Creating competition

There may be fewer properties available for sale now than there were 18 months ago, but it is still imperative for sellers to invest in marketing to ensure they attract the highest possible sale price for their property.

In fact, a property sale through Ray White Caloundra’s Tom Garland earlier this year saw sellers invest $6000 in a holistic marketing campaign to receive $82,000 above the reserve price for their Golden Beach home.

Mr Garland says property listing numbers have been fairly steady, but the average days on market for private treaty listings has blown out.

“The likelihood of selling through private treaty within a 30-day period is 12 per cent. Over a longer timeframe, the majority of properties do sell and settle, but this is down dramatically from where they were 18 months ago, when clearance rates were closer to 50 per cent in a 30-day period,” he says.

With more time for buyers to consider their options, Mr Garland says the Coast market has swung from being heavily geared in the seller’s favour to a neutral market, making it more important than ever for sellers to put their best foot forward when it comes to marketing.

He says auctions are the best bet to create competition, provide an opportunity for the seller to achieve the best possible sale price for the home and know what the date of sale will be, so it’s not lingering on the market for more than 30 days and attracting low-ball offers from buyers.

“Historically, all record prices are created through auction, not private treaty. Whether it’s a car, a piece of art or a house that is being sold, record prices are achieved when there are multiple bidders and a competitive environment is created,” he says.

“The seller sets their terms and will have a clean contract of sale, not subject to sale of another property or pest inspections or winning the Lotto. The longer a property is on the market for, the less likely they are to get their asking price, and the bigger the discount they are likely to give.”

Mr Garland says targeting all potential buyers from the online audience through to readers of My Weekly Preview, who can become enamoured with a photo they see in the magazine and fall in love with a property, means the “net is cast as wide as possible” to find the perfect buyer.

“A lot of the older clients that we deal with in my generation of the late fifties and sixties, are cashed up buyers with serious money to spend.

“They don’t need to sell their own homes, get finance or put three kids through school and they don’t like to scroll through the internet,” he says.

“They will sit down with a copy of My Weekly Preview and look through the property section and enjoy the living, breathing document by circling properties they like and looking at them every time they go past the dining table.

“Why would you be worried about a few thousand dollars [in marketing] when it would guarantee you would not leave any stone unturned in your search for the perfect buyer?”

CASE STUDY

Property: 109 Esplanade, Golden Beach
Marketing campaign: Premiere listing on realestate.com and Domain, a full-page advertisement in My Weekly Preview for four weeks, Ray White Caloundra database contacts.
Marketing investment: $6000
Bidders: 11 registered bidders attended the auction on February 28, 2019
Sold for: $795,000
Investment result: $82,000 above reserve