Latest / The Complete Agent - The Podcast For Premium Real Estate Agents / SPECIAL EPISODE 4/4 OTG X TCA Part 4: The £100K Mistake Agents Make When Pricing Homes
Transcript
- speaker-0: Hello and welcome to Open the Gates to more listings. Meets the complete agent with me, Simon Gates, James Kendall from James Kennel and Code, Dave Wilberton from Burton James, and Ian Story from Stories. And in this episode, we're going to be talking about how to get property sold. And I couldn't think of three better agents to talk through it as they are selling about 80% of what they list. So we're going to talk through today from start to finish how you get there. So first of all, 80% versus a UK average currently. of fifty-five percent. So you guys statistically between the three of you are forty-one percent more likely to get a property sold. No exchange. Actually done. So 80%. Nice. And you're also obviously operating more in the mid to higher end, where statistically it's a little bit more ⁓ tougher ⁓ to sell. So actually it's not doing justice enough to the figures that you are delivering. So let's break that down. What does it look like from start to finish? So we've had the phone call to book and the valuation speaker-1: Is that S S T C is it? speaker-0: You're going out there and doing the vow, how are you having that conversation with a seller to get properties on at the right price? What does it look like? speaker-1: Well not I came up with the the structure. No, go on Dave, is this is your moment, Dave. Happy flowers. No. speaker-0: This is your speaker-2: ⁓ well I think what JK is referring to is that all of our valuations are data-led. So I mean it's something I've been doing for a very, very long time anyway. ⁓ like yourself, I like my numbers and stats. ⁓ and really it's about demonstrating to the client that we are not there to value their home. And it I I actually open with that line every single time when I value a house. speaker-1: Yeah. What do you say? speaker-2: I always say I'm not here to buy you a home. I know that sounds like a silly thing to say because I'm a valuer that you've invited out from an estate agent, but ultimately the house is only worth what someone's prepared to pay for it. And at that point, they'll they always nod without clear ⁓ without exception, they always nod to say, yeah, get it. It's only worth what someone's prepared to pay. So what we're gonna do today is look at some market data. I prefer stats and facts, price per square foot. I'm gonna talk to you about what the market's been doing. But more importantly, what it's doing right now, because we can only work to the market that we're in, not with what we were once in, we'll look at where we think the house price sits, and then we'll try and build ⁓ from there. You don't always have to agree with the valuation. It's like, again, sometimes if you give a value on a home, ⁓ it might be look, all the data is telling me that it's worth 1.5 million in your head, you think it's worth 1.65 million, 1.75 million. And I always say that is the subjective part of any valuation because ultimately. it is worth what someone's prepared to pay in particularly at the higher end of the market. If someone values something more than the next person, they will literally pay for it. And I always use acreage as a great example. So like me personally, I don't need lots and lots of land. And actually if I'm looking at a house that's got an eight acre field with it, to me that is an eight acre headache. But if somebody the next person walks in who's got three horses and there's three stables on the grounds and they see all that land, they're gonna go, ⁓ my God, it's absolutely perfect. I'm only interested in the house, not the field. So they subjectively were more likely to pay a bit more than that. So it's very much a case of what that person is prepared to pay. It's not what I think it's worth with due respect to the owners. It's not what you think it's worth. It's what the market dictates. So what we'll look at is where we think it sits based on all the data that's available today. And we'll then talk about how we're going to go and get it. But you could invite 10 estate agents out. And they'll all have ten will have ten different opinions. But the only person that matters is the buyer. So we need to get it in and around where we think it sits and then come up with a strategy to get that number. So from the from the outset, we are building in a data value. Nothing to do with my opinion, nothing to do with their opinion. And the quicker that you can get it away from your opinion, the easier the whole appointment becomes. Because I think we've probably all had it. I mean, but you you can all resonate, I'm sure. I wouldn't say you go full on argue with the owner, but if they don't agree with your price and you get it wrong in their eyes and you've just given an