I spent seven years as a selling agent. Here is what I’d want every buyer to understand before they pick up the phone.

The selling agent works for the vendor. Full stop. Not partly, not “for both parties.” They have a legal and financial obligation to get the highest price and best terms for the owner. This doesn’t make them dishonest. Most are good people doing their job well. It means that every piece of information they give you is filtered through that obligation. “There’s a lot of interest” may be true. It’s also what they’d say either way.

Everything you tell them is information they’ll use. Your budget, your timeframe, how much you love the place, that you’ve missed out on three others, all of it helps them position the negotiation. Be polite, be engaged, and share as little as possible about your position.

“Best and final” doesn’t always mean final. It’s a technique to create urgency and get every buyer to their ceiling at once. Sometimes it’s genuine; sometimes the highest offer gets a follow-up call. Understanding whether you’re in a real multi-offer situation, and how to respond, is where an experienced negotiator earns their fee.

Buyer feedback is part of the campaign. When the agent asks what you thought of the price, that feedback goes back to the vendor to manage their expectations. Your enthusiasm can move the vendor’s expectation up. Your measured response can help bring it down.

Auctions are designed for buyers to overpay. The whole format, the crowd, the auctioneer, the bidding increments, the pressure. It exists to extract the highest number in the shortest time. Bidding without a strategy and a firm limit is how people spend $80,000 more than they planned in ninety seconds.

The agent’s relationship with you ends at exchange. Yours with the property doesn’t. Whatever pressure you feel in the moment, remember who carries the consequences.

None of this means you can’t negotiate well on your own. It means you should go in with your eyes open. The agent on the other side has done this hundreds of times. Most buyers are doing it for the first or second time in their life.

Sagoo & Co. represents buyers across the Hills District and Western Sydney.