AFTER a long and sustained sellers market most agents simply have little or no experience in dealing with the dynamics presented by the current buyer’s market.
This is because the real estate market has a very high agent turnover, says André de Villiers of Chas Everitt.
The number of active agents who have personal experience from when it was last a buyer’s market are few and far between.
Statistics show that the vast majority of agents in South Africa have less than three years’ experience in real estate and as a result sellers should be aware that they may not be getting realistic price counselling.
In a seller’s market agents are trained to be mandate driven and as a result sellers will in few instances be getting the straight talking advice they really need to hear about pricing in this market.
The change from a seller’s market to a buyer’s market has been swift and has taken many companies by surprise.
From talking to other real estate principals there is a frank admission that retraining of agents to deal with the new market conditions is a priority with many agents stuck in a seller’s market paradigm.
Most agents readily admit they have an inventory of over-priced properties and have not seriously dealt with the issue with the relevant property owners.
The most important issue in terms of advice is the need to position a property competitively in the market place.
The days of the market catching up with a seller over optimistic price have disappeared, but property owners find it difficult to accept they have missed the best selling opportunity and remain set on achieving prices that are in reality only helping other properties look well-priced by comparison with their own.
Many agencies are currently reflecting record stock levels and are increasingly starting to turn down listings or restrict advertising where sellers’ price expectations are simply too high.
With properties now on the market for double the period they were listed for in early 2007, it is obvious that no responsible business can afford advertising and other marketing costs on properties that are incorrectly priced.
Sellers are strongly advised to ask their agents to justify the asking price that is being recommended to them.
A detailed analysis should be presented in writing by the agent. Sellers should not focus on what has sold in the area alone.
Sold properties are traditionally where the agents will focus in a pricing discussion and it is imperative to give equal attention to other properties that are currently on the market.
In addition after every thirty days a seller should get the agent in to discuss new properties that are on the market and take a good look at what those that have sold for in the last thirty days have actually achieved.