opinion based on a best price guide or something like that, they switch off straight away, switch off straight away. And there's so many occasions actually where they don't agree with it. Even now, like we'll go in and I'll say, right, well, price per square foot in your area is £350. We think your house sits at around that's this by the way, that's another way out. So like if we we the house hasn't been formally measured. So we might say, right, so the the it's 300 pounds square foot here in this area. We think your four plan is around 4,000 square feet, which on paper might suggest 1.2 million, but it might be 4,500 square feet, it might be 5,000 square feet. We'll know more once we've formally measured it, but it's a really good barometer of where we think things are sitting right now. It's not a simple case of saying, right, this is a five ⁓ 5,000 square foot house, and that 5,000 square foot house over there sold for that, so we'll put yours on at the same because they might have completely different finishes. It's everything is is very, very subjective. You know, if if it's an incredible finish, then someone might pay a premium for that. If it needs a lot of work, we might look at it and go, well, on paper, this house could be 1.5 million, but we've got to be honest and say, you need five new bathrooms in this house. It's probably going to need a new kitchen. There's lots of decoration that comes at a cost. So again, to me, who's got to get builders in, it's going to cost me probably in the region of 200,000 to 250,000 pounds to do something like that. To a builder, it'll cost half that. Subjectively, he might pay more. And if you give these examples from from the start, you're taking it away from valuation. Your it's not your responsibility. And you can quickly get it onto this is how we're going to get it sold. So let's let's park that almost and let's talk about what we're going to get the best price. speaker-0: A a couple of things on that. If you go out there and kind of just talk about my valuation, well all they're going to compare is valuations from agents, right? So they're going to shop with whoever told them the highest value. Yeah. So it's not you valuing it. Here's the data and what the market suggests and this is the strategy of how we're going to get there. Yeah. ⁓ and then you s in terms of the ⁓ data as well, you may be think of a a saying actually which I read the other day, the Past is a place of reference, not residence. So just because a house six months ago got that price, that's a reference. It doesn't mean that you're definitely gonna get that because like you said, the market will fluctuate. speaker-2: The the I mean the other thing as well is like I say, y y you can look at historical data. I mean we've touched on this in another podcast, but if we're looking at land registry data it's usually out of date. So you you're three months out of date at least, and then that might be reflective of offers that were made six to nine months previous. So what a lot of the mistake right now, so what is it? It's ⁓ it's March twenty twenty six. So speaker-1: Christmas guys. speaker-2: ⁓ sorry. yeah, so it's March twenty twenty-six and what we're looking at now are in a lot of areas, certainly where I am anyway, it might differ around the country, but where I am, if you look at the average price of a home now in most of the areas I cover, it it's very it's like a bit of a roller coaster on a graph. But if you trace it all the way back to peak COVID, it's very similar. They're not too dissimilar. Generally some of them have gone up, come back. Very similar. The difference now is speaker-3: and come back as well. speaker-2: The cost of acquisitions changed. So if we look at 2021 market, you had 0.1% base rates of interest, there was no stamp duty to pay, there were loads of buyers and not enough houses to satisfy demand. And what you've got to try and get across, because most weak agents will just go in and go, Well, it looks the same as it was then. Let's put it on that. But what they're not considering is that people could borrow lots and lots of money and pay fuck all for it. speaker-0: Yeah. speaker-1: Keep that. speaker-2: And if you fast forward five years, well, the cost of acquisition has changed massively because we've now got still very, very low interest rates, historically speaking, at 3.75% base rate. ⁓ But stamp duty's back, there are fewer buyers in the market, and the stock levels are at an 11-year high. So everything is the complete opposite. So whilst your house on paper looks the same, the cost of actually buying it has changed. So we're now in a different market altogether. And again, certainly where I am at the moment, what a lot of homeowners don't know and doesn't get demonstrated to them is that the market's dropping a little bit. And as long as if that keeps going, and we don't