The Property Market Blog

In recent years the trading landscape has changed dramatically for New Zealand’s real estate industry. Today’s market is moving towards a much more open and transparent model and, here at The Property Market, we’ve made no bones about the fact that we think the traditional role of real estate agents needs to change dramatically too.

Changes in the industry.

Key amongst the changes to the way we buy and sell houses in this country is the Real Estate Agents’ Code of Conduct, introduced three years ago.

This was re-released in April with a number of updates, including important clarifications around how real estate agents must engage with their clients – mainly by being proactive, fair and honest in all respects.

Of course it’s much easier to keep the industry honest when online services like Terranet, Council websites and even Google Earth mean buyers have access to more information than ever before. Today’s buyers are less reliant on agents to bring them up-to-speed on property information and, instead, expect them to add value in other ways.

Banks are also much more stringent about conditions on borrowing too, meaning there’s no room for incorrect, misleading or omitted information.

So, what does this mean for real estate agents?

More importantly, what does it mean for you when buying or selling your house?

Frankly, it depends how service-oriented the agent you’re dealing with is (or to what degree they’re just in it for the easiest real estate commission fee).

If they’re moving with the times, they’ve probably already recognised that their role is more than ever about listening and working proactively to create a successful agreement between buyer and seller, rather than simply providing information and haggling.

Unfortunately, in my opinion, that proactive mindset is sadly lacking in many of the mainstream players – and that little detail is at the heart of what makes The Property Market different to your garden variety agency.

We see our role less as traditional ‘sales people’ and more as account managers, consultants, sounding boards and coaxers. We’re there to add value by getting to the maximum possible sale price quickly, with the least amount of hassle for all parties to the transaction.

Getting that right takes a special ability and commitment to negotiating proactively and honestly with both buyer and seller, rather than simply driving expectations up on one side of the deal and down on the other.

You’ll see evidence of this approach on the very first page of our Agency Agreement, which gives a clear indication of what you can expect from our endeavours on your behalf. Unlike most real estate agents, we also invite you to get our Agency Agreement checked out by an independent third party before you sign… because that’s only fair, and (like true advocates of our industry’s Code of Conduct) fair is what we do.

Of course, it’s not just what we say about our approach that’s important – it’s what our customers reckon about it too. Here are some of their thoughts.

About The Property Market

The Property Market is a full service real estate agency built to deliver a better experience for buyers and sellers. Think real estate, only reinvented.

• Our Freemans Bay real estate agents operate within a 20 minute radius of our office at 60 College Hill, Freemans Bay.
• Our real estate agent commission rates are innovative and competitive.
• Our focus on customer service is second-to-none. So, if you’re thinking of selling your house, give us a call.

As the days get shorter, many home owners put thoughts of selling aside. After all, winter’s the time when real estate agents pine for summer conditions, buyers stay home and prices plunge until the sun begins to shine again… Right?

Actually, winter can be a great time to sell your home – providing, of course, that you have a quality property in a sought after location. Why? For a few good reasons:

Less Competition
Generally speaking, there are fewer houses on the market in winter. If you’re a seller that means less competition from other properties. Quite simply, if there aren’t as many houses for sale in your suburb, buyer demand will concentrate around the few properties that are available – including yours.

Stronger Prices
For quality properties, the concentrated demand that comes with a shortage of listings will often drive prices up. This is particularly true when it’s already a tight ‘seller’s market’, as is currently the case in many parts of Auckland.

Reduced Marketing Spend
With fewer properties on the market, there’s not just less competition on the ground, but also in the real estate listings. So, if you’re selling your house in winter, you may get away with spending less on advertising, while at the same time being found more easily.

The ‘Warm, Dry’ Edge
Showing a home that is well insulated and heated in winter is a huge competitive advantage – particularly with older houses. If buyers are currently living in a property that is cold and damp they will place a premium on a home that is warm and dry.

Only the Committed Venture Out
When it’s miserable out, only motivated buyers do the open home rounds. That means your real estate agent is less likely to have nosey neighbours taking a gander, and more likely to be dealing with qualified buyers. Now that’s got to be a benefit, right?

So, if you’ve been thinking of selling your house, don’t give up just because it’s winter. Talk to us about we can get a red hot price out of the chilly season. About The Property Market The Property Market is a full service real estate agency built to deliver a better experience for buyers and sellers. Think real estate, only reinvented. · Our Ponsonby real estate agents operate within a 20 minute radius of Freemans Bay. · Our real estate agent commission rates are innovative and competitive. · Our focus on customer service is second-to-none. So, if you’re thinking of selling your house, give us a call.

We appeared in an article in today’s Herald on Sunday (lead feature in the Business section) and it’s thrown up a few things I thought were interesting to touch on. Overall the article is incredibly positive and supportive and it puts forward the thought that the time is right for a new type of real estate agency, one whose fee is determined by its business metrics.

This for me is a key point.

Unlike other low cost models that have gone before us (like The Joneses) our fee is simply a reflection of our business model rather than our whole story. It costs less than the net revenue from one sale to run our office every month and of course as we grow this could change, but the ratio between income and overheads will always remain my major focus because it’s a fundamental part of our story.

Our fee is also a reflection of how our role as salespeople has changed. As I mention in the article, the internet has changed the way people buy and sell. Buyers can now be as up to date with market movements as salespeople – they’re on the ground talking to salespeople, going to auctions and seeing the prices property fetch. Within an hour of putting up a sold sticker I can usually guarantee a buyer will call to find out what price it sold for as part of their research.

Of course our primary role is and always has been to get the best possible sale price for our clients. My belief again is that the internet has created a fundamental shift in how we do this – the vast majority of properties can be promoted online so our role these days is to market a property to its best potential, bring the resulting buyers to the vendor and provide recommendations that create the right outcome for both parties.

Our secondary role is to act as the mediator who knits buyer and seller together and guides the transaction safely over the line. So much can go wrong in transacting property – from title details, to odd things on LIMs and discrepancies in building reports – that it often takes an intermediary to sit between both parties and negotiate to bring them together.

Another viewpoint the article puts forward is that it’s best to go with an established agent in an area in order to get the best possible sale price, either because they know the maximum possible sale price for a property or because they have the buyers. Again, in my view the internet has changed this rule of thumb. Gone are the days of salespeople owning buyers – buyers are loyal only to TradeMe, Realestate.co and other trusted sources of property data like QV – and every one of our sale prices has been in line with the recent market data. In fact in a few cases we’ve achieved some of the best sale prices on a street so I can’t help but think that being a fresh pair of eyes in an area is a good thing!

The reality is that selling a property is a process and the process is the same every time. Sure you need to understand the intricate benefits of a particular area (school zones, rush hour traffic movements, local amenities and events etc) but we make it our business to get up to speed with this information pretty quickly.

My view is that previous low cost business models have failed for simple and logical reasons. Either the service they provided wasn’t particularly good or in the case of The Joneses, they appear to have over-capitalized by launching with four regional offices and huge staff costs (including an in-house production studio and salespeople on big salaries.) Who’s to say that if The Joneses had started smaller they wouldn’t still be around today? If the idea had worked, they would have changed the real estate model forever.

Sales roles in any other industry are based around a remuneration structure that appeals to both the client and the salesperson. My ambition is to make real estate a credible profession that buyers and sellers see value in. To do this, I aim to grow a model which employs intelligent, well trained salespeople on a base salary and a commission bonus when they make a sale.

What we do is hugely significant in the lives of our buyers and sellers. To use James Eivers (my first salaried Account Manager) words when he started working at The Property Market, “Short of delivering people’s babies, selling their homes should be the most honourable profession around.”

Bless.