We have all been there!!
Looking for a house to buy in any chosen location and we come across a nice looking property.
Right location, well-constructed, nice paintwork, lovely grounds.
Looks likely. Wait a minute….
Why are there four ‘To Sell’ signs attached to the front fence from four different real estate agents? Before we know it, despite the many positives about this property, a question mark hovers overhead. If the property looks the part, how is it that between four selling agents it has not yet sold? Of course nothing need be amiss. The property could well be perfect. However that question mark hovering overhead is just enough to tell us as a prospective buyer, we should be more questioning and more than likely, we should keep looking.
FIRST IMPRESSIONS – THEY CAN MAKE OR BREAK A SALE
As management rights brokers, we strongly believe in exclusive listings. They work for our clients and it follows they work for MRSales. In the past couple of years more than seventy percent of our sales come from management rights that MRSales have exclusively listed. We are never backward in suggesting to our vendors that listing exclusively is MRSales’ recommendation. Obviously we don’t get exclusives all the time and whilst we respect the decision of the vendor, we do scratch our heads often. It is seemingly a quite common and natural inclination for some vendors to think they have a better chance of selling if every ‘man and his dog’ lists the business for sale. Surely they will reach four times the market if four different agents are promoting the listing. Well no, that isn’t the case. In fact, the vast majority of management rights businesses that just sit unsold are those that are listed openly among several different brokers.
The exclusive appointment of an experienced broker says a number of things. It signals a very strong commitment between seller and broker and that they are working together. There is trust and therefore full disclosure on everything to do with the business and associated real estate. There is an assurance that the market receives a consistent message and why is that important? Well we have seen recently one management rights business listed by five different brokers. They all had the overall selling price right, but there were five different Body Corporate salaries, five different profits and three different real estate values! Great business, but would the market be confused? You bet. Prospective buyers don’t appreciate mixed messages.
When MRSales list exclusively, there is so much more that can be done in getting that listing in front of potential buyers. Without wanting to broadcast all of our initiatives it is fair to say MRSales get more exposure for the exclusive listing than can be achieved for the open listing. And that is reflected in the sales results MRSales achieve.
For the prospective buyer there are several reasons why they would be attracted to exclusive listings. Consistency and reliability of the information they receive as mentioned above. Importantly a buyer with genuine interest and intent does not like to be rushed into a decision. How many times have you been willing to buy something only to find you have been gazumped by another buyer? Where more than one broker has a business for sale, there is no way any one buyer or any one broker knows who else is in the market. In this situation it is easy to be left out.
As a broker we take our responsibility to be fair to all parties seriously and as an exclusively appointed agent we are in a position where we know exactly who is interested and what is going on with the business on the market. Any buyer dealing with an exclusive agent is therefore in a much better position to be informed and therefore avoid disappointment through the buying process.
As a broker it is tremendous privilege to have an exclusive appointment on any management rights business. However it does come with a responsibility that we take seriously. The client has entrusted us to sell probably their single biggest investment and there is no way we would want to disappoint. Accordingly in addition to what the organisation within MRSales can do with the listing through our various websites and database systems, we will put the effort in to see that everything is done to get the business sold as soon as possible. Sometimes sellers will show a little more optimism in our ability to find a buyer than we would like. For instance they will cautiously sign off an exclusive listing for three months instead of the six recommended. We have secured contracts within three months of listing but in the current market that can be taking optimism a bit far. With North Queensland listings some buyers from down south take three months to organise themselves for an inspection! To really give the listing the best chance of a successful outcome the best way is to plan for the long term and give time for every market initiative to be explored. That is what delivers the best outcome for all parties.
Whether you are a prospective seller or a prospective buyer, you will do better sooner looking at the exclusives.
Geoff Ellis
MR Sales