Selling Your Home

A personal perspective on this

complex and challenging process

Alistair Helm
Introduction

This book has been written from the perspective of the property market in New
Zealand.

The real estate industry is in many ways very different from country to country,
however those differences tend to be around the fees charged and the degree of
service undertaken by professional real estate agents.

Over recent times with the ascendancy of the digital platform the industry processes
of buying and selling property has become more standardised globally with the rise of
the property websites so critical in the marketing of property.

This book has been written from the perspective of a homeowner, not a real estate
agent nor a serious property investor or promoter of property seminars. The author
though does possess an extensive experience in the eld of digital marketing and the
operation of the real estate industry and therefore through the book provides a
1
valuable insight into the processes and options available when it comes to selling
your home and the myriad of questions, feeling, fears and uncertainty that pervades
the process.

The book contains no full proof solutions, no savvy smarts or clever tactics; what it
focusses on is the experience of the process not in in an intellectual exercise; but as
a real person with real issues and emotions facing the decisions that every
homeowner faces. This experience naturally is unique as every property transaction
is unique. There will be critics and advisors that will challenge the decisions made
and the path chosen, that is natural. There is no right and wrong answer when it
comes to property transaction, there is only experiences and this is one of them.

# of # 2 22
Alistair Helm - http://properazzi.co.nz/about/
1
Alistair Helm is the founder of Properazzi. A property commentator
and insightful analyst of the property market and the real estate
industry in New Zealand and internationally. He was the founding
CEO of Realestate.co.nz and also founder of Zoodle the property
information website.
Preface


Recently we have completed a complex, emotionally charged, time consuming and
potentially life-changing process - we have moved house!

Much like 80,000 other people this year in New Zealand, we have sold our existing
house and bought a new house to call our home. However unlike the vast majority of
these other buyers and sellers I have an insight and knowledge of the industry, and
the property market that gives me somewhat of a unique perspective of the process.
A process I am keen to share, providing some observations and insight, now that we
have successfully completed the move.

I decided to wait until we had nally completed the process before writing this book. I
will be completely up-front at the start and declare that the process was highly
satisfactory. Not only that, but the experience has, I am pleased to report (and to the
pleasure I am sure of 10,000+ real estate agents across the country) signicantly
changed my views, presumptions and appreciation of real estate agents.

In selling our house we followed a path trodden by over 90% of people selling their
home. We appointed a licensed real estate agent, who marketed the home and
undertook to facilitate the process with consummate professionalism and delivered
for us a result which met our expectation.

We paid a market rate commission which in the cold light of day is a large amount of
money, however whichever way I look at it, the outcome is the most important thing -
we sold our house without undue stress. We were therefore able to move on to our
new home in a timely manner and naturally get on with our lives.


# of # 3 22


1. Method of sale


Deciding to move house is not something that comes to you in the middle of the night
as a bolt from the blue and drives you to call up a local agent the very next morning.
Like most people we began thinking about moving around 8 months before we
actually put the house on the market. I suspect that this time period, whilst a long
time in absolute terms is neither uncommon, nor unrealistic. We wanted to ensure
our house was in top condition before we started marketing it and we knew there was
some work to be done, added to which we wanted time to check out the options for a
new location and a new house.

With the house completed to our satisfaction earlier this year, we looked at the
various options to the process of selling the house. In my mind, and with my
experience, there were three valid options which I wanted to sit down and seriously
consider with my partner.


1. We could undertake the whole process ourselves as a
private sale or as the Americans love to call it a FSBO -
zbo (For Sale By Owner). The attraction of FSBO is
saving money. In NZ that saving of the fees of a licensed
real estate agents run into the tens of thousands of
dollars . This is a sum worthy of serious consideration.
2

2. We could experiment with a new online model of real estate - using a
licensed real estate for a xed fee and a undertaking some of the work
ourselves. This model is being spearheaded in NZ by a company called
200Square - an innovative service which certainly appealed to me.
3

3. We could appoint a local licensed real estate agent. Make them
accountable for the outcome of a successful sale and pay them a commission
fee at a market rate.


# of # 4 22
Details of typical real estate commissions in NZ - http://properazzi.co.nz/insights/nz-real-estate-
2
commissions
200Square Real Estate - http://200square.co.nz/
3
Irrespective of which of these 3 options we chose, I knew for certain that there were
two elements of the process that were not negotiable - we would use a professional
photographer and we would market exclusively online.

