If you were to ask a group of gardeners what the perfect time to plant tomatoes is, you’ll hear a variety of different answers. Some enthusiasts believe the end of winter is ideal, while others swear by waiting until mid-way through spring. Yet others will tell you tomatoes can be grown all year round, they’ll just take longer to ripen in cooler weather.

In reality, the soil temperature must be between 16 and 35 degrees for the plants to grow tall, and this fa
ctor is far more important than the calendar date. But even if you get the timing right, without the correct preparation, the plants will fail to flourish. The soil must be well-drained and enriched with organic matter and you’ll need stakes or a trellis to support the plants’ growth.

It’s a process.

It’s the same with property sales. There’s no standard “perfect time” to sell property, despite those who continue to swear it’s spring. The subtle dynamics between supply and demand are far more important than the season in determining a successful outcome. But even in the hottest of hot markets, overlooking effective preparation is the kiss of death to any campaign.

In our local market, buyer demand is strong. Conditions are ripe for those property owners who are ready to sell. The temptation is strong for many to rush their properties to market, to capitalise on the obvious opportunity.

Just remember, there’s no such thing as a perfect time, only a perfect process.

All the best

Michael Kirwan

Michael Kirwan -

The great explorers would set out on journeys into the unknown that could go for months, years or even decades. But along the way, they would regularly pause to take stock of where they were, using whatever instruments or other navigational skills they had. To fail to do so would have meant they would have become lost, never able to achieve their goal or return to where they started.

As the world moves faster, the importance of stopping to take stock has never been more important. Wherever in our lives we fail to pause, we risk spinning our wheels, unable to make good decisions or move in the direction we had anticipated.

In our business, we stop to take stock at regular planning meetings. It’s where we see how much closer we’ve moved towards our goals to streamline systems, implement better processes and improve the overall service to you, our customers. We’re thrilled to see the destination is moving ever closer.

During the process of selling a home, it’s critical the seller stops to take stock regularly too. And it’s even more critical that their agent provides them with the tools to do so. That’s why we send weekly vendor reports, which detail all of the important information that’s been gathered over the previous seven days. The number of inspections, the buyer feedback, the marketing statistics – all there for our vendor to clearly understand exactly how the campaign is tracking.

It’s the brief pause that improves the chances of a positive journey.

All the best
Michael Kirwan

Michael Kirwan -

Sceptics believe there’s no such thing as something for nothing. And maybe in some ways they’re right. After all, you can probably think of some cost or some expectation of reciprocation to attach to most things you receive.

We like to think we’re part of a changing real estate industry, locally at least. Before, agents were really only interested in their customers if they were looking to sell. In between transactions, there was no relationship at all.

We believe the future of real estate will be based completely on relationships – on trust built over many years. We also believe that in order to build relationships, you need to stay in touch regularly and help the other party in any way you can along the way.

Our clients have told us the best way we can help them in between transactions is by providing them with good quality local property information. That’s why we’ve created the postcode snap shot, which details all of the relevant information pertaining to your suburb, produced on a quarterly basis.

It’s free, delivered to any property owner in our local area who would like it without any obligation or expectation. Of course, we’d like to think we’ll be your agent of choice when the time comes to sell, but even if we’re not, it’s still yours to keep and use however you choose.

If you haven’t already signed up for your copy, contact us and we’ll be happy to arrange it. Your own little slice of something for nothing.
All the best
Michael Kirwan

Michael Kirwan -

Our friend Lisa is hopeless at catering. She always orders too much food, over-anticipating how many servings she’ll need to feed everybody. Her confusion is over the fractions – although the average pizza might have eight slices, how big are each of the slices?

It’s common when a property owner is thinking of selling to request appraisals from several different agents. And one of the key numbers that many people consider during the decision making process is the percentage commission the agent will charge. Some will ask for as much as 3%, some as little as 1%. But although it looks at first glance like one is charging double the other to do the same job, all is not as it seems.

Here’s an example. If a property sells for $200,000 and the commission is 1%, the total payable to the agent is $2000. The seller pockets $198,000, less costs. But let’s suggest the property was actually sold for $215,000 and the commission is 3%. In this scenario, the agent gets paid $6450, but the seller pockets $208,550 – $10,550 more than scenario one.

Real estate does not have a fixed price. The net financial outcome for the seller all depends on how much the property actually sells for – and that depends largely on the quality of the agent. It’s only logical. Getting the best possible price takes time, commitment and skill.

This is why low commission rates should be viewed with caution. After all, it stands to reason that if an agent can only sell you on themselves by discounting their fee, they’ll probably use the same tactic to sell your home.

