What’s the number one thing that’s going to make the biggest difference to your property sale price? The agent you choose!
And by that I don’t mean the agent that promises you the highest price or offers you the lowest fee, neither of those will get you the best price price and could in fact cost you tens of thousands, but the one that has the expertise and process in place to genuinely find the best buyer for your property.
A great agent needs to tick at least 6 boxes:
1. Expert advice to help you get your property ready for sale
In most instances that’s a professional, third party person who can give you comprehensive feedback about the presentation of your property and a plan to work towards. Real estate is now like Tinder – if people don’t like what they see online they’ll swipe and move on. Your property needs to make an impactful first impression both online and at home opens. There’s ALWAYS something you can do to improve it.
2. Smart pricing strategies
The best agents don’t promise price. Why? Because they know that a property is worth what a buyer is prepared to pay and that advertising for a high hope price is the quickest way for sellers to shoot themselves in the foot. What they should have is a plan to create competition in a marketplace where there’s currently no urgency for buyers to buy. It’s about trying to find the best buyer that’s prepared to pay the most amount of money for the property in the current market. Simple.
3. Quality and breadth in promotion – the 1 (or 10) %ers
This includes the quality of the photos and online copy, the marketing channels used including social media, the agent database, how they reach more passive buyers, home opens every weekend – everything needs to be considered and attended to. Simply whacking something up on an online real estate portal and having the odd home open doesn’t get the result. Well it might, as long as you’re ok with a below average one!
4. Urgency
Does the agent open the home every weekend until it’s sold or do they slack off once market interest does? Low market interest doesn’t mean opening less, it means something needs to chance with the campaign, which is most likely price, to get the result.
5. Process
What happens after the property goes online is key. Are buyers followed up or are they ignored? What are people saying about your property? How many eyeballs is your property getting compared to others in the market? What numbers are you getting through the home opens? What sort of feedback are you getting on the property? Properties don’t sell themselves, or certainly don’t sell well, in this market if a robust follow up process isn’t in place.
6. Negotiation
If your agent can’t negotiate their fee, how can they negotiate the best possible price for you? Beware of fee discounters. A lower selling fee won’t put more money in your pocket – a better sale price will.
So when you’re interviewing agents, don’t fall for the promise of the highest price or lowest selling fee, listen and find out exactly what their plan is for appealing to and bringing you the best buyer in the current marketplace and ask for evidence and examples of their recent successes. The agent you choose could either net or lose you thousands, indeed tens or even hundreds of thousands, so choose wisely!
Natalie Hoye is the Founder and Licensee of Red Fox Property Group – a boutique agency doing things differently in the suburbs surrounding Beaufort Street. We call it ‘real estate alchemy’: a genuine blend of science and intuition, marketing and magic, head and heart. The Red Fox Way. And we’d love to chat with you about your local real estate needs. Call us now on 0405 812 273.