know until you've sort of tested the water with the property anyway, you could lose equity by just waiting and sitting at a stupid price that was never achievable. So don't listen to the person that comes in and says 1.5 million, when actually it's probably 1.25 on paper, and there's no substance to it. It it's all about really the data. It's as simple as that. speaker-0: And that data, so for any agents listening or watching this right now, when you talk about pounds per square foot or you talk about that roller coaster graph, where do you guys go to get that data? Or where's your speaker-2: I we use Dataloft. ⁓ Dataloft's been great. and there's I mean there's there's lot there's lots of stuff on there. There's quite a lot of distractions on as well. No disrespect to the Dataloft guys. You are great. But there's lots of stuff on it. Lots and lots of stuff that you can use that's really, really useful. But the main stuff is the ⁓ the actual s average sales prices, the price per square foot, volume of transactions, that's what you're looking at. And then you're also looking at actual data, addresses of how homes that have sold in maybe the last twelve months, that kind of thing. But my valuations, I will start I will go all the way back to twenty twenty, even now. Yeah. Because that was a major period in time that people still think exists. They still think that price Yeah. You know, and you've got to demonstrate that that isn't perhaps the case anymore. The market's better than it was now, like we know now for the like first three months, it's been a great start because we had the budget at the end of twenty twenty five. You know, how are you articulating that by the way? speaker-0: There's a recency bias to it. speaker-2: There's there's a whole host of things. You twenty end of twenty twenty five, we had a stagnated market because there was so much unknown build-up to the budget, and there was rumored interest rate drops. The budget came and went without any real impact on the market at all. We then had the interest rate drop and everybody could see where it was going in January. It was always going to be a fast start, and that's what played out. We've now got other economical factors that probably will have a play a big part to play this year. ⁓ so people will be revising the forecasts. And it comes back when we're talking about direct mail. You've got to keep educating your client. But it starts in the living room by getting away from the fact that you are not there to value that person's asset. You're there to advise them. You're there to advise them and tell them what the market's doing. Yeah, you're speaker-3: There to give them a plan to understand what the value is. speaker-2: Hundred percent. This I'm here to give you all the information so that you can make an informed decision on your home today. speaker-3: And you might not be able to find out what the value is at the moment. speaker-2: And so you try. speaker-0: Well yeah. remember if I said this in one of the previous appearances I made more recently on your podcast, but you're saying something along the lines of there are properties I've sold for more money than I thought they'd achieve and there's properties that sold for less money. So we can't predict exactly what it's going to get, but I have the process that is going to find you whatever the best prices at the market will speaker-3: And it's making sure that they understand that from the outset before they sign up or at the point that they're signing up with you, that they understand that we don't know what it is exactly, you don't know what it is. No one does until it's gone through this process that I'm outlining here. It might be less, it might be more, but whatever it is, it will be the most we can possibly get for it. Yeah. And it's they need to understand that because further down the line, if it does need a price adjustment and it was delivered wrong at the start, then they're going to pin everything on that. But you said it was worth this. And that's a dick. speaker-0: And that's again back to what Dave said on on your point in you said, but the way you guys do things, it was never you said, because you said, Well, the evidence points towards Yes. speaker-2: Exactly. And then we said it before, we control three things. The quality of the marketing, the exposure it receives, and then the communication. So i that's that's all we can do. Now speaker-3: And we're and and it's important that you say that to your client regularly throughout the marketing process. You drill that into them. Three Ps, four Ps, all that kind of stuff. Yeah. Gets drilled into them all the time, all the way through until it sells. speaker-2: Hundred percent. I always say to people as well, especially when I'm valuing in the town where I live or somewhere low very local, I'll say, I'm I want a really healthy market. I live