Does Your Agent Have the Contacts?

Written by Paul Kounnas | Wednesday, 07 September 2011

Sometimes homes can sell very quickly.

Is it because they are well priced or are they snapped up because of their prime position?

Furthermore, how are buyers found when a property has only been on the market for a few hours?

The secret to this phenomenon is database marketing. Agents have been using this method to achieve outstanding selling results for countless sellers in the area.

Buyers really appreciate an agent who will contact them when a home comes on the market which may ...

satisfy their particular needs. This after all, is good old-fashioned service, which is what a good agent should provide.

From the moment the listing is received for a property, a simple referral back to the buyer database can match the property to a suitable buyer.

An inspection is organised with the best qualified buyers straight away and the buyers can make an offer even before the property is advertised.

Active buyers and investors on your agent’s books can prove to be a valuable resource.

Through understanding the requirements of valued clients, the agent can match and introduce prospective purchasers to the latest listings.

Why is an agent’s ability to use a client database so important when you are looking to buy and sell property?

The benefits of holding a large database are twofold – the agent can instigate inspections on behalf of the vendor in a very short time frame, often prior to advertising, helping to create competition and the purchaser benefits from the first bite of the cherry, allowing for early assessment of a property.

Using a client database eliminates the need to implement unnecessary and costly advertising campaigns, promoting a low price range which attracts bargain hunters.

It is so important that you appoint a selling agent with an established network of clients. If they feel your property will meet the buyer’s criteria, a sale can happen extremely quickly.

Successful agents always try to match properties to purchasers.

Buyer Databases - Quantity or Quality

Written by Victoria Knox | Wednesday, 29 June 2011

Most agents will tell you they have databases with buyers ready and waiting to purchase. I’ve even had a client tell me that one high profile agent told her that they had a database of thirty thousand buyers!

Unfathomable as this sounds, its actually not the quantity of names on the list that’s so important.

Names and telephone numbers tell the agent nothing about these buyers. Only good agents bother to ask good questions of buyers to find out the ...

what, when, where, and why questions which motivate the buyer to buy.

Databases that include such information are therefore gold mines when it comes to matching a home to qualified, genuine buyers who want to buy now and minimise the stress to the seller who does not want their home on the market for lengthy periods of time.

The key to a good quality database is for a real estate agency to have one central point of contact. This means one number – the agency’s office telephone number and no after hours or mobile numbers on any other marketing or signboards. Each enquiry is logged in the office and telephone numbers are not lost by salespeople running around in the suburbs.

When it comes to using databases, quality follow up beats lists of possibly erroneous names and numbers any day. And buyers really appreciate an agent who will contact them when a home comes on the market which may satisfy their particular needs.

This after all, is good old-fashioned service, which is what a good agent should provide.

Choose an Agent That Has Buyers Waiting

Written by Paul Kounnas | Thursday, 14 April 2011

The best agents keep detailed records of buyers.

Most agents get dozens of enquiries from buyers each month. Some get hundreds. But most don’t keep records of these people – names, enquiry details, email addresses and phone numbers.

Usually these agents do not feel the need because their home sellers pay for the advertising.

When agents keep records of genuine buyers, there is less need for advertising.

Insist on an agent who keeps detailed and accurate records of genuine buyers. ...

One of these buyers may be perfect for your property.

List Exclusively

The more agents you employ the greater your chances of getting a lower price.

Do not place your property for sale with several agents. You may think this will increase your chance of finding a buyer, but it decreases your chance of getting the highest price.

All of those agents will be in a hurry to sell your property before someone else sells it. The sale will be most important. The price will be forgotten.

Buyers shop around. They will use the agent who can obtain your property for the lowest price.

Test this yourself. When you see one property with several agents, call them all and ask this question: “what is the lowest price I can get this for?” You will be told different prices.

The saying goes that ‘a chain is only as strong as its weakest link’.

It is hard enough when buyers shop around for properties, but do you also want them shopping around for the weakest agent too?

This article is adapted from the booklet ‘How to get the Highest Price for your Property’. To have a complimentary copy home delivered, please call Hudson Bond.

Who Controls Price?

Written by Gary Pittard | Thursday, 31 March 2011

Agents are not responsible for market prices. A good agent however, acting in the best interest of their vendor, should be in control of their vendor’s price.

Too many vendors and agents think that “selling” a property means finding a buyer. That’s nonsense. Finding a buyer is only the first stage. The second stage, which few agents do properly, is getting the buyers to pay their highest price.

Only incompetent agents say a property is “worth what a buyer pays”. The good agents, the true negotiators, know:

A property is worth what they can persuade the buyer to pay. ...

These agents are in control. Whatever the buyer can pay is what the good negotiator gets for the owner, not what the buyer wants to pay.

Buyers want to pay less than their maximum. With most agents, this is exactly what buyers do. Ask any homeowner what price they paid for their home. And then ask what price they would have paid. Most will admit they would have paid more. When asked why they didn’t, most will say the owner agreed to their offer and the agent did not ask for more. This applies whether property is sold by auction or private sale. Most real estate is sold for less than it could have been sold for.

Agents who are not skilled negotiators are underselling owners.

The reason is simple: the focus is on the seller’s minimum (with auctions, the seller’s minimum is the reserve). The focus should be on the buyer’s maximum. The difference can mean thousands of dollars to a seller. When an agent gets the buyers’ maximum, the agent has earned a selling fee. The highest possible price has been achieved. The agent, not the buyer, has controlled the sale price.