A professional photographer would be engaged to undertake a complete photo
portfolio of the property. In addition a detailed oor plan would
be commissioned as it is in my judgement the perfect
complement to the photo portfolio and allow people who have
visited the property or those thinking of visiting with a
perspective to the layout and size of the property.

When it comes to online marketing everything starts with the
property portal with the greatest reach and engagement. In
NZ this title is held by Trade Me Property . If the ultimate
4
decision was to use a licensed agent then the industry-owned
portal of Realestate.co.nz would add a comprehensive coverage.
5
# of # 5 22
Trade Me Property - http://www.trademe.co.nz/property
4
Realestate.co.nz - http://www.realestate.co.nz/
5
So the rst issue in preparing to put our house on the market was which of these
three alternative options would we choose.

Selling privately naturally has a signicant attraction in nancial terms. In addition in
NZ consumers are in a unique position as Trade Me being a general classied
website rather in the league of eBay offers a level playing eld of exposure to their
massive audience base as is offered to real estate agents through the same portal. It
is therefore easy for a private seller to achieve exactly the same level of market
impact, viewing and potential open home trafc as any licensed real estate agent.
The fee to advertise a property on Trade Me Property for a private seller is just $349.

However the fact is that marketing your home and selling your home are as separate
as buying the ingredients and serving a gourmet meal. There is so much more to the
process required to bring people to the point of being able to make a decisions which
results in a signed sale and purchase agreement that is subtle, hidden and
challenging for the average person. I have gained an insight into this extensive
process over the years I have worked within the real estate industry and I can see
just how complex and under-appreciated is the process of hand-holding that is
required to get people to make a serious move to buying a property. It takes a certain
type of personality to be at the same time persistent, forceful, cajoling, pleasant,
empathetic and ultimately results-driven to get a successful sale. We can all identify a
real estate agent. They stand out from the crowd. It is that personality type that
makes them effective at what they do and the rest of us, pretty poor at trying to do
their job!

So having decided not to go for a private sale, the simple question then was, the
traditional real estate agent or the new innovative model? Stacking up the similarities
and differences only makes the decision that much harder.

Traditional agents and innovative real estate companies such as 200Square both
operate under the laws of the Real Estate Agents Act . Both provide a
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comprehensive service handled end-to-end by professional agents with many years
of experience and success behind them. Both would be able to market the property
as well as each other. Both would work to succeed and earn a fee / commission on
the successful outcome of an unconditional sale.

The key difference is that 200Square does not physically meet you at your house,
they do not have a high street ofce in your suburb (not that makes any difference)
and they do not manage the open homes; they judge that is something you can do
just as well or better, and if you want someone to do it for you then can arrange it.
What they do better than any traditional agency is an online dashboard putting you in
# of # 6 22
Real Estate Agents Act 2008 - http://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/2008/0066/latest/DLM1151921.html
6
the driving seat as to the progress with the sale of your house, not only the data of
online viewings which some real estate companies have started to provide but they
go further to provide insight into the lead management and negotiation process.


Most striking of all though is the fact that they do not charge a commission based on
a percentage of the selling price which for most agents amounts to around 3% plus
GST. For 200Square there is a at fee of $4,500 - payable upon successful sale
irrespective of the value of your property.

That comparison creates a tough challenge. 200Square has a good track record,
and glowing references. They have been operating for over 3 years and have sold
many more houses in that time than the local real estate agent, right across the
country - cant be bad.

However at the end of the day when we as a couple sat down and weighed up the
decision it came down to one factor.

When my wife asked me Putting aside the costs, could I in all good consciousness
tell her that there wasn't any risk in using 200Square? - I could not. Not that there is
any risk at all, they are a licensed real estate agent. The issue comes down to trust
# of # 7 22
and like-it-or-not - local agents sell local houses and in our area. Nobody has used
200Square in our area and therefore that presents a risk. A risk which when it comes
to selling your home becomes far more amplied than for many other decisions.

