First offer syndrome

WITH CHRISTIAN BARTLEY FROM BELLARINE PROPERTY

SELLING in a reasonable time frame is every genuine vendor’s aim, second only to selling for the highest possible price.

“Yet most agents say that the hardest sale to make is the one that comes along in the first days of marketing,” Bellarine Property managing director Christian Bartley said. “Inexperienced vendors are often unaware of the mechanics of the marketing process. They think that if purchaser one is prepared to pay $x in the first week of marketing, then purchaser two will pay $x+ next week.

“They say things like ‘if the first ad brings in this sort of response, what will the second one bring?’, as if price increases incrementally with time.” Mr Bartley said vendors should be aware of the processes that are set in motion when a property first comes on the market. “A property attracts the greatest amount of attention when it is first presented.

“All the purchasers that have been looking for their ideal home for weeks and months converge eagerly on a new listing.” According to Mr Bartley, these are the qualified purchasers – the ones who have done their homework and know exactly what their money will buy.

“New listings attract numbers and numbers mean competition. “And it’s competition that creates the climate that generates the highest offers. This is the time when a purchaser who falls in love with a property will be afraid that someone else will snap it up before they do.

“The longer a property is on the market at a given price, the more the sense of competition fizzles out and the more likely subsequent purchasers are to feel they have plenty of time to make up their minds.” Mr Bartley said the feeling that time is on their side gives purchasers the psychological edge.

“Basically they feel they can afford to offer less with more chance of getting a bargain. “It’s not hard for them to work out that a property is getting stale.” According to Mr Bartley, a property starts to go stale once all the “qualified” purchasers have inspected it.

Those who come on the scene subsequently are new to the marketplace and have yet to work out what their money will buy. Naturally, new purchasers are unready and unwilling to commit themselves until they have done their homework.

“In the final analysis, the vendor’s two main aims are not separable. “They are two sides of the same coin. Selling for the highest price usually means getting serious about that early offer. “Vendors who fall victim to ‘first offer syndrome’ often regret their early refusal to negotiate when they discover that further down the track they end up settling for less.”

For further information, contact Christian Bartley on 0410 695 325, email [email protected] or visit bellarineproperty.com.au.