Meet Bob and Linda.
They didn’t select a winning agent.
Meet Bob and Linda.
They didn’t select a winning agent.
I’ve posted regularly about the essential criteria home owners need to cover with any potential real estate agent prior to appointing them to sell their home.
I’ve now collated this information into “Select A Winning Agent” available in eBook format and hard copy from the office.
In Select a Winning Agent, I outline how a vendor must focus on the facts and not the promises or perceptions of a real estate agent.
regards,
Andrew Bruce
Riverview Realty is a boutique agency focused on achieving the maximum price, with a client engagement that is above the industry standard. We call it the “Ultimate Experience” which forms part of our unique selling proposition.
Ph. 02 9420 0083, 59 Tambourine Bay Road, Riverview.
You’re welcome to connect with us on social media:
Real Estate March Madness…
While there’s some talk we are in a property bubble, the harsh reality is that with 100,000 babies being born in Sydney each year, and the inflows of immigration into greater Sydney, it’s hardly any wonder why demand is exceeding supply. As we go into our 5th year of solid growth, what we are seeing is a paradigm shift in both the Sydney and Melbourne markets – Sydney is becoming a true global city and a destination.
Every property listed receives hundreds of email enquiries and there’s no doubt that demand is outstripping supply and will continue to do so in the years ahead. The mere thought of trying to find cheaper housing solutions within the Sydney basin is akin to trying to stop a tidal wave of demand. The banks have tightened their lending criteria for developers, which will have the knock-on effect of tightening supply even more.
We are in the very lucky position to have a number of really interesting properties listed ranging from brand new units in Kensington, to premium properties in Willoughby and Riverview, and mid-range properties in Riverview and Lane Cove.
For those looking for a renovation project or re-build, we have a property coming up in Greenwich very soon. We have more listings that are being prepared for market and encourage you to register your interest and join us on Facebook for real time updates.
The rental market fluctuates with good months and bad months. There’s low stock of houses in Lane Cove at the moment, however there is ample apartment/unit stock within the Lane Cove precinct with rents holding steady.
regards,
Andrew Bruce
Riverview Realty is a boutique agency focused on achieving the maximum price, with a client engagement that is above the industry standard. We call it the “Ultimate Experience” which forms part of our unique selling proposition.
Ph. 02 9420 0083, 59 Tambourine Bay Road, Riverview.
You’re welcome to connect with us on social media:
I have recently approached the NSW Government Minister for the Office of Fair Trading to raise concerns over the lack of full transparency with when it comes to agent/buyer, and agent/agent discussions over the disclosure of sales results. In “Will Underquoting Ever Actually Stop?” Sasha De Bilde states:
Whilst it is all good and well that the Office of Fair Trading has brought in major changes to what agents can say when it comes to the marketing of a property, in reality, nothing has actually changed. Not the fault of the OFT, obviously something had to be done, but the changes have made no real impact into the actual problem… ‘Under-quoting’.
Whilst an agent can no longer say “offers over” or put a ‘+’ symbol after a price, the truth is, the agents that were most guilty of doing it before are still doing it now – in a slightly different way.
I totally agree with Sasha. The total market is entitled to have a better understanding of the actual dollar values properties are being sold for at the time of sale, rather than waiting 3 months to get the information via the Lands Title Office when the information is out of mind and out of date.
Some agents could be using blanket non-disclosure of nearly all of their property sales as a potential cover up of underquoting. While on the subject – when it comes to reporting of sales many agents are advising the public and buyers when asked the question “what did that property sell for?” with a response along the lines of “that information is confidential” or “the vendor has requested non disclosure of the sale price”. That has to be absolute rubbish as only about 2-3% of vendors have ever requested non-disclosure of the sale price with my sales. I took the liberty and personally checked the validity of other agent’s claims of non-disclosure with vendors of other agent’s sales. The vendor’s response was they had no knowledge of that arrangement or ever gave those instructions to their agent.
I have been in sales for 37 years and with some authority can say good sales people are more than willing to tell of their sales success results.
This week I received a direct marketing piece in my letterbox from a large franchise agent who was proudly advertising the fact she sold a property over reserve by $360K. Well sorry, but one has to ask the question: Isn’t that a case of underquoting?
