Brokers collude to force owners to sell houses at low prices to customers

In the past, the home owner would advertise a price and the broker would tell the buyer that price and they were only interested in the commission the homeowner gave them. But now, the broker also has to find a way for the homeowner to offer the most reasonable price to the customer in order to close the deal.

Mr. Nguyen Van Ha (a real estate broker in Hai Ba Trung district, Hanoi ) shared that this year he lost a lot of money posting ads on real estate buying and selling websites. He had many customers asking to buy and he took them to see houses, but he only sold a few houses.

When the real estate market was good, there were months when he could sell 1-2 houses, with a commission of 60-70 million VND/month. Now, house prices have increased too much, while people's incomes have decreased, causing very few buyers.

Meanwhile, although investors have money available, because the market is sluggish, prices are high, and investments are difficult to make a profit, no one wants to participate in the market at this time.

Therefore, instead of convincing customers to borrow more money to buy a house, Mr. Ha now has no choice but to convince the homeowner to reduce the price to make the apartment more attractive to buyers.

Mr. Ha said that to pressure the homeowner, he had to form a group of brokers specializing in selling houses in a certain area.

If the owner of the house is asking too much, the broker will advise the owner to lower the price. If the owner refuses to lower the price, the broker will not take any more customers to see the house. Any owner who needs money after a period of sluggish sales will definitely lower the price. Even if the owner does not need money but wants to sell but sees that there are no customers asking, he will consider adjusting the price.

" To get a good price for customers, there must be consensus from many brokers. When the homeowner lowers the price to a reasonable level, then we will take customers to see the house. In fact, when the price is too high, it will be a waste of time for brokers to take customers because they will not be interested in that house, " Mr. Ha shared.

Like Mr. Ha, Ms. Le Hong Hanh (a real estate broker in Hoang Mai District, Hanoi) also shared that because the current house prices are too high, it is very difficult to find buyers. Therefore, Ms. Hanh often has to advise the homeowner to offer a reasonable price. If not, she has to work with other brokers to pressure the homeowner.

Ms. Hanh said that about a month ago, she sold a 45m2, 4-storey house for 3.5 billion VND in Vinh Hung (Hoang Mai, Hanoi) but had to force the owner to lower the price.

Accordingly, the owner of this house initially offered a price of 4.3 billion VND. After showing the house to customers, there was one customer who really liked the house but complained about the high price.

After knowing that this was a "net" customer and seeing that the price of 3.5 billion VND for this house was reasonable compared to the "sky-high" price offered by the owner, Ms. Hanh and her brokerage team stopped taking customers to see this house.

After more than a month, Ms. Hanh returned to meet the homeowner and said that there was a buyer who wanted to buy the house, and if she did not sell, she would take the buyer to another house. Ms. Hanh also did not hesitate to give a list of many houses with the same location and characteristics as this house but the asking price was only 3.6 - 3.7 billion (not negotiable). After a few negotiations, the homeowner agreed to sell for 3.5 billion VND.

Ms. Hanh also shared that the brokerage fee for this apartment was about 100 million VND, but she also had to share it with other brokers. Therefore, the commission was not much.

" Times are tough so we all work together. House prices are high like they are now, and customers don't have much money, so selling a house is not easy. A little commission is better than nothing, " said Ms. Hanh.

In fact, in the past there were many buyers and sellers, but now there are few buyers and many sellers, so the time when brokers forced customers to lower prices has passed, and now it is the time when they forced owners to lower prices. " Only reasonable prices can find buyers and brokers have a source of commission to continue to maintain, " Ms. Hanh affirmed.

Chau Anh

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