This article was originally published on the Australian Financial Review.
We speak to the team behind the most intriguing recent property sale.
The property: A five-bedroom family home – a Californian bungalow on 643 square metres at 4 Missouri Avenue, Brighton, Victoria. Sold by private treaty for what market sources said was $4,025,000.
Who was the agent/agency? Joel Fredman, Fredman.
How long was this on the market? [Fredman] Two weeks with me. It was two months or so with the previous campaign.
Why did this one sell? We staged it and did it justice. We had very little competition to work with, so our timing was good in the sense of alternative stock – there wasn’t much available. And we had a particular buyer who was perfect for it. The buyer originally wasn’t so keen. We said, “You’ve got to come and look at it”. She came and bought it.
Was it overpriced? No.
What did you think it would go for? I thought it would go for around what we got – something with a 4 in front. I can’t comment on the final price.
What was surprising about it? It’s a real story of presentation. There could have been half a million missed purely because the marketing and strategy wasn’t done to the right pedigree.
I missed the listing the first time. The vendor went for a private sale or EOI with a guide of $3.55 million to $3.9 million, and they did the half-staging thing. It was a bit drab and didn’t quite click. The photography was pretty average. After five to six weeks, the advice was to reduce the price again.
The vendor was thinking, “It’s got to be worth in the high threes or four.” They called me and said, “I need to do something different”.
We got everyone to connect with it and it got a really great outcome at the right level.
How did the previous campaign hero shot of the house compare with yours? The front profile was hidden. The facade itself had a tree out the front. Before we photographed, I said we’ve got to trim this back to show the peak of the house, a period house. We had to cut some branches back.
In this market you’ve got to impress people from the very first time they see it online. Then carry that through to a wonderful walk-through. They have to be obsessed. They have to click on the listing and share it with people.
How important is a picture to draw people in? It’s incredibly important. Everyone has quite a short attention span as it is. They need to fully engage and enjoy the house from the first moment they see it online.
A house can be on the market and sitting around and people don’t click with it. People can just go, “There’s that old thing again”, but they hadn’t really seen it because they discounted it. They’d seen it but not engaged with it.
Only a couple of weeks later we put it back on but it had a real impact in the same market. It was a completely different property. People came through who hadn’t been through before.
They’d done a partial styling but it just wasn’t the right styling for the house. The cheap and cheerful approach to things does not work, especially in this market. We were making some changes. We even painted the staircase white. It was dark wood and felt dark as you walked in.
By spending $12,000 on furniture, you can elevate the buyer’s perception.
How much did the vendor spend with you in total?
Another $20,000 or $22,000, which is not easy. They had already invested money previously.
Sometimes it’s even harder coming in as the second agent. You’ve got to make them pay more. They’ve lost a bit of trust as it is.
But staging led to the photography. We knew it was cold, so it was a very wintry, autumnal, cosy type of staging. It was complementary to the season.
Even if there are zones or weaknesses to the property, the staging and the way the house makes you feel can give you more confidence in how you value the property.
You want them to buy the house and you want them to want to buy the furniture with it.
Do you reckon we’ll see another result like this: a) next week b) next year c) next cycle d) never?
c) Next cycle. It was a particularly special turnaround. I’d love to say next week. It happens, but not often. It was quite a rare thing.
