Weaving, guessing, nail-biting and pacing, wrangling and trying to pass with a profit and nerves intact. Sounds like a game of Monopoly? Unfortunately, it is real life, and the Mayfair experience just isn't available, to anyone but the powers to be.
In Australia, we are offered the mainstream and mass marketed approach of online selling with traditional real estate models- see, inspect, bid, pray, hope, cross fingers and perhaps sell or buy. It usually costs many thousands of dollars for the favor, with a menu of stylists, advertising, even a drone as an option or two. Then there is the fee, and that depends on how much your real estate is worth. It is not a fair deal for everyone. Money talks and it is not always for those needing the service.
We have relied on mainstream mass online marketing, and the traditional real estate models to sell our homes. It is a decision we only make on average every 7 to 10 years. Unfortunately, for over 50% of us, this experience has and will continue to be a costly exercise and will not be without its issues and frustrations. There are no rolling double sixes for the consumer!
So why have we not embraced alternative methods of selling which are available to us such as the residents of NZ, France, and Canada? Why have we not seen the cost of selling a home reduce? Why have we not embraced smarter technologies to make the process more streamlined and efficient?
For well over five-plus years now we have been conditioned about our 'hot real estate market' but what is so interesting is we have not seen the cost of selling reduce. In any market where there is a higher turnover of product, better systems are developed and used to streamline and improve services and reduce costs.
This 'Spray and Pray' marketing technique has worked, but at what cost to us as consumers? Real Estate agents often now primed for a hard sell, quick turnover and hardball tactics that are in the best interest of their commission, not the buyers and certainly not the sellers. National watchdogs are hunting out the underquoters, the law breakers, and the rule manipulators but the radar is not sharp. Real Estate agents that act with integrity as a concierge of excellence in a buying and selling transaction between two parties are scrambling for position amongst the hurly-burly. Time for something different right?
In 2017, we handed over 6B dollars to real estate agents in commissions and over $2B to the two main online real estate portals.
Just like some multinational giants, the two main players have gilded the process, a bank-esque move making us more dependant on their models. Neither of these models provides consumers with control over the process of selling. They charge us more if we need extra shelf life, or we are in regional areas where a house is slower to sell than in the "suburbs'. They charge us more if we want our home to feature ahead of other homes or if we are in a more affluent suburb and charging like wounded bulls for the favor.
So what should a new model look like for consumer?
Smart technology has reformed and revitalized other sectors around the globe, disruption is ripe and flowing now. Layers of tech allow the possibility for streamlining and enhancing experiences for trade and communication between people. Dating platforms, accommodation platforms, ride-sharing and banking- so why not in real estate? Australians can now have more.
User control, values-driven, and transparency are now on offer. Fair prices, smooth transactions, honesty but most of all integrity can prosper in the right environment. This model is achieved by the extraordinary curating of digital tools, marketing and matching algorithms backed by a tribe that is completely passionate and driven with one goal in mind- to restore fairness, balance and a better experience in the Real Estate Property space. Sounds simple? It is and the results speak for themselves. Homes are selling faster and BOTH the buyer and the sellers are getting pleasing prices, the reports are sparkling and investors are wanting a piece of the pie, the good agents are sighing with relief and we are waiting for you with the dice now tucked away for big boys to play on their own time and not ours.
Welcome to Next Address.