The one thing which in my mind is bigger than anything else in the process of selling
a property is reducing risk. Thats it; and to be honest the cost of reducing that risk
can be pretty high, but it is easy to justify it at the end of the day.
# of # 8 22
2. Choosing an Agent


Our options for choosing an agent was
extensive, as is common to sellers in major
cities and towns throughout the country. The
major real estate brands within the industry are
all well represented with ofces in the local
suburb. However the local ofce presence was
of little interest. Our interest was in the
individuals rather than the companies.When
selling you home you dont deal with a
company, you deal with the individual agent.

We decided that we would select 3 local agents and invite all of them to visit the
property and then to get them back to present their proposal as to their
recommendation for the best approach to marketing and selling our home. Naturally
as part of the process we would be interested to learn their assessment as to the
value of the property. I think too often people treat the decision making process of
choosing an agent as a mock auction, with the adjudication process based on the
appraisal valuation. The agent isnt offering to buy your house at that price, so their
assessment is nothing more than conjecture - based on professional skills, I do
accept.


So which 3 agents to choose?

This is the approach we took. Firstly we decided to invite the agent who sold the
house to us. I am sure this is an often chosen route. They were successful in selling
the house last time, they are active in the market, they know the
house and they would appreciate better than anyone the changes
and improvements we had made. The agents concerned were
Marty Hall and Heather Lanting from Ray White - Ponsonby .
7

Our second choice was an local agent that we had met at
numerous open homes we had visited. We liked his approach and were avid readers
of his weekly email newsletter which provided a great insight into the
new listings and sales of property in the area. This agent was Kirk
Vogel from Barfoot & Thompson - Grey Lynn .
8

# of # 9 22
Ray White Ponsonby ofce - http://rwponsonby.co.nz/69/Our-People
7
Kirk Vogel Barfoot & Thompson - http://www.barfoot.co.nz/k.vogel
8
Our third choice was again a local agent that we had met on occasions whilst viewing
open homes. What most signicantly drew us to him was the fact
that he had in the past few weeks sold a very similar property in
the area and this we judged was an excellent opportunity to
leverage this specic knowledge as well as the contacts of
prospective buyers who may have missed out on that property.
This agent was Blair Haddow of Bayleys - Ponsonby .
9



We ensured that prior to inviting these agents to visit the house we had prepared it to
the same presentational standard that we would judge, you would expect from an
open-home visit. In my opinion the presentation standard is as important for impact
for the agent to experience as it is for potential buyers. There is a sense of wanting to
capture the attention and commitment of the agent to want to represent us and our
house, as much as us selecting them. Each agent was invited to meet us at our
house as a fact nding step, for us to assess them and for them to see the property.
Each was then asked to go away and provide a proposal to us as to the approach to
selling the property including the recommended method of sale, marketing
programme and an assessment of the likely sale price of the property.

Allowing time for them to respond, we scheduled sequential meeting times for all 3
parties to present their proposal to us on the same afternoon, thereby allowing us the
opportunity to be able to easily assess them, and for us to make a decision and get
the property on the market.

I can say that the decision of which agent to choose was not an easy one. I have
decided to be completely open in detailing not only who our chosen agent was but
also to highlight the agents we shortlisted and the reasons for our choice. In doing so
I am sure you will be able to see that at all times I wish to remain objective.

In terms of local presence Ray White Ponsonby and particularly Marty and Heather
have a very high prole, having sold many houses around our location. Comparing
them to Kirk at Barfoot & Thompson and Blair at Bayleys they were the more visible
option. Having said that our decision not to choose them came down to the accuracy
of their appraisal for our property. They neither over-pitched nor undersold the
prospective value assessment of the property. However their assessment lacked the
contextual relevance that the others did. They benchmarked our property against
properties that were signicantly different and their range of selling prices spanned in
my opinion a too broad a spectrum. This left us with a degree of uncertainty as to
# of # 10 22
Blair Haddow Bayleys - http://www.bayleys.co.nz/Franchises/Bayleys-Real-Estate-Ltd/Ponsonby/Agents/
9
Blair-Haddow
how they came to the conclusion of a property value range which was in its self too
wide.

Barfoot & Thompson are a strong player right across the Auckland market for all
types of property and prices. However the fact was, in considering Kirk Vogel we
were selecting him and not Barfoot & Thompson. In that regard we were concerned
that the types of properties that he had sold over the recent year were not in the
same price range as ours and whilst he had a strong command of the local market
intelligence as to what had sold where and by whom; when it came down to it he had
not sold a house like ours. This factor above all others drove our decision not to
appoint Kirk to represent us in the sale of our house.