in the same postcode as you. Yeah. But I I can only tell you what's happening so that you can make this informed decision. No point of coming in telling what you want hear, because it's not the truth. So and what you'll tend to Yeah, what you'll tend to find is as well, people tell them what they think they want to hear when actually they just want to hear the truth. speaker-3: Forty eight percent more agents than us. Yep. Yeah. speaker-0: Again, a very simple line, I keep banging on about it. Dave, you're the seller on the agent. Dave, what would you rather I do today? Tell you what you want to hear which which will help me win your business, not walk away happy, or tell you what you need to hear will actually get you moved. speaker-2: Yeah, exactly. speaker-1: Rather hurt you with the truth than comfort you with a lie. I said that. speaker-0: I know. speaker-2: Big Tom. Big Tom again. But yeah, it that's that's th the the beauty of setting it up that way is that you can quickly get onto the quality of the marketing and the benefits of your marketing and all that your pitch. speaker-1: Thanks, Panos. speaker-0: So let's segue into that then. So you talked about kind of data level valuation, how important that is as to why you actually get the property sold. Now, so many agents out there just will turn up with a phone, take pictures. I can't help but think they're saying speed to market doesn't equal speed to sale, right? Because if I said to you today, guys, love what you said, I want to get it on the market, there's other agents who will have it on by the end of today. But you're gonna go, Whoa, whoa, slow down, Simon. Yeah. Like we're gonna do this, this, and this. So Right, data led valuation, I now want to use you. What does that guy what does that look like for you guys for speaker-1: What's definition of having it on the market? That's another question. Yeah, my question is that you know the definition of having it on the market for a lot of agents means it's on the right move by the end of the day. Whereas the the process that you know certainly the three of us follow is that you know, as soon as the contract's signed, it's on the market. ⁓ and that might look like privately available, it might look like pre-market, you know, it's those we're at we're actively trying to get a result before we've even put it online and exposed it. speaker-0: I think of that LinkedIn post you did of was it the I don't know if it was a brand new build or a conversion, you'd use a bit of AI to give it a sneak peek kind of look. Yeah. And twilight and stuff. Yeah. So again you're wetting people's appetite creates speaker-1: That again, that was on with ⁓ another agent for ages and had absolutely nothing. Because and their their complaint was ⁓ the agent was like, ⁓ you it's the market stuff, but also, you know, it's not finished and you know people can't envision see what it looked like. Mate, we're in 2026 now. Like use AI. It's not that difficult. Like literally all you have to do, even if you are not an AI expert, is take what you have got, tell it what you want it to look like, and then you know, as long as it largely resembles what what's there. quiz in. Yeah. You know, and you can then send that out to people and give them the vision because people can't see that, you know, I I do get the I do get the feedback, but be better. It's twenty, you know, I get it. If it was 20 years ago, then there isn't really an argument for that. You know, it is what it is. But being able to create something that people can see in CGI in a matter of minutes as well, by the way, where, you know, if you get good at prompting and ⁓ figuring out how these systems work. You can create something that is very, very close to what is actually gonna sit there and the proofs in the pudding. It's it's you know speaker-0: Sold. It's also taking things out. It's just saying about what you'd maybe include there, like putting in Twilight, but how many listens do you see where there's a car parked in it or there's bins outside or ⁓ what did we say in the previous episode? ⁓ frost on the ground. And it and it is it is being lazy there. And ha ⁓ again, going back to I think previous episode of the marketing's gonna be so good, the owner will go, Well, it has to be the price. Yeah. speaker-3: Yeah. speaker-2: And just being lazy about speaker-0: But so many agents are lazily going, Price is the issue, price is the issue Yeah. Well why is it you guys are selling properties that fail to sell other agents and have more money? Yeah. speaker-1: Just on that, on that pricing as well, where the pre launch and pre market strategies come in really well is it allows you to test that price. and you know, I'm not I'm not going to try and steal this and I steal a lot of other phrases, but ⁓ Dave has ha Dave has a phrase that that I I use a lot and coin it as my own. You might