ABILITY TO ALTER FOCUS

The rise of the virtual inspection adds to the selling excitement

WHEN selecting the right agent for you and your home, quite often we look at numbers of homes sold or prices achieved (both very valid metrics).

However, in 2020, another quality you should be looking for is “adaptability” as we continue to see rapid changes in how we do business.

While there are certainly some very successful “specialists” that focus in just a single area or property type, in a market like we have here in Cairns, more often than not an agent has to be ready to deal with a wider range of homes — from a 1-bedroom unit in Cairns North to an elevated 4-bedroom home in the hills of Bayview Heights (and often more varied than that).

You’ll come across everyone from a young first homebuyer dipping their toes in the market to a family ready to take the next step through to an investor looking to take their future into their own hands or perhaps an older couple downsizing for the future.

Each will have their own needs, wants and fears — and the agent will have to read each of them.

Beyond people, this year has also thrown another curve ball at real estate agents — the rise of the virtual inspection, though the ‘real McCoy’ is still alive and kicking.

This week I had both sides of the coin coming out in force across two homes — one, on the south side and priced in the $400,000s had (among normal inspections) buyers inspecting via video and offers submitted sight unseen (a more common occurrence these days).

The other, a home in that important 5km radius of the CBD was priced in the $800,000s and featured a more traditional look, with faceto-face inspections throughout and the lucky buyers inspecting not once or twice but three times before being ready to put pen to paper to secure their new home (and just in time for Christmas).

It’s no longer just about the eye contact and firm handshake — now it’s also the steady hand behind the selfie camera, the confidence to make a stranger comfortable in a new setting and just a pinch of charisma akin to a Better Homes and Gardens host so as to ensure you look like you know exactly what you’re doing and haven’t downloaded Zoom 15 minutes before the showing.

It’s a strange new world we all find ourselves in now, but at least it’s exciting.