With disappointment, I share my negative experience with Ben Rudgeley of Realmark when selling my late mum's home (a sad and challenging time already). Living abroad, I relied heavily on Ben's numerous promises of support and professionalism he made before I signed his agency agreement. Sadly, he fell short in several crucial areas, leading to stress and a sale well below expectations in a booming Perth property market. Firstly, Ben significantly misvalued the house, ultimately selling for $135K to $235K below his own valuation range. This misjudgement was evident as I watched neighbouring properties sell within a week or two, while ours languished on market for 2 months and staled. Moreover, he often demonstrated a lack of reliability. He offered to meet a tradie to hand over keys but instead left the key under the doormat, citing a sudden family emergency. Yet the tradie confirmed the doormat plan was already agreed with Ben days earlier. He often didn't seem on my side but on the buyer's- when negotiating with the buyer he suggested I accept a 3 week exclusivity in their favour (saying 5 weeks was market). My lawyer alerted me this was not standard, but Ben had already set buyer expectations making negotiation hard. Communication was another major issue. He was often difficult to contact and at times he left me on "read" for days - extremely frustrating and unprofessional especially given the importance of some messages, such as post home-open updates. These were largely during normal agent working hours and not unreasonable. Overall, the service provided left me stressed, confused and disappointed. It felt as though he paid little attention to detail and things were half baked. He seemed primarily interested in his commission rather than offering any reasonable service. In summary, I cannot recommend his services, especially to anyone wanting a high performing reliable agent they can trust.


