Listening to clients and remembering the basics are usually a guarantee for success…

by Bayleys Lower North Island residential manager Joanna Vink

Our Rookie of the Year, Barry McKean, decided to door knock an enclave of nine homes called ‘Lakemba Mews’ after a client had recently said ‘they wouldn’t mind buying there’.

He patiently endured hours of chatting and cups of tea with the elderly owners of all nine homes. It was all worthwhile when he finally got a listing out of the nine properties he visited, which he promptly sold.

The campaign and open homes were such a success that he was left with another 20 buyers who were looking for a similar property. So he re-visited ‘Lakemba Mews’ to prospect for another listing, to which he was successful, and again promptly listed and sold.

Barry is now in the process of hunting out similar properties for the large database of buyers he has assembled as a result of his first door knocking visit to ‘Lakemba Mews’.

Two listings and sales, plus an excellent qualified database of buyers was the result of a straightforward day’s door knocking – which just shows that listening carefully to your clients and getting back to basics is usually guaranteed to get you results.

Home Ownership In New Zealand

I'm often asked what is the average time period of home ownership in New Zealand and the simple answer is approx 7 years this is for both residential and lifestyle.

Of course there are those whom have built and lived in their homes for 20 years plus and those whom get itchy feet after a mere 12months and decide to sell

There is a portion of the market that turns over quite frequently, and these tend to dominate the sales in a given year.

For example, first home buyers typically do not stay in their first house for long, instead trading up after a few years. Similarly younger couples will tend to move to larger houses in family friendly areas after a few years.

These transactions will tend to dominate the sales and overwhelm the much smaller number of sales of houses that have been owned for 20 or more years.

On the Streets of London

Click on the image and see me on the the London Bus

I am scanning the globe to find buyers for our fine properties

People turn to Barry McKean Property Brokers for solutions in tough times.

You only have one shot at getting it right and top quality marketing nets results

We’re hearing that many people are now starting to find it’s taking longer to sell their property in the current housing market.

In recent times we at Property Brokers have had an influx of people turning to us for solutions when their property has been on the market for a long time and hasn’t sold.

Marketing isn't just about those big glossy adverts, although we do those too. (crisp clean and buyer friendly). Its about applying a proven strategy that is focused around proactive marketing, extracting the very best out of your house and presenting that message to the ideal audience.

Its about knowing all the features and benefits of your property . Its about identifying an ideal target market for each property we represent. Its about building invaluable trust and rapport with buyers and sellers.

The first two weeks of your campaign is absolutely critical to the eventual outcome. This is when your home is fresh to the market and all best buyers are looking at it. After this the tide goes out and inquiry falls off rapidly. We work hard over these first two weeks and this seriously pays off for our sellers.

I cringe when I see great properties come up for sale with no clear marketing structure. Near enough is never good enough and this fly by the seat of your pants approach rarely delivers a premium. After all your home is worth hundreds of thousands of dollars and it needs to be advertised representing this true value.

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Never judge a book by its cover

by Bayleys Lower North Island residential manager Joanna Vink

Here’s a simple little story that reminds us all of the fundamentals of sales.

Salesperson Barry McKean was doing an open home one Sunday some weeks ago – one eye on the clock and a quiet day - when in burst a young Asian girl, who at first glance looked like a teenager.

Avoiding Barry’s gaze she dashed through the home and out the door again, asking in broken English over her shoulder as she was leaving - “How much this house?”

Barry told her and without even pausing she said ‘too much” as she darted towards the door.

Not discouraged by her lack of interest, lack of English and her young age, our quick-thinking Barry leapt to his feet and chased after her calling “hang on a minute – how much do you have?”

To his surprise - within minutes he had arranged to show her some possible properties in her price range. Within one session of three viewings and two days later, that same young woman had purchased a house with cash up front.

This sale has given our office a valuable reminder - never underestimate anyone due to their appearance and never let a chance go by…

Rising house values behind past peaks

By TRACY NEAL - The Nelson Mail

House values in Nelson and Tasman are on the rise, but are still lagging behind the peaks of late 2007 and early 2008, according to the latest figures from QV Valuations.

QV valuation manager Glenda Whitehead said the latest residential price movement index showed Nelson city house values were 4.6 per cent lower than they were at their peak in December 2007. Tasman district hit its peak in April 2008, and values were currently 2.2 per cent lower.

However, the region is among the country's few provincial centres to show strong improvement. New Plymouth was the standout performer in 2009 with a 7.1 per cent increase in values, followed by Palmerston North and Tasman district at 3.3 per cent, Invercargill at 3.2 per cent and Nelson at 3.1 per cent

Overall, New Zealand house values rose 2.8 per cent throughout 2009, and are now only 4.9 per cent below the peak of the market.

The latest QV residential price movement monthly report shows prices in Nelson city improved from a 1.1 per cent annual change in November last year, to 3.1 per cent a month later. The average sale price in December was $346,400.

Tasman district edged slightly above Nelson City for the same period, moving up from a 1.1 per cent annual change last November to 3.3 per cent in December. The average sale price in the district was $371,499.
Neighbouring Marlborough recorded a drop from 1 per cent growth to 0.6 per cent between November and December last year.

Whangarei and Gisborne ended the year lower than they started, while Rotorua, Hastings and Queenstown Lakes all finished the year more or less level, Ms Whitehead said.

She said residential property values in most provincial and rural areas did not increase as strongly as the main urban areas. Reports indicated that property listings in the lower performing areas were more abundant, with demand lower due to localised economic factors such as closures of local industries and subdued earnings for the rural sector dampening confidence.
"There are now signs of confidence returning to the provincial markets, with activity in more recent months showing value increases," Ms Whitehead said.

Real Estate Institute of New Zealand Nelson-Marlborough spokesman Vaughan Borcovsky said today anecdotal information from the industry supported the QV findings, but a shortage of listings remained in the region, partly because people were being cautious about selling. However, the trend was starting to ease.

Mr Borcovsky said tighter lending patterns had led to people working to a price ceiling, and vendors needing to be realistic with pricing.

Ms Whitehead said sales activity was expected to lift in the first few months of this year as owners who had held off in 2009 decide to move.

"The future continues to hold uncertainty and risk, and that risk is being priced into the market by sellers, buyers, investors and most certainly lenders," she said.