions and making statements. So we're up to number four, john.
Tom Panos:My fourth dumb and dumber thing that agents do is the final inspection before settlement. I want to talk about that very briefly. So what actually happens is you do all this incredible work and then you realise, oh, 3 o'clock, I've got to be at 27 Johnson Road, final inspection before settlement. So you send someone over, they get there late, they're mucking around with the keys to get in and what actually happens is the final, last experience, the final touchpoint. You're allowing that buyer to go into the new street, meet all the new neighbours and they're coming off. A bad final touch point. If there was ever a time to actually make them a client for life, it's that final inspection before settlement. In fact, john, I know plenty of agents who use the final inspection before settlement more like a listing presentation. They basically say you are now going to be a client for life.
Tom Panos:Here is a welcome pack, here is a $100 voucher to have at. You are now going to be a client for life. Here is a welcome pack. Here is a $100 voucher to have at Grasshopper Cafe tomorrow morning to have breakfast. By the way, I'm going to lock you in and give you a health update on your asset a year from now. I know you're not selling. I'm going to pop in and just tell you whether it's gone up, how much it has gone up. If you did 50 deals, you've locked in 50 pop-ins for the following year. So I think treating the final inspection settlement as trivial is the next dumb thing people do.
John McGrath:John Tommy, I'll just add a little level of intensity to that. A week before settlement, day before settlement, day of settlement, a week after that's four touch points. They take a combination, a total, unless it involves a visit points. They take a combination, a total, unless it involves a visit. But on the phone, a total of four calls which is like eight minutes, maybe six, maybe five. It's a minute to two per call. Just checking you're. You're on track with everything for next week. Do you have any questions? Just checking you know everything went okay today. You settled in. Day after is everything okay? And then, a week later, anything I can do for you, that's five minutes invested to create a client for life. So that's the next one.
John McGrath:My one next one is no price. You tell me you and I hear this all the time and I exclude auctions in queensland from this remark because I know they're banned. Um agents say I want them to call me, I want to get their details, I want them to call me so I can discuss the price. Now, most of the time they don't call you. Rea tells us 72% of people, if there's no price, they go past the ad, don't even click on it. A lot of other people. Look at the ad, click on it. If you've done your job right, they probably think it's or they could think it's out of their price range.
John McGrath:Make it easy to buy from you. Please put a price or a price range or whatever's allowed in your region for the type of property you're doing. And nine out of 10, eight out of 10 properties I'm going to say deserve a price. Two out of 10 are genuinely difficult, genuinely difficult to price and you might want to have that conversation with the owner, but please don't delude yourself and believe your own lies that you're not putting a price. Most people why don't they put their price? Because they're embarrassed of the price, because it's above market. It can't be justified and they're embarrassed and they don't want to talk to the buyers. You need to have that conversation with the vendor and say, hey, we need to start fishing where the fish are, because right now we're throwing the line in and there's no one nibbling.
Tom Panos:So, john, on that point I had a New Zealand real estate client that was telling me that they're just not getting like. New Zealand has been a challenging market, but they were telling me we're just not getting any buyer inquiry. Then I said to them you know, are you optional or for sale? They said, oh, we do buy negotiation. And I said, oh, what price do you put on by negotiation, thinking that they'd be arranged? They said, oh, we put no price. And I said, well, what's the inquiry level? Like they go, we hardly get any inquiry. And I said, well, listen, if I walk through David Jones or Myers and everything I look at doesn't have a price, I'm walking out of that store and going somewhere. There's a price. Realestatecom, whose data is the most comprehensive when it comes to behaviour, is saying that the engagement on no price listings on their site is significantly lower than those that have got a price.
Tom Panos:I was talking to you about cars the other day, john, so it's really interesting when you go to the car manufacturers' websites. They are so transparent now with their pricing, like you basically build the car and it gives you to the cent on what it's going to cost you. We live in a world whether it's travel, whether it's automobiles, whatever people want transparency. It's not like it was in the 60s and 70s, where you get the ethical bride, get them to call you. The salesperson will talk to you. They won't have a number that they're locked in on. We now live in a very different world, where people like certainty, so-.