Our chosen agent was Blair Haddow of Bayleys. This decision was not made as a
result of the exclusion of the other two contenders, far from it. Blair was our clear
choice once we had seen all three submit and present their proposals. Blair
impressed us in his professional approach to the proposal to market the house, as
well as his insight into the local market. However core to our decision was his recent
experience with prospective buyers who are looking for a house like ours.

It is worth highlighting that the commission fees were discussed with all three
selected agents. We wanted to be fair and objective and recognise that a market rate
was appropriate. We did negotiate the fees as all three companies the agents
represented had differing fees. The commission fee we agreed with all the agents
was as close to a similar level that the fee was not a deciding factor.

# of # 11 22
3. The Marketing


Property marketing is one of my favourite topics and something I have shared my
opinion on for many years both on the Unconditional blog which I started in 2007
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and on Properazzi. As regular readers will know, I have in all this time been
consistent about one thing. That is, that digital marketing has taken over from print
media in the minds of the consumer and consigned this former stronghold of property
marketing to the dark ages - never to return.

So it therefore should not come as any surprise that when it came to selling our
home I was committed to a purely digital marketing campaign.

In my view having spent the majority of my career in marketing focused roles, I judge
that marketing covers a wide gamete of components and is not simply the reserve of
advertising placement. It is far more about what, how, when and where. In the case
of property marketing it can be thought of as the 5 Ps of Property Marketing.


Platform of sale
Positioning of the property
Presentation of the property
Promotion of the property
Performance of the marketing through the campaign


Let me review and share the approach of each of those 5 Ps.


Platform of Sale

This refers to the various options for the presenting the property to the market - By
Negotiation / An Auction / A Tender / or simply as Priced for what is often called
Private Treaty.

An imperative for me in marketing a property for sale is the need to drive the process.
The decision to put a property on the market is a signicant step as it so often
involves a family home, not something that is considered lightly or without serious
# of # 12 22
Unconditional Blog - http://unconditional.co.nz/
10
consideration, therefore I think it is ineffective and lacking in focus to simply
announce to the world through an online listing and a sign board, that this property is
for sale and then hope that someone makes an offer.

Urgency is a tool that should be leveraged. The reality of selling a property is there
may well be a buyer out there who will judge that your house is simply the best, the
house they have always wanted, and that they are willing to pay way over the odds
for your house. However the cold hard fact is that though this could well be possible,
what is highly unlikely; is that this ideal buyer just happens to be in the position to buy
your house right now. So you when it comes to selling your home you have to be
pragmatic, you have to deal with market today - this month, now. You need to focus
on the reason why you are selling. You want to move. If you dont want to move then
dont put your house on the market. The real estate industry really doesnt need
another listing that sits on the books for a year or more.

For this reason when it comes to a
Platform of Sale I have a preference for
Tenders. They appeal to me for the reason
that they establish a deadline by which
time buyers need to commit themselves.
Are you in? or are you out? Offers
submitted as Tenders can be either
conditional or unconditional. Tenders force
buyers to put an offer price on a contract
that is their full and nal offer - with no
knowledge of what anyone else is offering.
This compares to auctions which are public spectacles in which the winning bidder
secures the property for a small (relative term) amount more than the unsuccessful
bidder. Finally Tenders allow the vendor to calmly and in their own time examine and
consider the submitted Tenders and accept, reject or negotiate with any of the
submitters.

I have sold by Tender in the past and therefore had a preference. However I listened
to my agent. Blair accepted all of these views as well as hearing (or knowing) my
reluctance to the Auction method. He articulated very well the benets of an Auction.
It was a focused method which had a deadline. It ensured buyers were focused. He
spoke of the recent sales experience with very similar properties in the area that he
had sold by Auction. He also shared the experience that Tenders were less common
and therefore could create wariness in the minds of prospective buyers. We were
persuaded, not easily I should add, that an Auction would be the best method.

Another component of the platform of sale is the duration of the campaign. Given our
pragmatic approach to recognising that you have to accept that the market will only
# of # 13 22
deliver buyers who are ready to buy; it was our decision to go with a 3 week
campaign. This would allow sufcient time for all interested parties to view and
assess the property whilst keeping the whole process moving along at a good pace
and keep marketing impact high.


