Welcome to the Selling Southport Podcast. I'm Andrew Wright, principal of Professional Southport since 2008. Real estate isn't just my career, it's my passion with decades of experience. I know what it takes to succeed in the property market. Especially here in Southport, whether you're looking to buy, sell, lease, or invest, you can count on me and my team to deliver strategies that maximize your returns.

Let's dive into today's episode and get you one step closer to your property goals.

Hello everyone and welcome back to Selling Southport. If you're thinking about selling your home, or you've already started speaking with agents, today's episode is an important one because choosing the right real estate agent is one of the biggest decisions you'll make in the selling process. Your agent is responsible for pricing your home, marketing it to the right buyers, negotiating the sale, and guiding you through the entire journey.

So, how do you actually know you're choosing the right person? Today I am joined by Andrew Wright, principal of Professional Southport. Andrew has been selling real estate in the Southport area around 20 years and has helped hundreds of local families and investors buy and sell property. Andrew, today we're gonna walk through something really useful for sellers, the key questions they should be asking when they're choosing an agent.

And importantly, this isn't about convincing people to choose you. It's about helping sellers make the right decision for them, whether that's you or somebody else.

Absolutely. Thanks for inviting me on the podcast, Adam.

Fantastic. Alright, Andrew, why is choosing the right agent such an important decision when selling your your home?

Well, it's the whole experience, isn't it? It it's nice to get a great outcome and it's. Obviously great. The first thing people will think of as a response to that question is getting the best price. Um, that is very, very important and part of getting the best price in a lot of cases is selecting an agent who is familiar with that particular local market.

Could be familiar with the actual building if you have an apartment to sell. And very, in most cases, it is very, very important that that person also has a team to back them up. So in my case, I'm a team, I have a team. My son Leon helps me and if I'm sick, if I'm on holidays or I'm just generally busy, I've got someone else there that can take over.

And generally, uh, we operate as a team for that reason.

Sure. Is he a fully licensed real estate

agent now? Yes. He's been in the business for four years and he's, uh, better looking and has a lot better personality than me, which greatly assists.

Right. So well look what impact can the right or wrong agent have on the final result?

Well, it, it's not just price. It can, can result in a better price if the agent knows what they're doing and they understand that in, in particular, the principle of having multiple offers at the, the same time. So that's, that competition is actually what drives the best price. Now, whether it doesn't have to be an auction, it could be just marketing a property with a price, but if you can structure your marketing strategy so that you can generate multiple offers, usually in the first couple of weeks.

Uh, that skillset is generally what results in the best, not only the best price for a seller, but also the most stress-free marketing campaign because it generally results in a quicker sale rather than letting the property go sale months on end. And, um, you know, for most sellers it's a stressful time and I think if you can get a, a result that you're confident that it's close to or at absolutely at top dollar.

In a shorter period of time, you can move on to the next project. And you know, it becomes a less stressful event for someone selling their house.

For sure. Because, I mean, selling a home isn't just about putting it online and waiting. There's a strategy behind every part of the process isn't there? And I guess a lot of people will probably think, you know.

Yep. They know about negotiation and, and, and looking at getting the best price. But it's more than that, isn't it? It's communication, it's buyer management, it's experience in the local market.

Ab Absolutely. So, um, one of, one of the things, just as an example with communication, it's pretty important. We like to provide a written response every Monday we provide our clients with a.

Uh, an email which basically provides all the buyer feedback from open home inspections and private inspections the week before. And if we run an auction campaign, we'll provide a full in writing report, uh, an auction summary, uh, marketing campaign summary, and also. And auction price reserve recommendation.

So as a seller, you need to decide, well, what, what reserve price should we put on this property when we go to auction? And, um, it's very, very important that you get advice around that, via feedback. So, you know, what, what's the best way to go?

Yep. So for sellers, when they decide they are going to market, what will usually happen is they'll invite.

1, 2, 3, or, or even more agents over for what you're, I guess, known in the industry as a, as a listing meeting. Can you tell me what happens at a, at a listing meeting and what they should be aware of?

Yeah, absolutely. Um, I mean it's quite, um, the number one, uh, expectation in the listing meeting, I guess, was that you would actually talk about the property and comparable sales in the area and how that.

Property compares to comparable sales. So one of the important things to, to ask that agent is what comparable sales they do have, how long they've been selling in this area, have they sold in this building or in this street or in this suburb. That's, and, uh, and it is very important that they know that.

So I, I've sold in other suburbs where quite clearly I didn't have the same expertise as another agent. And sometimes I wouldn't know if something sold for top dollar, but in my area, if it's a, an apartment in Southport Central or the Pivotal Point Building, or a house in Parkwood, which is the next suburb where I sell a lot of houses regularly, uh, I'll have a database of buys in my phone from one that I I sold a month ago.

And that's where a database of buyers, recent buyers from recent transactions in that area can really help. Now, the reality is if you are approached by a really big. Real estate agency and they say they've got a massive database of buyers. Only one in 10 sales statistically comes from a database. So what you really need to find out is from that database, how many of them are recent buyers from a transaction you've done in the last couple of months in this building or in this suburbs.

So that's what's, so there's context. Context,

brilliant. Quite around it, isn't there? Absolutely. Yeah. And I think, you know, one thing I sort of have come to learn too is a listing meeting. Should feel more like a conversation than a sales pitch, shouldn't it?

Yeah. Well, the agents should be asking you what you are trying to achieve, what timeframe you're wanting to sell, and where you're moving on to so that they can come up with the best strategy for you.