you might be surprised to hear. ⁓ but you know, when you're pitching that to the sellers once the contract's signed, about getting view ins before it goes on to the market. speaker-0: Yeah, it does. Yeah. speaker-1: Tell them the story of you know previous successes you've had where it has to be a showstopping offer to get it to market. And you know, we've had before where people have offered quarter of a million, half a million, you know, maybe not always always to that extreme, hundred grand more than the price that's up to to lock out and secure their forever house. Yeah. ⁓ and but also on on the flip side of that, it also allows you to tell the pr ⁓ test the price. So if you can bring three, four, five buyers around off market that are in the market with the pound notes in their pocket to buy that sort of house. And the feedback you get from those five buyers is that it's not big enough or you know, it's price is too high or whatever it may be, you know, basically the price is too high. You can feed that back to your client and before it hits the internet, you know, you can have a conversation about maybe if the price needs to be adjusted. speaker-0: Have have you heard ⁓ a guy called Steve Beercock talk about the shower test? He's an estate agent up in the hull area. Have heard this? When you get in a shower, do you just jump straight into it or do you put your hand in and just check it's the right temperature? It's like why do people go put the house in the market, jumping straight into the shower? Yeah. Put your hand under, make sure it's the right temperature, ⁓ it's a bit cold. Okay, we're gonna put it on at a lower price. God, it's boiling hot here, got loads of interest. Yeah. Maybe we can go to Wright and a higher price. speaker-2: Yeah, a hundred percent. I mean the thing is as well, I mean obviously the the market's got to be right. So imagine that you have that great date again, it g it comes back to how you look and how you present. But the if you have that amazing conversation about data, take all the conversation away from ⁓ you value in the home and the market dict dictation is what will it ultimately get you ⁓ to the right kind of number. And then you've got crap marketing. They'll always come back to that then and Well, your marketing's not very good. So y you know, you've got to make sure that the marketing's absolutely amazing and spot on. But then you touched on it before, rush it to right move. It's the one of the worst strategies you can take because you could waste that first I mean you always bang on about what is it, first two to four weeks of right move is the most important. Yeah. Why waste that? Yeah. You know, so the now that we've got things like social media and agent collaboration, ⁓ and you've got your buyer ⁓ email database, all that sort of stuff. ⁓ there's even other portals that you can soft launch onto if you have them, you know, that sort of stuff. There's so much more you can be doing. to get a decent gauge of where the price sits. And we we had one reason I told the mastermind the other day, I think it was I think we've got a house that's ⁓ seven that wants to come on at 750,000. We've done a good pre-launch campaign on it and we're now ready to go live. And what we do, we we have an internal process where whenever we get an inquiry on the house, whatever it is, so you know what it's like, you'll put a house on social media and somebody'll just message you and say, Hi mate, how much is that one? And they've probably got no intention of buying it, but they'll still make an inquiry. So we'll say, Hi, sir, or they'll ask for more details. So yeah, six beds, four bathrooms, about two and a half thousand square feet. It's gonna be hitting the market at 750. Is it one of interest? And they might not answer, or they'll respond and go, ⁓ it's a bit over budget. And you'll Right, okay, what did you think it was worth? And they might ⁓ probably six fifty to seven hundred. We record that on the on the client's file every single time, doesn't matter. So when that two week period is up, which is usually about our pre-launch window. We then go back to the client. Some sometimes, and on this particular occasion it's true, we said, ⁓ Howard, I'm trying to remember his name then. ⁓ not John. It's not John. It's Howard. So Howard, were gonna hit market at 750. We can still do that, but I just need you to know we've had 14 inquiries in the last two weeks. Not one person has hit the 750 valuation. ⁓ obviously there's always going to be messes and people are not serious, etc., and we've not gone to the right move yet. But I don't want to waste this opportunity. There's a better price point here. And I think we should probably try and launch it off as over seven instead of 750. So when it does hit the market at 700, we know that we've already got rid of that first couple of weeks where we're perhaps