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Top three Victorian agent Carla Fetter has had a storied career in real estate for almost two decades, but she did not taste success immediately. Nurturing relationships and diligently prospecting over a long period yielded results.
The Jellis Craig Armadale director sold 134 properties for $309.4 million in the 2022 calendar year (compared to 104 properties sold in 2021 for $248.4 million).
As a result, she climbed from 30th to 13th place in the REB Top 100 Agents 2023, and from seventh to third in the Top 50 Agents Victoria 2023 ranking. She also placed second in the Top 50 Women in Real Estate ranking.
Ms Fetter attributed her achievements to her longevity in the market, hard work and dedication to her clients.
“I wasn’t doing these numbers in the first five or even 10 years of my career,” she admitted to REB.
“Where I stand out from my peers is I am very diligent and consistent with my prospecting. I nurture relationships over a long period of time. I frequently call people on my database.”
Every buyer is a potential vendor
A strategy that has been pivotal to Ms Fetter’s success is considering every buyer a future vendor, and as such, focusing extensively on her buyer database and servicing them.
Ms Fetter said she and her team nurture buyer relationships over the long term by keeping in touch and providing information about how properties in their market have been selling.
“Some buyers might have properties to sell once they purchase. Others might want to sell, upgrade, or downsize in a few years,” she said.
“It’s important that we service those buyers and let them know we’re here to support them through their journey to secure their next home.
“I’ve got buyer specialist agents in my team who help me manage a healthy volume of buyers. They ring potential buyers to inform them about new listings, price and inspection times.”
Play in the areas you know well
To increase the probability of success, Ms Fetter said she only accepts listings in areas where she has got market share and strong market knowledge.
She services areas such as Armadale, Malvern, South Yarra, Prahran, Stonnington, Richmond and surrounds, and sells single-fronted cottage houses as well as larger double-fronted family period homes priced between $1.5 million to $7 million.
“When I walk into a house, I can think of the last three properties that I’ve sold, who the under bidders were, and who the keen buyers were,” Ms Fetter said.
“I immediately know if this house is like others I’ve visited. We know those buyers are going to be interested. We like to start talking to owners about whether they intend to move quickly to sell their home.”
While 2022 was successful for Ms Fetter, she noted that it may be difficult to repeat this success in 2023 due to current economic conditions as interest rates have risen and housing stock has dwindled.
She said that the volume of family homes in Melbourne and Adelaide has slumped by 50 per cent.
“We do our best to motivate people to sell but a lot of home owners have said they don’t want to sell, for whatever reason,” Ms Fetter said.
However, while volumes have declined, prices have been strong in the last quarter, unlike last year when they had weakened, she said.
“We have more competitive options and we’ve seen growth again,” she said.
“What is available is being well contested for.”
For the remainder of 2023, Ms Fetter said she would like to increase the agency’s volume, win more business, provide clients with optimal advice, secure strong results for vendors, and offer buyers stellar service.
As for how other agents could emulate her success, Ms Fetter suggested that they plan for the long term rather than immediate gratification.
In a tougher economic environment, she advised agents to persevere, focus on building relationships with buyers, and serve them well before and after they purchase a property.
“Be an honest person and do the right thing for people,” she said.
“That should come back to you favourably if you can do it over a long period of time.”
Click here to view the full REB Top 100 Agents, Top 50 Agents NSW, and the Top 50 Women in Real Estate rankings.
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