Or does the agent not have a clue on what they are doing? With a sale price of just over the $2.M mark and other recent sales in the area to support that sale price, well it does appear to be over the 10% range the office of Fair trading allows agents to quote in. Can agents get it that wrong? I will let you be the judge.
regards,
Andrew Bruce & Samia Malouf
Riverview Realty is a boutique agency focused on achieving the maximum price, with a client engagement that is above the industry standard. We call it the “Ultimate Experience” which forms part of our unique selling proposition.
Ph. 02 9420 0083, 59 Tambourine Bay Road, Riverview.
You’re welcome to connect with us on social media:
At a recent Partners Wealth Group / AMP function, economists and advisors gave a brief and broad overview of the state of the global economy and its impact on Australia.
From a property perspective, Australia’s housing market is the most stretched in the world. There is an over-supply issue with apartments, but if interest rates level out or decrease further, this issue should work itself out. It was noted that China central govt is pumping a lot of money into the economy to drive more activity.
From a political perspective, they commented that Donald Trump’s bid for the Republican nomination is producing some uncertainty, however if elected, it appears he will have to play to the interest groups. It’s a line ball game between Trump and Clinton. So not much to worry about.
Global growth is difficult to predict, Europe is tiring but should bounce back. The question asked at the function was “If you had $100 where would you put it?” The panel noted European shares (but wait for growth) or wait for local interest rates to pick up.
In Australia we’re looking at a low interest/lower return for equity markets for some time to come which raises the question about where people will park their money?
Now is a great time to be selling real estate in Sydney. Stock levels are down by 25% and these low stock levels are still driving prices in an upward direction.
regards,
Andrew Bruce, Samia Malouf, and staff.
Riverview Realty is a boutique agency focused on achieving the maximum price, with a client engagement that is above the industry standard. We call it the “Ultimate Experience” which forms part of our unique selling proposition.
Ph. 02 9420 0083, 59 Tambourine Bay Road, Riverview.
You’re welcome to connect with us on social media:
Welcome to 2016! We trust you’ve had an enjoyable break and spent summer with friends and family. To kick-start our blog for 2016, we thought we would share some insight into the property market and the wider economy for the year ahead.
According to leading chief economist Shane Oliver from AMP Capital, the Sydney property market has become so stretched that price growth will be weak in 2016 and prices are likely to fall in 2017.
“I think because the property market has become so stretched, particularly in Sydney, it has been enough to tip the cycle back down again,” he said. “This year we will see weak price growth and then next year we might actually see price declines.”
Mr Oliver believes house price growth has peaked, and that the wealth effect of rising property prices will begin to weigh on consumer spending for the economy.
However, it’s important to remember that we have seen these cycles go up and down for the last decade:
A downswing in the property cycle is usually triggered by monetary tightening, which has been fairly constrained over the last 12 months. However, Mr Oliver noted that the out-of-cycle rate hikes of the banks towards the end of 2015 dampened sentiment and dramatically shifted expectations.
One of the reasons that investors have backed right off is that sentiment regarding expectations for home prices has completely reversed. It has gone from “we’ve got to get in now otherwise we’ll miss out and prices are up 15 per cent per annum and that will continue”, to a fundamentally dented, more cautious sentiment.
Consequently, auction clearance rates started to fall and house price growth slowed towards the end of 2015. However, as the property market cools down in Sydney and Melbourne, it does provide some scope for first home buyers to get into the market.
In terms of the economy, January is always the month used to predict the share market for the rest of the year. There are a lot of interesting plays influencing sentiment at the moment. Banks are short selling everything which is causing uncertainly. However they capitalise on the bad news by the short sell. China is not heading as far south as the media would lead us to believe – it is easing, but the value of their economy is far stronger than what it was at the height of the GFC.
The current message, perception and sentiment doesn’t always match the numbers. As part of this sentiment, Economist Scott Francis from the Eureka report notes that it’s worth considering whether the “Other January Effect” – the idea that market returns in the month of January predict the overall returns for the year ahead – is a useful idea for investors. He argues that based on past performances, the January Effect holds little weight.
In terms of property, a Chatswood real estate agent shared with me that he had over 41 people through a property’s first open for inspection. If that’s a declining market we will take that any day of the week.
regards,
Andrew Bruce, Samia Malouf, and staff.
Riverview Realty is a boutique agency focused on achieving the maximum price, with a client engagement that is above the industry standard. We call it the “Ultimate Experience” which forms part of our unique selling proposition.