Positioning of the Property

Positioning is all about identifying your buyer prole
and creating the look and feel to attract them to view
the property. In our area of Auckland there is a very
common minimalist villa renovation-look which
dominates - white surfaces, lap pools and large bi-
fold sliders. Our house (as a reection of our own
taste) is what we judge to be a more sympathetic
modernisation of a character villa appealing to
people who want modern convenience without
loosing the heart and character of the property. This
approach recognised that our house may not appeal
to city dwelling young families but more to older
generations who crave the convenience of the city
suburbs but like the character detail. Positioning is
often not so much about design choices as it is about
how you might position a property as few people will be re-designing or renovating
prior to sale. It is more about recognising who the prospective buyers may be and
how to best appeal to them.


Presentation of the Property

Presentation is all about creating lasting impressions. Put it another way, its about
creating an experience which ideally minimises criticism of the property. It may be
hard to believe, but often people judge properties not on the attributes which are
easy to see and tend to be highlighted in the listing details, but often on the
drawbacks and general criticism. Dont like the curtains! .. the bathroom is too
small! .. there was a strange smell! .. could see the neighbours messy back yard! etc
etc.

Presentation is about literally courting prospective buyers when they check out the
property at an open home. Working hard to minimise criticism and capture the hearts
of those prospective buyers.


# of # 14 22
Promotion of the Property

For me this was the easy part - online. Thats it!

A key part of promotion is quality materials. This starts with professional photography.
Blair recommended Open2View which I have high regard for and was happy to
11
agree on his recommendation. As well as a comprehensive photo shoot I also
insisted on oor plans. These in my view should be mandatory - I nd them
invaluable and feel that they provide a great reminder for prospective buyers are they
reective at home after a day of open home visits.

The online marketing was naturally the combined property portals of Trade Me
Property and Realestate.co.nz. As the focus of promotion was to be exclusively
online then in my judgement a plain standard listing was not enough, so a Super
Feature on Trade Me Property and Premium package on Realestate.co.nz were
booked. These premium services ensure the property is seen at the top of search
results as well as display showcases at the top of search pages, critical in gaining
impact and interest and the stats prove it with multiple viewings as compared to
standard listings.

# of # 15 22
Open2View Photographic services - http://www.open2view.com/
11
The traditional elements of a street sign and brochures were not in despite - they are
a necessity.

With this comprehensive package of advertising and photo portfolio the question was
still asked by Blair as to an advert in the newspaper - The NZ Herald. I did not
criticise Blair for bringing this up. I can see the rationale for the belief that there could
be a random opportunity of a buyer viewing a Weekend Herald property supplement;
for them to see a house and fall in love with it. However I remained true to my
principle. I would not pay for print, that however did not stop Blair placing a quarter-
page advert at his own cost!

Our investment in marketing totalled $1,850. This included costs for a premium
featuring on Realestate.co.nz for $400, listing and premium featuring on Trade Me
Property for $400, Photography and oor plan from Open2View for $650 and then
signage and brochures for $400.


Performance of the Marketing

The ultimate performance of the marketing campaign is judged in the result of the
nal sale, as to how much interest was generated and how competitive was the
interest from prospective buyers in wishing to bid for the property. That outcome I will
share later.

However with the focus of the campaign online the key performance is online impact.
The data in the chart below shows the views across the various websites during the 3
week campaign.

# of # 16 22
In addition to the premium advertising on both Trade Me Property and
Realestate.co.nz the property was featured on Open2View and the Bayleys website.
Across the 3 weeks a total of 6,174 views were made of the property with Trade Me
Property accounting for more than half of all views.

The chart reminds me so much of the typical performance curve of online listings
which I analysed on Realestate.co.nz a number of years ago . The peak interest for
12
a listing is in the rst few days of listing, as the combined impact of email alerts and
top-of-search result pages drive huge awareness. That awareness and
consequential views declines to a plateau very quickly. This rmly demonstrates the
critical importance of launching your home onto the market with a fanfare and
grabbing the market opportunity quickly. There is an often-heard comment within the
industry that the the rst offer is often the best offer - this may have even more
credibility than some may accept as early interest is high from real committed buyers
who want to act.


