Not Quoting At The Moment.

This is the second time I have encountered a real estate agent (requesting a price for a house) who has refused to quote on price.

The first time was with ASL Real Estate agents in Doncaster. My partner emailed to request a price on a house advertised for auction. The agent called back the next day and said that they were instructed by the vendor not to give out prices. I spoke to her and told her that if she wasn't willing to give me a price then I wasn't willing to show interest in the property. She then said that the Buckingham Crescent, Doncaster property was to fetch $700,000 to $770,000. I did not attend open inspections for this house. The agent continues to send Section 32's and updates on the property.

This time I saw a house in Duke St, Brunswick East. I rang Hocking Stuart, Brunswick. The receptionist answered and put me on hold. She said that they weren't quoting as yet. I asked why and she said that the Property Manager didn't give her a reason why they just weren't quoting.

How do vendors expect to sell their house? How do the agents expect prospective buyers to know whether they are in that price range or not?

This all reminds me of a time when a house in my street was for sale in 2005. I was curious to see how much the town house in my street would sell for. I approached the real estate which was Thompson, Calton and requested a price on the home. The Property Manager said that they were taking the property to auction and weren't giving out prices. I asked at what range they would start the auction and again she said she didn't know. I took a different approach and explained that I was not looking to buy but in fact was looking to sell my house which was in the same street. She then said "We will be starting the auction at $936,000. The townhouse didn't sell on the day of the auction. Maybe that's because nobody knew whether they were in that range.