| We have listed below 10 of the most important questions that should be considered when selling your home.
If you are seeing a number of agents, it might be an idea to use this as an agenda to your meeting. It may save you time, provide the meeting with structure and determine the most suitable agent for you. After all, if you don't have the best representing you, you can't expect the best results.
1. What do you know about your agent?
This is a vital question often not asked at all, or assumptions are made like “he or she must be good because they have been in the business for years”. In the Byron Bay market place the average salesperson makes less than 7 sales per year. Ask the salesperson you are dealing with to provide a list of successful sales and a list of happy customers. Your agent should also be able to provide a list of all their recent training courses and a detailed pictorial report of the market place around your home. Byron Bay First National Real Estate has 50% market share of the most competitive market place in Australia. Ask your agent what their company’s position is in the present market place. They should know the answer.
2. Where do buyers come from? How will a person find your home?
Buyers come from everywhere but THE most important source of buyers today is an agent’s database. At Byron Bay First National Real Estate we have been meticulously and patiently collecting a database for 15 years. This is now computerised and is a huge group of people from all over Australia and overseas. We contact them regularly and keep them up to date with our local market. It is, by far, the biggest database in our region and each member is educated and informed through our 20 contact points a year program. One vital point to make here is that on average buyers come to Byron Bay seven times before they purchase a property. We are aware of this and are therefore happy to spend years educating and assisting people to make their final choice.
One final point about where buyers come from that you should be aware of is that more than half the buyers of property through our company find the eventual property they purchase after contact from one of our salespeople. In other words, our staff meet, help, question, listen and show properties, and then over time match up buyers with the property that suits their needs. It is a cooperative, proactive process that takes time and skill.
3. How will your home be marketed? What is the best style of marketing for your home?
Marketing takes different forms with different properties. If you list with Byron Bay First National Real Estate we do ALL the marketing at our expense for your property. We have a standard marketing program that is extensive and professionally managed. We provide pictorial examples of our listings, presentations and case studies of successful campaigns. Professional protography, high-level editorial and copywriting skills, and the highest levels of internet exposure are just three of the many marketing advantages provided by Byron Bay First National Real Estate.
Finally, it is vital in our business to be flexible. We can, and do, design special marketing programs for unique properties that demand that extra level of sophistication and promotion. We have contracts with the best photography, graphic artists and interior designers in our region, who work for us on many special projects. Ask us and we can provide examples of their work for your perusal.
4. What are the internet capabilities of your office?
We have the busiest website in our region. The Byron Bay First National Real Estate website generates enormous traffic from all over the world and if you are technically inclined we can send to you all our statistics and figures for hits and visits. We belong to the realestate.com.au, Homehound and domain.com.au portals as well as owning the suburb banners for each of these internet portals. Even more importantly, all of our web properties are maintained by someone whose specific job is just to look after our extensive IT department. We also have a virtual tour facility for properties and use professional photographers and web designers. 24% of our sales enquiries come from the internet and we use it extensively in our daily business. Please visit our website, and we always greatly appreciate your feedback.
5. How will the right buyers be found and how will the highest price be achieved?
The right buyers are often found by our salespeople matching a buyer with a home. Sometimes a property has a price reduction which puts the property within reach of someone we have been dealing with for some time. Other times we encourage an offer and then build a successful sale on the back of this offer. It is very much a process of education, patience, viewings and localisation.
Our staff are highly trained in these areas and enjoy very much the processes involved in finding the right buyer for your property. Once they have found the right buyer we then need to obtain the highest price possible for you, the vendor. At Byron Bay First National Real Estate, we recognise that vendors pay our fees and we pride ourselves on being a vendor’s agent. We have all trained extensively for many years in the art of negotiation, and we work very hard as a team to ensure we extract the highest possible amounts from purchasers during the negotiating process. We always focus on obtaining the best price possible for our owners and if you view our testimonial pages attached, you will see that we are regularly successful with this aim.
6. How can a magazine help the marketing of your home further?
Our magazine is the only regularly produced quarterly magazine in our region. It is of A4 format on quality paper with professional photography. We print at least 12,000 copies and it is keenly sought by people all over Australia, and by our international clients. We regularly sell properties directly from the magazine, and across all price ranges. The quality of the magazine and the regularity of its production ensures fantastic results.
7. Are you locked into all agents even if they aren't doing the right job?
At Byron Bay First National Real Estate we believe that agents and owners should never be connected just by a written contract. We want our clients to enjoy the selling process with our company. We believe, and want you to always feel, that if we have not fulfilled our promise then you should be entitled to sever your agreement with us.
8. What happens when a buyer looks through your home?
We monitor all potential buyers’ immediate responses and then provide feedback directly to you. Our company has a system in place that ensures ALL vendors of ALL properties receive feedback quickly after EVERY inspection. We pride ourselves on this action.
9. How long does it take to get a property on the market?
In our market place it takes about two weeks, depending on the speed of the solicitor, to arrange a full and complete contract. From the time we receive this contract we can place your property on the internet and in the newspaper immediately. The Law states that we can not do any marketing – not even erect a single sign – without a legal contract in place. At Byron Bay First National Real Estate we assist in the preparation of the contract by obtaining important council documents and delivering them to your solicitor for you.
10. What are the next steps?
If our answers to these questions sounds like things you would like your agent to do for you then simply call one of our senior salespeople: Ian, James, Su, Paul, Helen or Nick on (02) 6685 8466. They would love to talk with you and answer any further questions you may have. |