In our judgement our agent was very effective at not only providing the stats of web
views, he also prepared and delivered a written weekly report (not an online
dashboard - which I would have loved). This report provided the following key stats
which I think amount to KPIs of the property marketing process.

# of # 17 22
http://unconditional.co.nz/blog/the-rst-week-is-crucial-in-selling-your-home/
12
A very interesting analysis of the marketing. So we had 42 visits to our property over
the 3 weeks. Without doubt the largest driver of visitors (19) identied their source of
info as the web and the largest driver of that was Trade Me Property. It was
interesting to note that what is not detailed on this report was email enquiries. There
was just one email from Trade Me Property. To my mind this was a success! Let me
explain. The listing provided all the necessary information and we held weekly open
homes. The photos and oor plan gave all the necessary insight into the property - so
why would you need to send an email. Email is not a key indicator of performance, if
the marketing is well executed.

With the 3 week campaign completed, 42 visitors groups and 6,174 online views the
key question was. Had we done enough to attract a buyer and was there a buyer out
there who's appreciation of value in the property matched our expectation of the
value of the property? That test would come on the day of sale.

# of # 18 22
4. The Sale


The critical day arrives. Probably second only to a
wedding or other signicant event, is the day your
home nally sells. In the case of our home, that day
was the day of the auction on that Wednesday
afternoon. Nerves were evident, as were the usual
questions:


Would the prospective bidders that our agent had identied be there?

Would there be sufcient interest to generate a bidding war?

Would bidding exceed our reserve?

Would anyone turn up?

These are the common questions asked by anyone about to sell their house by
auction or in fact almost any forms of sale. We were about to nd out what the
answers were going to ben and to see what the overall success of the marketing
campaign had been and nally if the property was going to match those buyer
expectations

Looking back over the campaign the one aspect of the whole process that most
impressed me and strangely (given my experience in the industry) surprised and
delighted me, was the very detailed and intimate understanding we gained through
our agent as to the prospective buyers. I do not know if this degree of detail is
common practice but as a seller it was vital to a sense of connection to the process.

At each meeting with Blair in de-brieng the weekly open homes as well as interim
meetings and chats, he shared insights and feedback on each of the key prospects
he had identied from enquiry and open home visits. He referred to these prospective
buyers by name. He provided insight as to their personal situation, where they lived,
what they were looking for, what their expectations of price were and what aspects of
the house they most liked and disliked.

Over the 3 weeks of the campaign leading up to the auction we saw insight into a
total of 5 couples. The insight was not intrusive nor in any way a breach of privacy or
personal condences, but provided us with an excellent ability to manage our
expectation and in so doing I believe, added credibility and professionalism to the
role Blair played. As I say, if this is common amongst agents then these smart agents
# of # 19 22
in my view do themselves a disservice in not highlighting this value they bring to the
process. In my opinion it is vital and truly valuable part of the real estate process.
Interesting in reecting on this comment none of the three agents assessed for the
role of agent to act for us explained this process or component, thereby reinforcing
my view that this is an under-sold capability.

Through the 3 weeks of the campaign we had what amounted to a virtual
leaderboard ranking of prospective buyers with some surprising movements. Barely 7
days into the campaign we had what both Blair and ourselves though were the
perfect couple as prospective buyers. Cashed up from selling a property in the South
Island and frustrated at living in rented accommodation, this couple fell in love with
our house. They visited a couple of times and Blair talked to them about making a
pre-auction offer of which they were engaged around the idea. We were even able to
verify their seriousness as buyers through witnessing them bidding at an on-site
auction at another very similar property in the neighbourhood. Then things went quiet
with them for 5 days only to discover that in those intervening days they had not only
found another very different style of property, but had actually bought it at auction! It
just goes to show how little you can tell of peoples real interest or intent.

We heading into the last 7 days leading up to the auction with what Blair believed
were two strong potential buyers. The property ticked all the boxes for them and they
had both seen the house a couple of times. They appeared to have done their due
diligence. Based on this and the belief that you have to take the market for what it is,
we sat down with Blair coming up to the nal weekend of open homes. Our question
was why do we need to do these nal weekend open home viewings? - it seemed
to make no sense, who would suddenly appear out of left-eld 3 days before the
auction? Blair convinced us against our better judgement to go ahead. So dutifully we
tidied up and prepped the house again for what we thought would be a quiet viewing.

