Property Point

“We’re not gonna give it away!”

It’s the comment sellers have been heard to make on countless occasions in the long and challenging history of real estate sales.

When a real estate agent receives an offer on a property he or she is selling, the agent is legally required to present that offer to the client. It doesn’t mean the agent likes the offer but the seller must be told about it.

That’s one of the times when the “we’re not gonna give it away” line emerges.

On other occasions the issue is a matter of perspective, expectations and the emotion of selling a family home.

One time I had an offer of $505,000 on a property and the seller said he was insulted by the offer and told me he wasn’t going to “give it away”.

I asked him where the offer needed to be for him to be happy with the price. “I’d be happy with $510,000,” he said.

He was an intelligent person who had a responsible job and was required to make sound assessments and judgement calls on a daily basis.

But from his perspective, at that emotionally challenging time of selling a family home and then preparing for the next stage of his family’s life, the seller was “insulted” by the offer of $505,000 and felt that would be “giving away” his property at that price. Yet he would be happy with $510,000.

We ended up getting the offer above the $510,000 mark but it was a lesson for me on the emotion and challenges that go along with someone selling their house.

Sometimes the offer is low and the sellers would be “giving it away” if they sold at that price. Sometimes the seller has expectations that are above where their property sits in the market.

There have been times, particularly in a downturn, when sellers have rejected offers because they didn’t want to “give it away” only to regret the decision weeks or months later when they realise that the offer had been reasonable and in-line with the market …  but the buyers have now moved on and the opportunity has gone.

The truth is that sometimes the offers are low but, fortunately, when it comes to selling your property there is a formula to ensure you don’t “give it away”.

You need a hard-working agent who creates competition for your property through effort, marketing that reaches all the potential buyers and a strategy for reaching the right buyers.

When there is no competition for your property, with few inquiries and inspections, the offers will be low. When you have marketing and a strategy that reaches all the potential buyers and you get strong inquiries and good numbers at open homes, you will not be “giving it away”.

But there is a secret. A key element all Gardian agents are aware of is the emergence of southern buyers in our market. They are now key players and there is strong evidence to suggest they will pay a premium.

You need to make sure southern buyers are in the mix when selling your property. Gardian agents have a strategy for how we reach them so if you are planning to sell, make sure you speak to a Gardian agent … After all, you don’t want to give it away.

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