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While expressing the belief that it’s still a good time to sell, one Victorian real estate agent is instructing vendors to throw as much in as they can for free to get deals over the line in the current climate.
Sheree Hay, sales manager for Home AU Real Estate, has acknowledged that many sellers are now having to reset their sale price expectations — but even despite all of the negative media coverage, she believes it still is a seller’s market.
That’s because there is still a shortage of high-quality properties available out there.
“However, we are having to work harder to get the right buyers to the table,” she conceded, with an increase in the number of days that properties are sitting on the market compared to this time in 2021.
“While the number of days in Melbourne is sitting at 34 for houses, this is still a fairly short period of time,” she raised, with houses still selling faster than apartments.
While it means “vendors are not necessarily having to drop their prices”, Ms Hay said she is now using the changed market conditions to encourage vendors to “look at ways they can sweeten the deal to make the sale more attractive for the buyer”.
“We are encouraging sellers to look at ways in which they can add value to the deal to optimise the sale price and speed up the sale process,” she shared.
Here are her top tips on how sellers can provide extra value for buyers at this time — improving both transaction speed and final purchase price.
- Include sales imagery
Ms Hay has noted that listing a property for sale is about having the right imagery to promote and market the property to potential buyers.
“The better the imagery, the more views, clicks and people viewing the property on open day,” she offered.
With a lot of people purchasing property for investment reasons, she posed the question: “Why not include the property imagery for the buyer so they can use it to rent out the property?
“This way, they can get renters in the door faster for the best price, and they don’t have to outlay money on photography to do this. This is an upfront saving for them.”
- Provide outdoor furniture and pots
“Often, outdoor furniture and pots don’t suit the seller’s new home,” Ms Hay has raised.
“Rather than having to move it, store it or deal with the time-consuming process of selling it, it is often easier to leave some things behind.
“Why not offer to include certain pieces of furniture, pots or a BBQ so the new owner can use them? This is a nice way of including something for free that you don’t really need.”
- Give immediate access
According to the Mornington Peninsula-based agent, oftentimes, people want to rent out a property straight away on settlement or start work on changing it to meet their own tastes.
“Why not offer to give the new owner immediate access so they can get a tradie in to measure up for quotes?” Ms Hay said.
She said she often meets tradies and carpet and curtain businesses at properties before they have settled so the new owners can get blinds and carpets ordered and underway.
From Ms Hay’s perspective, not only does it save the buyer time, but it can help them to get a tenant in the door faster.
- Include work benches and equipment
With garages able to hold gear, including work benches, tool storage and cupboards and other types of equipment, Ms Hay puts it to sellers that they can include in some of these in the deal.
“If they are items you don’t really need or don’t want to move, then why not include it in the sale to sweeten the deal,” she proposed.
- Appliances and household items
With many homes now hosting fridges, washing machines, coffee makers and other appliances that are “built-in or perfectly sized or coloured to suit areas of the home”, Ms Hay said these are another item that can be used to sweeten the sale price.
“If these items add value and would be difficult to replace because of their size, dimensions or style, why not offer to include them in the sale?” she said.
According to the agent, these offers “can mean the difference between buyers settling for your property due to convenience and ease or buying something else”.
In conclusion, Ms Hay acknowledged that a good agent would work with their vendors on the potentially unique ways they can “sweeten the deal” for would-be buyers.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Grace Ormsby
Grace is a journalist across Momentum property and investment brands. Grace joined Momentum Media in 2018, bringing with her a Bachelor of Laws and a Bachelor of Communication (Journalism) from the University of Newcastle. She’s passionate about delivering easy to digest information and content relevant to her key audiences and stakeholders.
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