John McGrath:And Tommy on that and I've used this slide in presentations you and I've done together. There's a clothing company in the UK called Asket A-S-K-E-T. Not only do they tell you the price, of course, they actually tell you how much it costs them to make, manufacture and transport the garment and they show you how much profit they're making because they believe in radical transparency. So if you've got, on one hand, a clothing retailer who's actually telling you what their margin is and you've got another hand in our industry the equivalent of someone not putting the price on the garments at all, saying oh, they should contact me, and then when they contact, just rubbish can't be done. Next one I've got because I know I've only got a few more to go not staying in touch with past clients yes, is the most fun, easiest, lowest hanging, most rewarding fruit you're ever going to get in the industry. If you've sold 100 houses in your life and you can multiply whatever number, maybe it's 1,000 for you, but 100 properties means you have 200 people a buyer and a seller for each transaction that you have the opportunity to stay in touch, check in on, see that they're okay, give them a bit of an update on what's happening in the immediate market and stay top of mind because you don't know when their circumstances are going to change. So it's an easy, incredibly important, one of the most neglected of activities of all and people.
John McGrath:I talk to great agents and I say what's your nurture marking, what's your frequency? Oh no, I've got to admit I'm not very good at that. I mean and I'm saying, guys, you are losing opportunity after opportunity. So don't think that selling a property, doing a great job and then hoping in seven years time or five years or three or 10, they're going to think of you. You must earn the right to continue to be their agent for life and not only for that particular transaction. But you don't know who else they might know, could be a sibling, could be a friend, could be a work colleague is thinking of selling. So when the conversation comes up in the workplace or around the Christmas table or whatever, you want to be top of mind when they start talking about selling. Oh, you've got to ring Tom. He looked after me. In fact he rang me a couple of weeks ago. He's the man.
Tom Panos:Let me introduce you. That's what you need from your raving fans. So I think that's our seventh or eighth. Yeah. So, john, on that, I just want everyone listening to remember these words recency trumps loyalty. I've even got a very close friend of mine, an agent, who was whinging away saying oh Tommy, it's not like the old days, there's no more loyalty. And I said what do you mean by that? He goes oh, mate, I sold these people their house. You know, they never even gave me a looky. And I said, mate, like seriously, when you sold them the house, they did not sign an agency agreement saying that they're obligated for the rest of their life to give it to you because you sold them a house.
Tom Panos:Right, and all I'm going to say, john, anyone that's listening, the hardest call to make is the first call if you haven't been talking to anyone for five, 10 years, and I reckon a really good softener is hey, it's Tom Panos here. Firstly, I want to apologize. I should have been in touch earlier. Loves, a, sorry, it'll get you back in there. Start the conversation and I think you're spot on. Why go out door knocking, interrupting strangers? You don't want to talk to you, when all you got to do is make a phone call to that person that likes you already, but for whatever reason, you just stop chatting to them. John, is it my turn or your turn? Next, my turn over to you? Okay, so the next one is they don't delegate, they don't delegate, and sometimes it's even.
Tom Panos:I saw an agent who, in the world of Zoom and I use my studio at Haberfield often and so you know when you're driving around about two suburbs away, I'm driving one day and I see an agent in the middle of the day mowing the lawn right, I put my window down. I said why would you do that today? And he goes, mate, he goes. You know, on a Sunday you're totally wrecked. You know I've got to do it. I said, mate, jim's lowing $50, mate, $50. They'll do it and you don't have to do it. But that's one extreme no-transcript and I often see it being out and about. I hear people say hey, tommy, I used to be in real estate. When you sit back and ask them what happened, often they just didn't know how to manage free time, they just tried to do everything.