Ph. 02 9420 0083, 59 Tambourine Bay Road, Riverview.
You’re welcome to connect with us on social media:
There was a very healthy turnout for one of our recent auctions in Lane Cove. There’s strong demand as a recent Domain article by Kate Farrelly suggests.
With a swath of apartment developments under construction or newly built, there are plenty of units to choose from, but only nine houses on the market as Domain went to press.
So it’s little surprise that the median house price rose 19 per cent in the 12 months to March this year and now sits at $1,538,750, edging closer to the traditionally more expensive suburb of Willoughby, which has a median house price of $1.63 million.
Properties close to the newly upgraded village centre are keenly sought, with large family homes pulling record prices. There have been eight $2-million-plus sales over the past year, the highest in Little Street, which sold for $2,875,000 in November.
Locals like
It’s less than 10 kilometres to the CBD via the Gore Hill freeway and a short drive to the shopping and dining mecca of Chatswood. There are large expanses of bushland, including a slice of waterfront reserve, good primary schools and a growing choice of shops in the village and on Burns Bay Road, where a new IGA Express has opened its doors.
Andrew Bruce, Principal of Riverview Realty said: “We’ve seen massive price increases in the Willoughby Council area including Chatswood, Willoughby, Naremburn, and Chatswood West and it appears that some of this is rubbing off in Lane Cove with strong, above-market prices. The value-proposition of Lane Cove is finally being understood.”
“There’s a lot of talk in the market of a bubble, but according to Alan Kohler’s Eureka Report the Sydney market is about 14% above the historical trend line. What we’ve seen is not your classic property boom as it is now going on three years and it’s been front of mind for quite some time. According to recent reports, housing is set to grow by low single digits next year, suggesting a softer landing as opposed to a crash.”
“It would be fair to say that within the property clock cycle, we are coming up to the 12th hour.”
regards,
Andrew Bruce & Samia Malouf
Riverview Realty is a boutique agency focused on achieving the maximum price, with a client engagement that is above the industry standard. We call it the “Ultimate Experience” which forms part of our unique selling proposition.
Ph. 02 9420 0083, 59 Tambourine Bay Road, Riverview.
You’re welcome to connect with us on social media:
We recently sold a property in Riverview. Our clients were advised by their previous selling agent that they would get around $1,600,000 for their property. Not bad, but this price indication was AFTER the agent initially set expectations of a much higher price. It soon became apparent that the owners’ expectations had been reset very quickly by the agent after just a small number of potential buyers had seen the property.
That’s where we come in, not only did we exceed the first agent’s estimate, but we smashed it out of the park with another record price for a 3 bedroom home by delivering $160,000 above the previous agent’s price expectation.
In many of my blog postings on under quoting and seller conditioning, I’ve focused on the tail wagging the dog when it comes to who is setting the right expectation and who is the winner out of the transaction. In this simple case, if you were to put $160,000 on the table how long would it take to save that kind of money? In comparison, the agent’s commission would only be a difference of $1400 for a quick sale. Some agents should take the express elevator to hell for this kind of misconduct in their dealings by failing to deliver the best outcome for their clients.
Please read below for what our clients had to say:
14 Yallambee Road Riverview
“We had started our journey with another agent but the total experience consisted of them dampening our expectations.
Upon meeting Andrew and Samia they promised much and not only did they deliver, they exceeded our service and sale price expectations. They cheerfully undertook many of the small and difficult tasks and offered several excellent referrals for tradespeople to smooth the process. Their advice was always transparent, consistent and accurate.
Their conduct was always in good spirit and the resulting sale has concluded with our gratitude and friendship. If you are trying to decide which agent to use and have questions, feel free to ask Riverview Realty for our contact details.” Ian Irwin and Julie Haraksin.
1) Did your experience with the sales team at Riverview Realty meet your expectations?
Response: Top Score – Much better
2) In regard to communication, transparency and trust – What was your overall agent engagement like with sales representatives at Riverview Realty?
Response: Top Score – Excellent
3) Overall Agency Rating – Were you satisfied with the team at Riverview Realty?
Response: Top Score – Extremely satisfied
4) How likely are you to recommend Riverview Realty to others?
Response: Top Score – Extremely likely
Andrew Bruce & Samia Malouf
Riverview Realty is a boutique agency focused on achieving the maximum price, with a client engagement that is above the industry standard. We call it the “Ultimate Experience” which forms part of our unique selling proposition.
