Winning strategies for selling your property

How vendors can maximise their selling price and buyers’ fear of over paying As we move from a ‘nuts to normal’ market in 2022, vendors are shifting approaches to maximise the sale of the property.

This is what I’m seeing on the ground and how you make sure you get top dollar when selling in this market.

Over the last few years with a market that was booming, and fear of missing out driving buyers to pay overs, we are now seeing more FOOP (fear of over paying).

All of sudden a vendor needs to stand out.

If you don’t stand out, you won’t win out.

In this market you cannot sell a secret.

The world needs to know you’re selling.

An intelligent marketing campaign that targets the buyer using offline and online that equates to around half a per cent to one per cent of the value of the property is what is needed in advertising dollars.

Video and print are critical

But make sure the video is focused on your property and not promoting the agent looking like a Netflix star.

If print still exists in your market, take a few adverts out. Print is often good at attracting the passive aspirational buyer.

As for the portals, be on the two big ones but pay the premium and be towards the top of the search results.

Social media and re-targeting digital marketing is no longer optional. It’s mandatory.

High-quality brochures can target local buyers, and are a great leave behind document as buyers inspect the property.

You should never see marketing as an expense. You should always view marketing as an investment in the profits.

Think about it, if it’s the family home, it’s the last remaining tax haven in Australia.

For every dollar extra you get for the sale of your home, you would have to earn twice that at work to get the same financial benefit.

Don’t list with a commission cutter. List with a house price maximiser

The buyers are getting the upper hand in this market with talk about interest rates rises, and the forthcoming election.

You need an agent that knows how to negotiate in this market.

The difference between a good agent negotiator and a bad agent negotiator can be 10 per cent on the final sale price.

Think about it, we could be talking about hundreds of thousands of dollars.

In a booming market like we’ve had, the difference between a good agent and a bad agent is not much. The market is equalising both agents.

But in a market like we have now, there is nothing more expensive than having a good buyer in front of a bad agent. That can get really expensive. Fees vary from 1 per cent to 3 per cent.

The higher the value of the property, the lower the percentage of the agent generally.

Aim to get something in between and be open to paying an incentivebased fee, where the agent gets paid a

bonus for getting an extraordinary result.

Get your price right

Nothing can create a bad campaign as much as using the wrong price guide when launching a new property onto the market.

There’s always a lot of talk about underquoting in real estate and this is a practice I absolutely despise.

However, the opposite can destroy your chances of getting top dollar. There is a saying “quote them high, watch them die”.

When you quote prices on properties that are higher than what they are worth, you essentially are helping other vendors sell their properties.

You never get a second chance at making a good first impression.

In the early stages of a campaign you want as many buyers as possible to look at your home and for them to give you feedback on what they see as fair market value.

You can then adjust the guide accordingly.

You need to remember people filter with their brain, but buy with their heart.

Make it easy for the buyer to buy

Take away the friction by making it seamless and less painful for a buyer to make a decision. An example of this is to have a pre-pest and building inspection.

Companies like Before You Bid, allow buyers to have access to reports on a property without having to outlay thousands of dollars upfront.

Also, look at digital solutions that allow buyers to bid online, instead of attending an auction. Who knows, maybe your buyer runs a business on auction day or is interstate and can’t attend?

Just make it easy for the buyer to buy your home

Tom Panos has been a highly respected figure in the local real estate industry for three decades. He is Australia’s leading real estate coach, a sought-after auctioneer, founder of Real Estate Gym and a Sky News commentator.