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Friday, June 24, 2011

BURSTING AT THE SEAMS

Imagine this. The house is spotless. There isn’t a cushion out of place. The family dog is nowhere to be seen. The agent is ready and waiting. And then 30 groups of people arrive for an inspection!

That’s what happened with a delightful character cottage in East Fremantle over the weekend. This lovingly-restored turn-of-the-century property clearly charmed the pants of a lot of people because the place was bursting at the seams! I’ve been to weddings with fewer people.

What was particularly interesting was finding out where all of these potential buyers had come from. There were key buyers from our data base; some had seen the property on the Internet; others noticed it in the local newspaper; and, others still had seen it advertised in The West Australian. This shows, among other things, just how important it is to cast a wide net when marketing a property and why you shouldn’t only target local buyers.

What happened after the home open? Well, the property went under offer after being on the market for only 12 days and both seller and buyer were thrilled with the outcome.

Across the board, our team has definitely noticed improved attendance at home opens in recent weeks and consequently we have negotiated a number of great sales from the weekend activity. While not every property will sell quickly, it’s encouraging to know that even in the current market our strategy is achieving outstanding results.

Monday, June 20, 2011

A BUYER'S MARKET TO A SELLER'S MARKET

The weather may only be kind to farmers and ducks at the moment but we have some hot spots in our market.

Our team reported a definite spike in activity over the past week, which was one of the best in recent months. It’s very encouraging to see some of our quality properties go under offer, though the market continues to lack direction overall.

One of the highlights of the week was a beautifully-presented Federation-style home in Ardross. Despite being meticulously maintained both inside and out and set in a quality location, this property had remained on the market longer than planned. Re-aligning and persistence paid off, however, and a full asking price offer was received to the delight of the seller.

When a property sits on the market for an extended period of time, buyers often have the upper-hand in negotiations. However, this is when it is apparent that not all agents are the same and the skill is transforming a buyer’s market into a seller’s market despite the underlying market conditions.

Interestingly, the eventual buyer of this Ardross property had been looking for a property on the other side of the river. This shows just how important it is for sellers to showcase their properties in widely-read publications such as the CY Magazine which is distributed broadly from Subiaco around the river to Applecross as well as beachside suburbs. You need an agent that can demonstrate a strategy not only to capture local buyers but which will also capture non-local buyers equally.