And if you buy them as your agent, you’ll end up with a bigger slice, but most likely of a much smaller pie.

All the best

Michael Kirwan

Michael Kirwan -

Whether on a date or in a furniture shop, as a nation, most Australians are unlikely to be totally upfront about their thoughts and feelings.

Most people are far more likely to say “Thanks, I’ll call you” or “I’ll think about it” than “I never want to see you again” or “there’s no way that couch is worth that much”. And although such honesty might ultimately make things simpler, imagine if people actually were – how would the other party react to such an uncharacteristically candid response?

This tendency to be non-committal is a challenge in the real estate world, too. Only the most skilled agents are able to effectively deal with it – to tease out the buyer’s true position and then communicate it, along with other important information, in a way the seller can digest. Bringing both parties to a mutually satisfactory outcome.

Overlooking this reluctance Australians have to be candid, quite a number of new companies have sprung up that specifically cater for owners who want to sell their homes themselves. Industry conspiracy theorists even believe that the long term game plan of realestate.com.au is to cut out the agent entirely.

In part, the trend understandable – technically, a seller can sell their property themselves. And as the private sale companies say in their advertisements, why shouldn’t the property owner owner get to keep the $5 or $10k the agent would have taken in commission?

But in reality, would they?

In fact, the private seller would only be guaranteed of “pocketing the commission” if real estate had a set price. But it absolutely does not. The commission is a percentage of the end price, not a fixed fee.

So here’s some more questions for the would-be private seller;

Will they be able to get the best price? Do they want to organise the campaign, conduct the open homes, deal with the buyers, and make the necessary phone calls to follow up? And more importantly and the point that’s so often overlooked – do the buyers want to deal directly with them?

Or will those buyers just be saying “Thanks, I’ll call you”?

All the best

Michael Kirwan

Michael Kirwan -

When steering a ship, the helmsman is responsible for keeping the vessel on course. While some rudder adjustments will be required depending on the water’s topography, the aim is to keep the ship’s course steady – after all, it’s not much fun for any passengers if the ship is wildly tacking back and forth, nor is it particularly safe. Hence the phrase “steady as she goes” – meaning to steer only as needed to keep on the current course.

The major capital cities of Sydney and Melbourne have experienced rapid house price growth over the past twelve months – at 14.8% and 11% respectively. Now there’s increasing speculation in the media that a property bubble’s building, or at the very least, that prices have already peaked. The latest comments have come from billionaire property developer Lang Walker, who says he’s turned his focus to Malaysia because prices in the two Australian cities have already climbed too much. Buyers are becoming nervous, despite interest rates remaining at a historical low for a full year and lenders slashing fixed loan rates in their bid for customers.

Our local market is far less volatile. While we haven’t seen the recent heady gains of the capital cities, we also have not experienced the price corrections and periods of flat-lining recorded by property markets in those cities over the past decade.

According to researcher PDS, the local median house price has risen by just under 3% over the past year. Rather than alarming peaks and troughs, we’ve experienced a slow and steady burn, with prices rising more or less consistently every year over the past decade to arrive at a net capital gain of 45%.

Stock is becoming more and more limited as winter draws to a close. Demand remains strong, perhaps with less uncertainty than is evident in other marketplaces. Overall, there’s a healthy balance between buyers and sellers, with good opportunities for each to transact to mutual gain.

In Maitland and surrounds at least, it’s steady as she goes.

All the best

Michael Kirwan

Michael Kirwan -

Whether it’s swimming, athletics or horse racing, the start is a critical component to success in any competitive event. A slow or sloppy start can easily compromise a win, regardless of how well the participant might otherwise perform.

It’s much like real estate sales. History shows that the first few days and weeks after a property first hits the market is when it will attract the greatest amount of buyer interest. Mess up the critical start and the remainder of the campaign will likely be a mad scramble to recover, with the agent chasing the buyers all the way to the bottom.

The very best selling campaigns are carefully planned well in advance of the date the property is launched to market. That means an initial review of the property in conjunction with your agent to assess the need for any repairs or maintenance, as well as thorough preparation of all marketing materials and contracts. Professional photos must be taken, copy written and ads booked.

All of this before the very first prospective buyer has even stepped through the front door.

Many local sellers have been waiting for warmer weather to put their home on the market. It’s resulted in market conditions where very little is available for sale and buyer demand is backing up, just waiting for new stock to appear.

If you’ve been postponing selling until spring, now is the time to be starting the preparations. After all, those vendors who are first off the blocks will intuitively have maximum traction with a larger number of willing buyers.