So a lot of that strategy revolves around a decision. First of all, are you going to market with the price? And if so, what that price should be and or secondly, would you like to market the property without a price? And that sort of discussion will generally involve. Explaining the benefits of a auction contract, which has no finance clauses, no building and pest clauses, a full 10% deposit, and there's no five day cooling off period.

So those sort of discussions need to be had around marketing without a price. And it's very, very important to know, and this is not a sledge against any agents, but some agents do not have a great skillset around conducting auctions. They may be great agents still, but you need to ask them. Have you had many successful auction campaigns in, in your recent time as an agent?

Because not all agents have the skill set around running successful auctions.

Yeah. Or even the question, should I be going to auction or should

we be doing a private zone? Absolutely. And I see some people go to auction when they've got, um, long tendencies in place with tenants that may not, may even completely refuse to have open home inspections.

And I've even seen them advertised for onsite auctions where. Body corporate legislation says you are not allowed to do an auction in this building. Of

course that's me.

Yeah.

Alright. Well, now if, if a, um, if someone who is selling their home is getting two or three agents over for a listing meeting, what are some of the must ask questions?

Well, I think we covered a few of them just before, uh, along the lines of how long have you been an agent? Are you a team? Do you have someone else that can assist with managing the buyers that come through this property? So you can follow them up and re do repeat inspections if, if you are not available?

You probably need to ask them if they've sold any houses in the last few months in this area or this street, or in this apartment block. And I'll give you an example of why that's important. Recently, I, I lost a listing. In a building that I'm an expert in. In fact, it's one where my off office operates from.

And the, uh, the owner said that they chose the other agent because they gave me a price a hundred thousand dollars higher than what you thought it was worth. And, um, what that owner didn't realize is that the other agent quoted the sale of another two bedroom apartment. Yes, it was in the same building, but it was 15 stories higher up.

And it was also instead of the west side of the building, which his was, it was on the east side overlooking the Broadwater and the ocean. And that other agent,

well there's the a hundred grand, right? Isn't, that's exactly

right.

So look, well that probably brings me onto my next question. What are some red flags that, uh, that sellers can look out for when they are interviewing an agent?

Look, I think, um, the most obvious one is definitely overpricing. It is very, very common, and I can say this. With experience from employing, I had 12 sales agents working for me at one stage, and one of the most common mistakes that those agents make is they're so, they need, they survive on commission only.

They need listings. It's in this business, it's you list or die is one of the, the sayings from a principle. Yeah. So when they go to a listing, they feel like they have to win the listing at all costs and whatever they think the value of a property is, they might add 5% to that. To try and encourage the owner to give them the job to list the property.

Now, that's a massive red flag because if you do that, a property can go very stale on the internet. It will result in a lot less inspections. It will mean almost for sure that there'll be no competitive offers made on your property. You won't have multiple offers, and it will end up being on the market a lot longer, and you'll probably end up with a lower price than if you price the properly.

Property correctly at the start, that is probably the biggest red flag. And I would say the second red flag would be an out of town agent who may have been referred to you, but they don't actually know the local area or the building.

Sure, sure. So you probably, you'd have to say that's the biggest mistake that you would see, um, sellers make, just going with the, the agent who quotes the, the biggest price.

And I know you've done another podcast episode. Fully on that exact thing, why overpricing can actually kill you and end up getting a lower price.

I'll give you an example. Just a couple of months ago, another listing that, that we lost, it was one that was on our rent roll and another agent came in and promised a price again, that was probably 70 or $80,000 above the real value of this two bedroom, one bathroom, duplex.

And, uh, the agent overpriced it because the. Seller said it's a three bedroom, one bathroom duplex. Now it was actually only two bedrooms, but the garage had been covered in, and the tenant was using it as a third bedroom, but it wasn't, wasn't a third bedroom, three bedroom, but the other agents said, oh, well three bedroom duplex in this area is worth X.

So they started the pricing $80,000 more. And guess what? About three months later, they brought it down to the price that I told the owner to market that, and then it sold properly. Three months instead of one month on market.

I think maybe the, the real key thing, and I want you to just elaborate on this, it, it's the relationship between the seller and the agent.

Isn't it that, that really feeling comfortable and having a rapport,

feeling comfortable having a rapport, but not necessarily just hearing the words you want to hear. An agent needs to have full transparency. And tell you exactly what's going on. They're, they're not there just to be your best friend.

They're here to guide you so that you can make the right decisions. Yeah, it's very, very important that, that people who are selling their property, if they're going to interview multiple agents, if they ask these questions now, they're not always gonna choose me, Adam, because, uh, we don't win every listing.

Not everyone buys from you and not everyone sells with you, but it's very important that to get the job done correctly, that they do choose a good agent. And it doesn't need to be me, but it needs to be a good agent and hopefully asking the right questions can make sure that you don't make a mistake.

Perfect. Thanks Andrew. Mike, I think this has been incredibly helpful for anyone out there about to, to list their property, who will be interviewing, um, you know, whether it's yourself or other, other agents, but look for anyone who is preparing to, to, to sell. The takeaway is simple. Take the time to ask the right questions and choose an agent you trust.

Trust your gut. And if you'd like to speak to Andrew directly about your property, you can reach out to him at Professional Southport. His email address is andrew@professionalsouthport.com au. The details are in the show notes. Andrew, thanks so much for joining me today and uh, I look forward to the next episode.

Thanks, Adam.

Thanks for listening to the Selling Southport podcast. I hope today's episode has given you some valuable insights and practical advice on the local real estate market. Whether you're looking to buy, sell, lease, or invest, I'm here to share my extensive experience and guide you every step of the way.

If you have any questions or want to discuss your next property move, don't hesitate to reach out. Your success is my priority. Stay tuned for more expert tips and updates on the Southport property scene.