wasting it. So the pre-launch strategy is also incredibly important in basically raising awareness about price. Obviously getting the house out there and getting more eyeballs on it, of course, and we can talk through pre launch strategy. But ⁓ it it look, ninety nine times out of a hundred it's it's price price, isn't it? We know it's price. If you're doing all the right things with marketing and ⁓ exposure, it's gonna come down to price. And by doing it this way in a strategic way, with data, pre launch strategies, quality of marketing, regular communication, you your your vendor will buy into that. They know they're with the right person. They know that you're not just trying to bullshit them to sell the house quickly for whatever reason. You're trying everything that you possibly can. And it's the market dictation. It's not your opinion. And you've not got it wrong. speaker-0: Yeah, love that. I think in terms of testing the market fully before you have that like digital stamp on right move of this is the date it listed, just looking back at the figures again, when you do change a price, which is ⁓ twenty four percent of the time, UK average is just over forty three percent. So the average agent nationally is price reducing eighty one percent More often than you guys. Wow. But that's because they're going, get it on the market. ⁓ my god, we need to get on by the end of the day. Yeah. ⁓ shit, after a week is too much money. And then they're reducing it. Yeah. Whereas you guys are going, right, this is a strategy. We're gonna test the market fully and then we can go, right, maybe we've been a bit too high there. So when it goes on at seven rather than seven fifty, that wasn't a price reduction. It was never worth that. Yeah. No. speaker-1: But it is also managing ⁓ clients' expectations, you 'cause sometimes you know, you say that, but sometimes we've gone on at prices where you know the data suggests, for example, it it could be worth eight hundred. Yeah. It ends up selling for seven fifty. and it's just it's just the market, you've got the benefit of experience because of that data lag, but however, the attrition rate for all of our businesses is pretty low. speaker-3: Yeah, that's the point, isn't it? Yes. So sometimes things have gone for too much money, as the data shows, we don't always get it right. But your ability to keep the client happy and therefore not leave you is what gives us the results that we get and the percentage of sales that we get. speaker-0: And you're quick to react. Whereas I think if we the other agent is purposefully overvaluing to buy the business, whereas you guys are winning the business, there's a big difference between that and then clear strategies reduce. If it's that 24% of the time, okay, we're going to adjust the price, but you're doing it quicker probably than others, and you're probably doing it by a larger percentage as well to make a bigger difference. Yeah. speaker-1: It's gotta be worthwhile, right? speaker-0: I think the it sounds brutal, but the kill zone according to right move, of the properties that do change price that go on to sell, a five to seven percent change is the key point. But most agents do three to four percent. speaker-1: reason it's got to be five percent as well is because the the actual science behind it is affordability. Because if somebody's got one point two five, the chances are they've they've got one point three. But that extra five you know, people generally, when they're buying places or valuing places in their mind, generally it's it's actual what they can afford. The five percent plus chunk is the difference between them buying that house and them not buying it. speaker-0: Are you saying like so I don't know about you guys, but if you like go get a car, if you said to me now what's the interest rate on the loan on your car, I wouldn't have a fucking clue. But I know how much my budget was a month to pay it. Exactly. And other people looking at one point two five, ⁓ are they going one point three or they're going, well that's an extra couple hundred quid on my mortgage? I mean extra couple hundred quid a month. speaker-2: Yeah, I'll take that. speaker-1: Exactly. Whereas, you know, it could then be four hundred pounds on their mortgage and they go, Do you know what, that's a bit tight. speaker-0: Wouldn't do it for that. I'd rather live a bit further out and spend that four hundred quid on train to whatever it might be. It speaker-3: Yeah, plus to c a a small price reduction, the price is still far too close to what it was anyway. So it's it's kind of the same sort of price. So you need to make something significant. I always say to people we're gonna if we're gonna make price change, we're gonna make one only ever. So let's do let's not make a price change yet. Let's do more social around it, let's get more try and get more buyers in, cost