All the best

Michael Kirwan

Michael Kirwan -

The scarcity principle goes like this; a limited supply coupled with a high demand results in a mismatch between the two. In pricing theory, the scarcity principle then suggests that the price for a scarce good or service should rise until demand and supply return to balance.

The real estate market is subject to the same principles as any other market. From month to month and even week to week, the balance between demand for property and the supply of it will vary, depending on a raft of different factors. Making good real estate decisions is all about understanding the balance at any given time and being poised to seize the opportunities as they arise.

At Ray White Maitland, we have a dedicated buyer manager. Acting solely for people who are ready and willing to buy, it’s a value-added service we provide to keep clients who are looking to purchase abreast of what’s on offer. For a long time, there’s been plenty to talk about, with our office consistently carrying at least 45 properties for sale.

But this week, our buyer manager has been practically twiddling his thumbs. After double the usual number of sales in the past 45 days, we have very little left to sell. So he’s left to pass along the bad news to the more than 30 active buyers he’s currently working with that there’s literally nothing for them to purchase.

There’s no telling what might happen next. After all, with many vendors buying into the out-dated notion that spring is the best time to sell, there’ll be a flood of new stock as of September 1^st to balance out demand. But for those who are more interested in economic principle than seasonal fallacies, the current dynamics offer clear opportunities for home owners right now – which for the first time in a long time may well include a low stress, off-market sale at a healthy price.

That’s the scarcity principle at work.

All the best

Michael Kirwan

Michael Kirwan -

When you look a little bit closer, some expressions we use in everyday life are a bit illogical. Take the one that goes; “you can’t have your cake and eat it too” for example – you actually can have a cake and then eat it.

In fact, it probably makes more sense to say “you can’t eat your cake and keep it”.

Either way, we all understand the intended meaning. You can’t live two opposing realities at once – ergo, once you’ve eaten your cake, you can’t still have it. The cake is gone.

In the property world, we see two opposing realities when a vendor expects a flurry of activity and an instant sale, but also doesn’t have any intention to sell unless the price achieved is sky high. Still anticipating high attendance at regular open homes and multiple offers that fail to happen, these vendors are the same ones who will then say “oh we actually don’t need to sell,” or “we’re not in any hurry”, while holding out for a price that’s well above the market.

Now we’re not saying that vendors should always sell quickly, or that they should always sell at any price. Every individual has their own unique factors at play and designing the best possible marketing campaign and subsequent outcome has to balance all of those concerns. But formulating a realistic asking price is a key ingredient to spark buyer competition and achieve a good sale within a reasonable time frame. If the seller really is fixed on a premium, that requires a different strategy from the agent and a different set of expectations from the vendor.

Over the past six weeks, buyer activity has been the busiest we’ve seen for some time. We’re seeing a high level of offers and acceptance, particularly in mid-range properties. Regardless, having a realistic view on price is critical to achieving those high inspection numbers and multiple offers.

Expecting any other outcome is like wanting to eat and keep the cake – understandable, but just not practical.

All the best

Michael Kirwan

Michael Kirwan -

George always wanted to take a trip to the old country. All his life he’d talked about when he’d retire, and he and Marge would revisit all of the old places they’d not seen for years. They’d been saving carefully along the way to do it in style – it would be the holiday of a lifetime.

Unfortunately, just before he was due to retire, George fell ill. His doctor said it would be too risky for him to take the trip, now or ever.

We all do it in some way – postpone important events or fail to use beautiful gifts, all because we’re waiting for the “perfect” time. Which sometimes never comes.

In the property world, the trap is in an old adage – that one that says that spring is the perfect time to sell. The theory goes that with the garden in full bloom, the property will look at its best, which naturally means the buyers will pay more. Or does it?

The reality is that property is just like any other commodity. The sales outcome is largely based on demand and supply. When there is less demand to meet the supply, the buyer has the upper hand. And when there is more demand and not enough supply, the seller is on top.

This winter, demand is strong. Today’s news that a major lender has dropped their variable home loan rate to just 4.65% will only add to the already-strong stimulus of a low interest rate environment. At Ray White, we sold 58% more properties in June than the long term monthly average.

Supply is in good balance currently, but there’s no doubt that spring will bring a rush of new listings, for the reasons we’ve already detailed. For those considering an imminent sale, going to market prior to any increase in competition for buyers would be the most logical course of action.

Unless of course you’re waiting for a special occasion.

All the best

Michael Kirwan

Michael Kirwan -