How wrong could we have been. A new buyer appeared, or at least a relative of a
prospective buyer. They loved the house and wanted their relatives to view the house
when they came up to Auckland on the Tuesday (the day before the auction) - not a
problem we thought, cant do any harm. Little did we know that this prospective buyer
would go on to buy the property!



A key step before the auction was the setting of the
reserve with Blair. Naturally we had developed our
own view of the expectation of price and what we
would be prepared to accept. As a point of note I
choose not to reveal the reserve or the selling price -
this is not the essence of this article. This is a matter
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we as sellers choose to remain condential. The reserve we agreed on was
surprisingly aligned with Blair's recommendation, or maybe it is not surprising as
through the 3 week campaign he had provided a clear view as to the expectations of
the prospective buyers, accepting as always that buyers never want to truly show
their hand when it comes to price.

The reserve price was set at a level at which we would be satised. Like all sellers
we would wish to be blown away by frenzied, manic bidding with a stunning resultant
price, way above the reserve but you have to be realistic. At the end of the day the
difference between our reserve and Blairs recommendation was less than 5% -
naturally we were higher!

An unusual set of circumstances arose in relation to the actual auction date and time
which meant that my wife could not attend. This troubled us at rst as to how we
would cope if we could not both be there as joint owners of the house. Our immediate
thought was how to facilitate the signing of the Sale and Purchase Agreement -
would we have to get a power of attorney for me to sign for both of us?

Again this is where you can be surprised about how little you know of the process. In
an auction you as the sellers completely sign over the sale to the auctioneer who
through a right of representation acts legally on your behalf to transact the sale at a
price at or above the reserve. This document was signed the day before the auction
effectively leaving us both out of the process.

This is a very interesting situation and something I sought advice on from an
independent and experienced agent. His advice (somewhat surprising) was that you
as sellers should not attend the auction! The logic being that in this way you insulate
yourself and thereby avoid the pressure coming from the auctioneer and agent trying
to encourage you to compromise on the reserve if the bidding fails to reach reserve.
This is a very interesting strategy and something I had never considered. If the role of
the auctioneer is to sell the property at or above the reserve and this is your wish
then not being present has its merits (and some degree of risk as I am sure many
agents will tell you).



So the auction time duly arrived and I was alone at the auction rooms with my wife on
standby via text message (she was actually doing a presentation!)

Blair had told me in a pre-meeting that he knew that there were denitely two serious
buyers in the room.

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I won't take you through the chapter and
verse of the actual auction sufce to say
that the auction lasted 5 minutes and 24
seconds - I know that because I recorded
it on my iPhone - captured for posterity!
There was as anticipated, two genuine
bidders. Once of the bidders clearly had a
threshold which he stuck to staunchly
despite the best skills of the auctioneer.
The property reached a nal bid which
was just below the reserve. So with a
pause in proceedings, the auctioneer began a somewhat lengthy and protracted
process of negotiation with the highest bidder with a clear instruction staunchly
adhered to from me that the reserve was xed and not up for negotiation. The end
result was that the auction was recommenced and called and the property sold
"under the hammer!



In my opinion the outcomes was a satisfactory conclusion, whereby as I have often
said the price expectations of us as sellers was met by the preparedness of the
buyers to pay that price - I felt that the outcome was fair and open; and neither party
should have any reason to feel aggrieved nor triumphant.

So after a number of weeks of tense anticipation and nervous expectation we sat
back at a well deserve celebratory dinner (actually pizza and a beer at 4 in the
afternoon!) and reected over the process. We had in our hand a signed
unconditional agreement for the sale of the our house, with the deposit already
transferred from the buyer to the agency trust account; thereby allowing us to move
on with our lives and to close a chapter on both the ownership of this house and the
selling process.

When it came to reecting on the cost / benet analysis of the process we did not (as
is universally accepted in the process) physically write a cheque for the commission
fees paid to the agency company. We did not feel the pain of that large amount of
money leaving our bank account, it was seamlessly deducted from the balance of the
deposit paid by the buyers. However, we have reected often on our decisions and
the process. We do not in any way begrudge the fee we paid for the services
provided by Blair. We felt that we were professionally guided through the process
without undue stress. We discovered great insight from the process and were
delighted with the outcome. That chapter of our lives is over and a new chapter
begins.
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