You're getting to the pointy end of your property development, and it's time to start thinking about the final stage - selling your lots or dwellings. Which mostly means finding a real estate agent to sell them!
This prospect may not fill you with a great deal of enthusiasm. Not because you don't want to sell them and hopefully bank some profit, but because dealing with an agent doesn't excite many of us. Real Estate Agents consistently top the list for most unethical or distrusted professionals, no matter how hard they try to prove it's not true.
The bottom line, though, is that in order to find a good agent, you're going to have to do some research!
Now, you might be in a position where you bought the original site through a particular agent, and although it was never said out aloud, that agent kind of expects you'll sell through them as well.
NO!! Sorry, did I make you jump? I just wanted to make sure you were paying attention. A good agent to buy through is very rarely a good agent to sell through. Occasionally you'll find an agent who does both well, but again, it's rare.
So what you need to do is go to a site like realestate.com.au and click on the "Find Agent" tab. Choose your suburb, and then take a look at who comes up at the top of the list. These are the agents who have sold the most properties in your area recently.
Next, take a look at some of the stats listed there. Particularly things like:
Those three pieces of information tell you a lot. Properties sold is handy, as it shows how active the agent is in the market, but the other two are of particular interest - how much they sold properties for, and how fast.
If you see an agent with a lot of sales but they're all cheap, it's fair to say that they're not really the agent for your high end product. Same with an agent who seems to take a long time to sell properties - maybe you're better off finding one who turns listings over quickly.
Make a short list, then make appointments with those agents. This is your opportunity to essentially conduct a job interview with them. You're potentially going to be working with them for a while, depending on where you are in the process, so you need to feel comfortable with them both personally and professionally.
A good place to start when you sit down an agent is to find out about their experience. There's three levels that real estate agents fall into:
Agents in the experienced category are usually quite happy to outline their background in real estate, and are able to give you many examples of properties they've sold.
New real estate agents are often very well coached in how to borrow credibility from the agency to help them look more experienced than they are, so look for give away phrasing. If an agent says "we recently sold this property" then chances are someone else in the agency sold it. An agent will almost always say "I sold this property" when they were the lead agent.
Also watch how they deal with a negotiation around their fees. The first meeting may not be the right time to go all out on negotiating the fees, but it's worth putting in a question around that just to see what sort of response you get.
You might feel like an amazing negotiator when you manage to knock a chunk off the fee, but be careful, as a potential buyer might also find it far too easy to negotiate the price down with the agent when it comes to buying your property.
For fees, make sure you ask the question - what's included in your fees? Here are some specific items to ask about:
At this stage, you should have a good feel for the agent's experience and what sort of fees you're likely to be paying. But there's one more factor that's important, and that's your rapport with the agent.
All I can say is trust your gut: if you meet an agent and there’s something that seems off about them, trust your instincts. They only get one chance to make that first impression and if it doesn't feel right for you, move on.
Finally, give yourself time to check out the agents you can potentially sell through. Giving yourself enough time means you won’t rush the process or end up not finding an agent who is a good fit. Spend some time thinking about what exactly you need from the agent and make sure they understand and are willing to comply. This could be anything from how often you want to hear from them through to having some input on design or landscaping in order to maximise potential buyers.
Most of all - enjoy the process! Having a good real estate agent on your team is vital, and finding one in an area where you're planning to do multiple deals is gold. So do whatever it takes to find the right one, look after them and make use of their skills in every way you can.
This prospect may not fill you with a great deal of enthusiasm. Not because you don't want to sell them and hopefully bank some profit, but because dealing with an agent doesn't excite many of us. Real Estate Agents consistently top the list for most unethical or distrusted professionals, no matter how hard they try to prove it's not true.
The bottom line, though, is that in order to find a good agent, you're going to have to do some research!
Now, you might be in a position where you bought the original site through a particular agent, and although it was never said out aloud, that agent kind of expects you'll sell through them as well.
NO!! Sorry, did I make you jump? I just wanted to make sure you were paying attention. A good agent to buy through is very rarely a good agent to sell through. Occasionally you'll find an agent who does both well, but again, it's rare.
So what you need to do is go to a site like realestate.com.au and click on the "Find Agent" tab. Choose your suburb, and then take a look at who comes up at the top of the list. These are the agents who have sold the most properties in your area recently.
Next, take a look at some of the stats listed there. Particularly things like:- Number of properties sold
- Median sold price
- Median days advertised
Those three pieces of information tell you a lot. Properties sold is handy, as it shows how active the agent is in the market, but the other two are of particular interest - how much they sold properties for, and how fast.
If you see an agent with a lot of sales but they're all cheap, it's fair to say that they're not really the agent for your high end product. Same with an agent who seems to take a long time to sell properties - maybe you're better off finding one who turns listings over quickly.
Make a short list, then make appointments with those agents. This is your opportunity to essentially conduct a job interview with them. You're potentially going to be working with them for a while, depending on where you are in the process, so you need to feel comfortable with them both personally and professionally.
A good place to start when you sit down an agent is to find out about their experience. There's three levels that real estate agents fall into:
- New to being a real estate agent
- New to the agency
- Experienced
Agents in the experienced category are usually quite happy to outline their background in real estate, and are able to give you many examples of properties they've sold.
New real estate agents are often very well coached in how to borrow credibility from the agency to help them look more experienced than they are, so look for give away phrasing. If an agent says "we recently sold this property" then chances are someone else in the agency sold it. An agent will almost always say "I sold this property" when they were the lead agent.
Also watch how they deal with a negotiation around their fees. The first meeting may not be the right time to go all out on negotiating the fees, but it's worth putting in a question around that just to see what sort of response you get.You might feel like an amazing negotiator when you manage to knock a chunk off the fee, but be careful, as a potential buyer might also find it far too easy to negotiate the price down with the agent when it comes to buying your property.
For fees, make sure you ask the question - what's included in your fees? Here are some specific items to ask about:
- marketing
- photography
- signage
- floorplans
At this stage, you should have a good feel for the agent's experience and what sort of fees you're likely to be paying. But there's one more factor that's important, and that's your rapport with the agent.
All I can say is trust your gut: if you meet an agent and there’s something that seems off about them, trust your instincts. They only get one chance to make that first impression and if it doesn't feel right for you, move on.
Finally, give yourself time to check out the agents you can potentially sell through. Giving yourself enough time means you won’t rush the process or end up not finding an agent who is a good fit. Spend some time thinking about what exactly you need from the agent and make sure they understand and are willing to comply. This could be anything from how often you want to hear from them through to having some input on design or landscaping in order to maximise potential buyers.
Most of all - enjoy the process! Having a good real estate agent on your team is vital, and finding one in an area where you're planning to do multiple deals is gold. So do whatever it takes to find the right one, look after them and make use of their skills in every way you can.
