Hide and Seek.

Firstly, well done to our team who secured 10 sales this week…a superb effort in a market that requires a lot of patience and even more urgency (yep I’m aware of the paradox). Sale of the week had to be the auction at 20 Prince Street which went for a staggering $450,000 over reserve.

The term ‘tyre kicker’ comes from the car industry and refers to prospects who come to the showroom pretending to be serious about buying but never do. I guess the real estate equivalent could be wall knockers?

Recently, we have had quite a few calls from people listed with other agents wanting to know why we think their house remains unsold. A common thing we hear is ‘we are getting lots of interest and plenty of people through but no offers.’

At present the numbers of people coming through open houses are as high as ever however the relative buyer quality is very low. Why is this? I think a lot of would be buyers are trying to figure the market out. There are so many people in research mode but are wary of buying just yet (presumably they are waiting for the market to start rising again?).

The other questionable metric is contracts issued. The problem with using contracts issued as a genuine sign of interest is that they are free. So many people come through opens, request a contract and then play hide and seek, I can’t tell you why.

What’s with that? Just why? Is collecting contracts some strange gratifying hobby I’m not aware of? Pray tell.

I dream of a world where it costs $50 to get a contract at an open and all money collected goes to charity. This would not only benefit the needy but it would also save owners so much frustration with their agent chasing shadows when they should be focusing on the serious buyers..that’s the key to success.

Finally, Darren I promised you I would use the word sanguine in this newsletter but I’ve run out of runway...except to say I remain sanguine about the property market…and congratulations to you and the family we are thrilled for you.

Until next week,
David Murphy