John McGrath:Yeah, tommy, I agree, and I'll comment on that. Then I'll give you my last one. I was coaching one of our team the other day and they're a very, very successful team and I was having a coaching session with them and they were just telling me how flat out they were, which they are. They really write a couple of millions. So extraordinary, healthy team and they're on the upward trajectory. And they were telling me about everything they're doing and I said have you ever considered getting a housekeeper? And they looked at me you know, not strangely, but surprisingly is probably the best adjective and you know I said well, look, you know I've got a great housekeeper. She's $32.50 an hour. I don't know if that's too much or too little, but it's more than I'm happy to pay that to get someone to look after the home, to look after the dog walking, to make sure the fridge is stocked and all the things that need to be done. So, yeah, the other thing is right at the end of your street, almost Crystal Car Wash, I think. I have an annual $2,000 subscription, which means any day of the week, or every day of the week if I wanted to, I drive the car in and seven minutes later it's washed inside and out and I'm on my way again with a clean car. So you know it is very easy to leverage with a team. You can get virtual assistance. You and I spoke at Wingman the other day, which is a great event. You know they're terrific at helping you if you need an offshore solution which is a great event. You know they're terrific at helping you if you need an offshore solution. Or you know car washers, housekeepers, dog walkers, whatever it is Nowadays, you know you can get the help you need to leverage what you're best at, which is dollar productive activities.
John McGrath:Last one for me three letters. I hate them. I hate the word that they form ego. This industry has to, once and for all, stop thinking we are God's gift to anything and we have to start seeing ourselves as servants of the buying and selling public who are here to make the process of buying and selling enjoyable, transparent, profitable, helpful, easy all of those things and stop thinking that we are God's gift and portraying ourselves. And yeah, social media is fantastic for educating people, for giving insights that people wouldn't have got elsewhere, for promoting properties, even for updating people on good sales you've made. But please get rid of the ego. It's not about you.
John McGrath:Asese witherspoon said, think about the person that's reading it. Don't think about yourself and what you want to get. Think about what they want to get, and they certainly don't want to hear about how many millions of dollars you've made this month or whatever. That's just really quite, quite, uh nauseating when I see these agents like throwing out eight million this year, four million this month or whatever. It's just like. Come on, guys, seriously. There are people out there. You must be tone deaf. There are people who are finding it hard to pay this month's week or mortgage, weekly rental mortgage, and you're running out there. Not great thing you're doing well. I applaud agents that do well. Please don't spread it across social media because it is offensive, it's not attractive to anyone that you're selling to and, in fact, it's really tone deaf in this current environment of high cost of living.
Tom Panos:John so well said and on that ego one, make this the last one because it's aligned to it. I actually think there's a group of real estate agents in Australia. Their business would actually go up doing nothing else but deleting their social media accounts, because their social media accounts are actually harming their business, not helping their business. I mean, that's the fundamental reason, john, why if you read the comments, if you read the comments of what people say on social media about real estate agents, you begin to realise why they think that way. Right, when they're seeing agents, you know, pump out the affluence, right. So if it's not affluence, it's reconfirming how good you are.
Tom Panos:It's this classic thing. We're not seeing dentists put hashtag 10 root canals today. Doctors hashtag best Medicare month I've ever had in my life. You're not even seeing plumbers saying hashtag you know 10 sewer canals today or whatever their KPI is. And also, you know there's a bunch of real estate agents that go off and like these fake renter crowds that's happening a lot now Thinking to yourself oh, no one knows. I mean, they do know, they can see it, it's obvious. They look at likes there's no comments, there's no engagements and it looks like it's a renter crowd.
John McGrath:Right? They tell me some of these agents are very big in Brazilzil. Apparently they have huge, huge followings in brazil, tens of thousands of followers from brazil there's only one problem, john.
Tom Panos:I just can't see anyone listing their home from brazil in wulara today. Right, as they say, sometimes being famous with that renter crowd is like being rich in monopoly. It doesn't matter, it's all fake money, john, dumb and dumber. But the good news is is every one of these things can be fixed with no money and a simple decision. Hey, I'm going to do it differently. John, great to see you once again. We're going to have Troy joining us next week. To all our listeners, I want to let you know it is a very big real estate period, some big sales going around the place. In fact, tringali just sent me a message. He sent one around the corner at 6.12 today, 6.12. You're on the ball, john. He's on the ball 6.1, yeah. So, john, good to see you, I will see you next week.
John McGrath:Thanks, tommy, have a good.