Ph. 02 9420 0083, 59 Tambourine Bay Road, Riverview.
You’re welcome to connect with us on social media:
In Selecting a selling agent: Brand vs Boutique we noted that:
The big agencies are quick to advertise they offer more than what a boutique agency can. “National network, local knowledge” or “tap into our network of buyers” is often used in the sales pitch. The reality is that the majority of the real estate marketing is now beholden to the two large digital advertising sites RealEstate.com.au and Domain.com.au. Both these sites are in the Top 50 Australian websites by traffic*. Many of the traffic rankings for the big franchises are well outside the top 1000 websites.
In The Importance of Digital and Social Media Marketing we revealed:
Digital marketing of a property is nothing new. Websites such as Domain.com.au and RealEstate.com.au have been around for over 10 years and are in the top 50 Australian websites by traffic and can’t be ignored in a real estate campaign. Around 95% of purchasers seek property via these two websites through different touch points including traditional PCs or laptops, tablets and smart phones.
We’ve done a bit more research and can report that all the major branded real estate websites have on average:
Now, I’m not suggesting our web traffic is any better ( it could actually be worse) but what I am suggesting is that as we’ve mentioned previously, Domain.com.au and RealEstate.com.au are the most popular real estate listing websites. I’d much prefer a property we’re marketing be found through either of these sites as opposed to RiverviewRealty.com.au – because that’s what we’re paying for!
Consider those average numbers above. To give you some comparison:
Realestate.com.au is the 17th most visited website in Australia and has:
Domain.com.au is the 40th most visited website in Australia and has:
So next time a selling agent talks about their website and the hits they get, consider these numbers. I’d bet their numbers don’t add up!
regards,
Andrew Bruce and Samia Malouf
Riverview Realty is a boutique agency focused on achieving the maximum price, with a client engagement that is above the industry standard. We call it the “Ultimate Experience” which forms part of our unique selling proposition.
Ph. 02 9420 0083, 59 Tambourine Bay Road, Riverview.
You’re welcome to connect with us on social media:
Here at Riverview Realty, we began our content and social engagement with a strategy to share our expertise on real estate and also shed light on the community in which we live and work. Sure, we do share our recent listings across our platforms, but we would like to think that our experience, expertise and involvement in our great local community that encompasses Lane Cove, Longueville, Northwood and Riverview is much more exciting than anything else. Our recent Pink Ribbon Morning Tea is an example of that.
Further to this, we’ve blogged about real issues: Choosing an agent, tips for selling your home, tips for landlords, and what makes a great auctioneer.
If you’re sick of seeing your local agent sharing photos of their new car or shiny office and instead want some info on the real estate market, follow this blog, like us and join in on the fun on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.
Cheers
Andrew and Samia
The following excerpts from the REBOnline article are worth noting:
Real estate agents wondering why their social media presence falls short of attracting any new business or why it produces no customer value at all have only themselves to blame.
Social media outlets are not the place to “sell your crap”, nor are they a platform for airing your new shiny suit, BMW keys and more importantly, ego. Online videos made by estate agents, for the large part, are just average – a definition Peter Brewer, real estate veteran and owner of Peter Brewer Consulting, says is the “best of the worst and the cream of the crap”.
Presenting at the Business of Real Estate Conference last week, Mr Brewer said there is so much opportunity to engage potential and use social networks to move real estate agents away from the perception of being a necessary evil to one as being involved with the community at large.
“You have to start using social networks as social and change your own mindset because people don’t go on social media to buy a dog or a refrigerator,” Mr Brewer said.
“The key is understanding that websites, video and social media are about community, and you need to give reasons for people to go to your site, such as to solve people’s problems and to help the community; not to stand around in a shiny suit with a new BMW extolling your own virtues. If we can do a 90-minute listing presentation in front of a consumer then surely we can get rid of the ego and do a 90-second clip solving people’s problems.”
Mr Brewer added that the average age of today’s real estate agent is 58, and the average age of a consumer is 31, so showing relevance to an audience is key.
Andrew Bruce
Riverview Realty is a boutique agency focused on achieving the maximum price, with a client engagement that is above the industry standard. We call it the “Ultimate Experience” which forms part of our unique selling proposition.
Ph. 02 9420 0083, 59 Tambourine Bay Road, Riverview.
You’re welcome to connect with us on social media: