Taking the stress out of selling your property

When you choose Bayleys, you’re choosing true real estate professionals - with a history of success, based on honest and transparent dealings with all parties. You’re also working with real people who know that selling a property can be challenging - and even stressful - at times.This document is designed to help you the client, by preparing you for some of the decisions that have to be made, dealing with perplexing situations that may arise, and managing curve balls that may be thrown along the way. As with many situations in life, being prepared and armed with the best knowledge and information in advance, is the key to successfully managing a positive outcome for the sale of your home.

Early challenges1: Setting the asking price.

We are all optimistic when it comes to evaluating how much our home is worth. Human

nature often dictates that home owners know the value of their property better than anyone

else. You have your Bayleys agent’s total support on this. But setting the asking price for

the sale of your home is a skilled task involving multiple factors. Your Bayleys agent is best

placed to provide you with substantial property market research data, local neighbourhood

comparative pricings and statistical information, needed for you to make a well informed

price-setting decision.

If we think your initial price expectation is too high, we would like to be able to challenge

you on the processes and methodology used to determine that price level. It’s not out of

disrespect, it’s out of our commitment under the Real Estate Agents Act not to mislead you

in any aspect of the sale process. Too many of our competitors are happy to secure listings

on unrealistic estimates of a property’s value – leaving customers disillusioned when the

property fails to sell for a falsely infl ated price which the market was never prepared to meet.

2: Another agent contacts you to say they have buyers for your property.

This is commonly-used tactic by less experienced and less skilled sales consultants in the

real estate game – designed to create doubt in your mind and encourage you to place your

home under a dual listing campaign. However, the industry’s generally held advice is that you

refer such enquiries to your nominated agent.

Should the other agent actually have a genuine buyer, we are of course happy to work in

conjunction with that agent to showcase your property. We will come to an understanding

with the other agent and manage the situation to get the best possible result for you.

It’s great if they potentially do have an interested buyer – but it is vital you have only one

agent managing the negotiation so that the process remains transparent as set out by the

Real Estate Agents Act… and ultimately in your best interests.

3: You get an early offer that is below your asking price.

A tricky situation, and defi nitely a moment of pressure. Often two things are happening

at the same time - on one hand, properties often get their best offers relatively shortly

after they are listed. There are buyers who have been looking for some time, but who have

been unsuccessful to date in purchasing a property. When the right property does come

up – and it may well be yours – they are fully aware of where market values are sitting,

and are in a position to act quickly.

However, there are also other potential buyers who want to test you by putting in a very

low bid to see if you are prepared to countersign – taking that to mean your asking price is

nowhere near your intended acceptance price.

In either scenario, your Bayleys agent is best placed to talk through the options, the

process, and the potential outcomes. As every property listing is truly unique, there are

no hard and fast rules on what is best, and as a result, every case is assessed on its own

individual circumstances. As with all Bayleys dealings with our customers…. it’s all about

you.

By meeting with the buyer and intimately understanding their personal circumstances or

motivation, your Bayleys agent will know the background of the would-be purchaser and

how they arrived at their offer price. It is your agent’s job to know if the buyer is able to put

forward a better offer – and just how much that offer will be.

When we achieve the maximum offer possible from that buyer, it will then be your decision

whether to accept the offer or not. Whatever you decide, we will back you.

4: Your neighbour or friend says you’re selling your house too cheaply.

Residential real estate is one of the most widely discussed topics in New Zealand media

today – hitting the front pages or making the news on an almost weekly basis.

As a result, there are thousands of self-appointed ‘experts’ ready to throw in their ten

cents worth of commentary. Infl uenced by access to minimal mainstream information,

most of those views are simply opinions.

On the other hand, your Bayleys agent will have discussed the market with you thoroughly,

shown you the reams of local property data, sales statistics, market information and

economic commentary, and armed you with facts. Together, you and your Bayleys sales

consultant will have established an asking price based on hard data – taking emotion out

of the equation, where it has no place in setting a sale price.

Remember, neighbours with vested interests may say the asking price is ‘too cheap’

because they want their property’s value to increase as a result of being linked to your

location. Friends, with best of intentions, want to be encouraging and supportive of your

sales process – ultimately seeking to see you achieve a ‘dream scenario’ which may in

reality be totally unrealistic.

At the end of it, the market will decide the price – and it will be your decision alone

on whether to accept that offer armed with all the information you have been

provided with.

Challenges in the process

1: Preparing your home to look at its best for open homes.

It’s a demanding job at the best of times to keep any home in pristine presentable

condition - especially if you have children. Good news… your home doesn’t have to look

like the scene for a photo shoot from a glossy interior décor lifestyle magazine. That’s why

we at Bayleys try to ‘manage’ the market by holding open homes at a time convenient to

your, and allowing you to prepare for well in advance.

Every now and then though, we will have an unexpected buyer enquiry that involves

viewing your home at short notice. So long as we are satisfi ed the buyer is a genuine

prospect and of course in total consultation with you, we will endeavour to show them

your home as soon as possible – before they are enticed by another opportunity.

To manage this process, we will always phone you fi rst and try to give you as much time as

possible to get your home into an attractive and presentable state. If a proposed viewing

time is inconvenient, we simply ask you to appreciate that your Bayleys agent is acting in

your best interests by trying to make the most of a genuine buyer opportunity.

2: What do you do while there is a viewing?

During the course of an open home or pre-arranged private viewing, it’s psychologically

benefi cial for buyers to get the feeling that they ‘own the place’ for as long as they are

there. Decades of real estate sales experience have shown that buyers will spend longer

at your home when you as the owner are not present – because, for the meantime, it’s

‘your house’ and they are merely visitors prying into your life.

Of course, your agent will be able to present the fi ner details of your home to all interested

buyers.

In the meantime, that gives you an hour or so to get the week’s shopping done, pop out

for a coffee with friends, go open home shopping for your next home, enjoy a walk along

the beach, or take a drive with the family.

3: Who’s that at the door?

All sorts of people may turn up when you are selling your home… and some of them are to

be avoided - especially those offering to deal directly when it comes to making an offer.

Why? Because your real estate agent is exclusively working for you. Bringing years of

expertise, skill, and knowledge, their job is to sell your home on your behalf for as much as

possible. Conversely, a private buyer’s motivation is to purchase your home for the lowest

price possible. The confl icts of interest are patently obvious.

Simply refer the enquiry directly through to your agent, and never disclose your selling price

to anyone.

4: You’re away for a few days. What happens?

Bayleys undertaking to you throughout the marketing process is one of constant honest

communication – because the more you know about how the marketing campaign is

progressing, the better placed you will be to make any potential sales decision.

If you’re heading away for a few days, simply advise your Bayleys agent of how you can be

contacted should anything arise which requires immediate attention…. such as a time-

constrained offer being placed ‘on the table’. If mobile phone reception is limited, advise

your agent on possible land line communications.

If, for some reason, total communication is restricted, rest assured that your Bayleys agent

will place your interests fi rst in negotiating the best possible outcome in the circumstances –

which will then be placed before you on your return.

5: Keeping you ‘in the loop’ at all times

Throughout the length of your marketing campaign with Bayleys, we promise and commit to

communicate with you regularly through whichever means you prefer – phone calls, emails,

texts, letters, or face-to-face meetings.

This communication will be as often and regular as your stipulate – something we will

establish at the very start of the marketing campaign, and will abide by until otherwise

instructed by you.

Potentially, your Bayleys sales agent would expect to conduct several strategic meetings with

you during the marketing period to ensure everyone is thinking along the same lines, that

the market is being listened to, and exploring any new and unexpected opportunities which

may have arisen since the previous meeting.

Challenges which arise as offerscome in... or don’t1: Do you accept an offer?

This is the big test, and the moment you will have prepared for since listing your property

with Bayleys. Just as they will have been throughout the entire marketing process, your

Bayleys sales agent will be by your side to give you the best advice possible in what will be

unique circumstances.

Under the Real Estate Agents Act, all offers – irrespective of price levels or conditions –

must be presented to you as the client. Sometimes, the offer your agent is required to

present may not meet your expectations. Because every home, every client, and every

marketing campaign is unique, your Bayleys sales consultant will discuss the potential

pathways forward to deal with such offers.

Using your agent’s knowledge, expertise, and understanding of the market as it specifi cally

relates to your home, the challenge for them, on your instructions, will usually be to seek out

the buyer’s best possible offer, then assess that against the rest of the market.

At the end of the day though, armed with every piece of information and data necessary, the

decision on whether to accept or not will ultimately be yours and yours alone.

2: Offers are thin on the ground. Do you drop the price?

Only one factor ever stops a property from selling…… the price. Quite simply, the best home on the

market may sit around unsold for months if the asking price is wrong.

Human psyche dictates that the asking price for your home is generally greater than your

actual ‘bottom line’ price expectation. That same human psyche also dictates that buyers

want a perceived ‘bargain’. Therein lies the two sides from which negotiations begin.

However, if open home viewings or general enquiries have been slow in comparison to the

market ‘norms’, it is worth reviewing the asking price.

The property market research data, local neighbourhood comparative pricings, statistical

information and market feedback continually provided by your sales agent, will have given

you all the tools required to make any pricing readjustment decision. At the end of the day,

a sale is about ‘meeting the market’.

Unless the price indication is right, you will miss out on attracting buyers who both aspire to

your property… and can afford your acceptance price. Too high an asking price, and you will

be showcasing your home to buyers who are looking for something in a higher price bracket.

Consequently, you may be missing out on hitting your real target market.

Experience shows, that when a client is realistic with the market, the market in turn is

realistic with them.

Under Bayleys Professional Conduct And Client Care Rules:

• When a property is being marketed with a price attached, we will never say to buyers

that the asking price is out of line with the market.

• When a property is being marketed without a price attached (such as through

auction or tender) we will never indicate to buyers an exact price that will secure your

property.

• Our saying is ‘the best buyer, not the fi rst buyer’. We will not pressure you to accept

an initial offer. Your home is yours, you are free to do what you like with it – you are

always free to wait for another offer.

• We will ensure that we provide you with all the information you require to make an

informed decision when the time comes.