A Sydney real estate agent has raised eyebrows after his “unhinged” response to a price inquiry was shared on social media.
A potential homebuyer recently reached out to an agent with a simple question regarding the price guide of an apartment in Dulwich Hill in the city’s inner west.
The two-bedroom flat had originally been listed with a price guide of $700,000 – however, after it was passed in at auction, the price guide was revised $749,000.
A wannabe homeowner reached out to the agent asking why the price had gone up, despite being on the market for a month and failing to fetch a high enough price from bidders – and he received a truly odd reply, which was then shared on Twitter by the man’s sister.
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“Can’t stop laughing at this absolutely unhinged response my brother got from a Sydney real estate agent this morning,” the amused woman wrote.
It was accompanied by screenshots of the bizarre correspondence.
“First of all I am not obliged to explain anything!” the agent wrote.
“But I will because you will invariably jump to a conspiracy conclusion if I don’t.
“It’s simple, as a vendor who owns the property he can change his mind at any stage about anything he wants, including price, contract changes, who he lets in, who actually even buys it, if he doesn’t like someone he can refuse point blank to sell it to them.
“Why? Because it is his property, he owns it!”
He explained that there were only two registered bidders for the art-deco apartment on the day of the auction, with neither making an offer that satisfied the owner.
“Had someone given him $700K or around that at the auction he may considered that!” he continued.
“We even asked the registered buyers if they would offer that! But they didn’t!”
“Then after the auction on Saturday the owner wanted us to display the price at $729K. Then this morning he woke up and changed his mind and wanted the price be displayed at $749K.”
The agent then appeared to grow frustrated with the seller’s moves.
“Does it help his marketing campaign or the sale? No! “ he said.
“Can he do it? Yes! He could wake up tomorrow and increase it again! Because he can! There you have it. Explained in detail.
“Now …. Are you interested in the property?”
Unsurprisingly, the email attracted a huge response from renters and buyers on Twitter.
“Lol. Real estate agents have basically an uninterrupted bull market for 40 years and now with a few interest rate rises … these guys can’t do their jobs and make their commission,” one person tweeted.
“Very funny to watch our 2-speed economy slowly implode.”
Meanwhile, others pointed out the agent was probably tired of being poorly treated by hopeful buyers.
“Probably sick of all the time wasters and grafters,” one person guessed.