Most people would be surprised to hear that their property cannot be sold – only bought. The decision to sell is yours, but without a decision by someone to buy, you have no transaction. Understanding the difference between selling and marketing can put tens of thousands of dollars more in your pocket. So what makes someone decide to buy?
Think back to when you bought your investment property or home. What made you buy it? Chances are, you had a list of boxes that you wanted ticked. In addition, maybe the property just felt right.
Like most buyers, you probably saw the property advertised on the internet, you had a look at the pictures and thought they were interesting enough to justify a closer look. You likely went to the open home, looked around and within minutes knew that it ticked most of your boxes. You probably made an offer to purchase and maybe after a little negotiation the contract was signed and you bought the property.
Did You Buy Your Property Or Was It Sold To You?
If there was a real estate agent involved, did she say something to convince you to buy, or did she talk you into it? The most important question is: Was the property sold to you or did you buy it? I think we all know the answer to this question.
So if the property wasn’t sold to you, but instead, you bought it, why would you enlist an expensive ‘seller of real estate’ when it comes time for you to part with it? Just because a real estate agent is usually involved in the process, does it mean that they actually sell the property?
Even if you know nothing about how real estate agents work, do you think that they go back to the drawing board and reinvent the wheel every time they list a property? Or is it more likely that they follow a process or apply a formula with minor changes for each property and property owner?
After having ‘sold’ many properties over the years without agents, my wife and I came to the realisation that we didn’t really ‘sell’ any of them. They were all bought. None of those buyers bought because of us or what we said. They all made the decision to buy because we followed a marketing strategy or system. The fantastic thing about this system is that it doesn’t care who follows it. It just works.
Trust The Process, Not A Person
The formula behind this system is based on Preparation, Presentation, Pricing, Promotion and Negotiation. It is designed to attract your ideal buyer and extract the highest price they can pay. The best real estate agents use this same formula and it is this formula, not the agent that leads to a successful sale.
Think of this system in terms of a spider weaving a web. There is nothing the spider can do to catch an insect until it builds a good web. Even after it has built this web, all it can do is wait. If the web is positioned and constructed well, it is only a matter of time before the spider has success.
The spider cannot force an insect into its web any more than a real estate agent can make someone buy your property. Just as the spider cannot hunt down an insect, an agent – or you – cannot hunt down a buyer. You can only attract them.
Unfortunately, the success of the real estate sales industry relies on the public’s lack of understanding of this marketing system. For most of us property owners, selling is something we only do on average a few times in our lives. Most sellers don’t have the experience, knowledge and confidence to do it it alone – nor should they.
In an attempt to save on commissions, most private sellers leave tens of thousands of dollars on the table by not knowing the system or formula for achieving top dollar for their properties. Those who use an agent also leave tens of thousands of dollars on the table in commissions and marketing fees. Mostly, these negate any benefit the agent can provide.
This really bothered my wife and I. We wanted to help property sellers who in one way or another were walking away from tens of thousands of dollars.
The Assisted Private Sale™
We knew that whatever the right solution was, it had to be based around the proven marketing system or formula, and it had to leave sellers in a much better financial position than if they were to sell with an agent or privately. The answer came in a method that my wife and I have pioneered and called the Assisted Private Sale™.
This method is built on a combination of done for you marketing, guidance and collaboration. Guidance from an experienced property marketer is very important, but it shouldn’t cost anywhere near what real estate agents charge. It is imperative that the seller is involved because they have the greatest vested interest in the success of the campaign.
It starts with establishing who the most likely buyers for a given property are. It is followed by applying certain methods of preparation and presentation of the property to achieve the biggest bang for buck. Next is extensive research to find the evidence, which gives the seller the best possible insight into the value of the property.
Knowing how much your property is worth is not enough. Knowing how to pitch it to the market is perhaps even more critical. Promotion is the next step, which involves appropriate photos, advertising copy, street sign and most importantly, the online ad on the right portals.
These steps are the most crucial as they represent 95% of the marketing efforts. If they have been executed properly, it doesn’t matter who opens your front door for inspections. Inspections should always be by appointment and not open homes. The reasons for this are far too many to list here. Inspections should always be held by the seller because nobody knows the property as well as they do. No selling or negotiation should or need ever take place during this time.
Offers to purchase and corresponding counter offers should always be in writing. This takes the heat out of negotiations and buys time to formulate strategic responses. Finally, the legalities should always be entrusted to a solicitor or conveyancer.
The Assisted Private Sale™ is unique in that it is built on a proven system, without the cost of a traditional real estate agent or the lack of support of the private sale option. It is also different from low cost real estate agents like Purple Bricks, which have little incentive or focus to achieve the highest sale price.
The advantage of the Assisted Private Sale™ method is that it helps to achieve the highest possible sale price, but at the lowest possible cost, so that sellers maximise how much they pocket from the transaction. After all, is this not the most important number to focus on?