match pro let's do everything we possibly can before we think about price change. And if we do have to do it, it needs to be significant. speaker-1: And try and get it on a price point 'cause if you get sixteen percent more views on a price point, that's data that I like to put on. speaker-2: Just a thief. ⁓ speaker-0: I sold it Right Moves, so it's fine, it's f it's it's third hand. speaker-2: I think the other thing as well is you don't have to take every listing. You know, people think that just because you've been invited out to value a house that you've got something. Yeah, exactly. So the it also comes with a setting motivation. You know, we've all got overpriced stock on our books. You know, I've I've taken overpriced stock knowing it's overpriced and it's not going to sell. But the homeowner needs to go through that process. Now if that homeowner speaker-1: public s speaker-2: Tells me that they want 900,000 pounds for an 825,000 pound house, but they have already got their new home is already going through. It's going to exchange in the next three months. And at that point, they're going to move into it and then they're going to be sat with an empty asset. And they're going to move at some point in the future and it's a two percent fee. I'm not walking away from that. I'm I'm willing to accept that this house is going to reduce. So it again, it's about how do we manage that situation? That is your price. I've demonstrated today. That the market dictates 800 to 850. Could it sell for 900 if we get the right person through the door? Yeah, of course it could, because we're at a level where there's high liquidity, higher deposits, you get people who are in good jobs buying these things. Yeah, of course there is John. But the market dictation is 800 to 850. So if we get to that three month stage when your new home's exchanged, then I think we need to be having a serious conversation about reducing. But what I can guarantee you today. Is that your marketing is gonna be exceptional? It's gonna be like everything I've shown you today. Your house is gonna look amazing. It's gonna be an on-right move. It's gonna be exposed across social media. We collaborate with agents acros across the country. We've got a buyer network that we're gonna match it to. We're gonna communicate every week and I'll keep you up to date with the market. If it is not selling, it's not the marketing, it's the market dictation. So we need to just have that conversation. So again, you're just setting the scene and setting the tone. And another conversation I like to have with with homeowners is You know, what what do we need? What sells a house? Traffic. So how do we get people through the door? Let's take everything away. What do we need? We need people through the door. So how are we going to achieve that? Well, I've shown you all the amazing marketing that's going to make your house look good, but where do people shop for houses? You know, twenty-five years ago you'd get dressed up and you'd go into Bolton Town Centre. ⁓ Yeah, you put your loan scot on and ⁓ you'd go into town. speaker-1: The brands are available. speaker-2: And you'd go and shop in every estate agent's window and you might wait quite a while. if you've got a house on the market, you might wait because it might be the next weekend that somebody sees your house in the window, or it might be the weekend after, or whatever. They made they'd wait for the newspaper to come out once a week. Again, giving that analogy is great because then you say, but it's all changed now. It's changed. So if someone's proactively looking for a house, where do they start? Well, they start on right move. So we need to play to right move strengths. So you're telling me that the other agents told you it's worth nine hundred and fifty thousand pounds and we should market at that. Well, there's no filter for that at nine hundred or nine hundred and fifty. So actually the best filter is nine hundred thousand pounds offered in excess of. ⁓ so I don't disagree, maybe, but you'll get everybody looking up to nine hundred and from nine hundred John, but won't they offer me less? Yes, they will, John. They will offer you less. They will probably offer you less. That's okay. It's just how it's managed. speaker-3: is try educate people to try and make them see that by going on the price point is the right thing to do because it might be worth less than the price point. Yeah. So if if a house is going on at 925, for example, you're not seen by anyone searching up to 900. The house might be worth less than 900. You're right, your your your ideal buyer might never ever see the property at all because it's on at 95. So they're going on offers by 900 Mr. Smith, you're going to be seen by everyone that needs to see it. And that might be your right buyer at eight ninety, eight eighty, eight seventy. And if the house is worth over nine, if it's worth up to nine fifty, then you'll look cheap and you'll get loads of competition. And that's And that'll drive a higher price. speaker-2: There's flip side to it. What if what if somebody's got a maximum budget of nine and it's on at nine fifty and they or maybe even a maximum budget of eight seventy or whatever their AP AIP and they're they're only looking up to nine and it's on at nine fifty. But then they see at nine hundred, fall in love with it, and they go and speak to mum and dad. speaker-0: I was literally just thinking that. How many times over the years have we heard someone say, I found a bit of money down the back of the sofa 'cause they've walked through the door, the kids have chosen their bedrooms, they're like, Shit, the grandparents are down the road, babysitter's on tap, it's close to my work. Actually I'll sacrifice an extra few quid a month on the mortgage. speaker-2: Absolutely. And again, articulating what that might look like on a mortgage, are you really going to leave your dream dream home, lose your dream home for an extra £200 a month? Is that what you're saying to me? You know, that kind of thing. Again, getting into the emotional connection to the home. But again, another one I like to talk to other people about is, you know, let's just say the house is worth a million. We think it's worth in and around a million. And, you know, if you say to the the homeowner, What would happen if I listed this house tomorrow at 800,000 pounds? And they'll always obviously say, Well, I have lots of people wanting it, won't I? So what would happen if I put it on at £1.2 million? Well, no one'd come, Dave. Said, yeah, exactly. So we need to find a happy medium. Millions are probably a bad example 'cause of the million price point. But let's say it was nine fifty. ⁓ and we we're saying eight hundred and one point one. I said, right, we want people through the door. We've got to play to write Moose strengths. If there was a filter for that, we'd use it. But what we need is people through the door. And it's do you know what? It's really hard to undersell a house unless you're a really crap agent. And that's what you've got to demonstrate. You know, if somebody weak, an order taker, is handling your sale, your biggest tax-free asset, then yeah, it's probably not the best strategy to do this. But, you know, I've been doing this for 20 years. I've demonstrated here, here, here, and here and here how it works brilliantly well. You don't have to accept whatever someone offers you. You can turn it down. You know, what are we waiting for here? Do we want to sell it or do we want to list it? speaker-0: A couple of examples on this which are going to relate to football, so apologies, Ian. But ⁓ That's a weapon zero weapon. If I think I would have shared it with you before, ⁓ but at a charity lunch last season when Liverpool were on the league and we're still all right. And they said everyone stand up, and then they got the signed Virgil van Dyke shirt, which is on my wall in my office, and they said, Stay standing if you pay £100 for it. Stay standard 200, 300. So it started here. Just kept going up and and up. And as it got more expensive, some people sat down. But at the start, you're like, there's a lot of people in here wanting this shirt. Now, if they'd started by going, right, who will pay a thousand pounds for this shirt? Everyone would go, fucking hell, I'm not doing that. But it started at stay standard at a hundred quid. Now, what they've done before at these types of things is for I've been in a room where they're bidding and it will get to 500 and the EMC, if that's what they're called, would say, Look, there's a a reserve on this, and if it's not matched, we're not selling it today. And there's a guy at the side the stage and he's going, Can we sell it for five hundred? And he's going like that, nope, sorry, I haven't met the reserve. And it literally goes off the stage and they put it in the back of the van. So there's that point of a house. If you don't achieve the price you want to, we just say no, you're in control, not the buyer. Yeah. speaker-2: Hundred percent. And it's it's so important. It's getting really selling houses about getting the buyer, ⁓ sorry, the seller to buy into the strategy. Yeah. Because another thing I always say, and I say it to sellers, said with all due respect, John, you don't know what you'll take until it's real. I do too, yeah. And we're all the same. speaker-0: I like your line of ⁓ let's say they want to take eight fifty and it's on at nine. Yeah. And you ha talk through how you arrive at that where it's like, what does ⁓ would you take this? Would you take this? Would you take Yeah yeah. speaker-2: So it basically, ⁓ I I would say so you're on at nine hundred th so so you want no hang on, what was the what was it? speaker-0: Let's say I let's say it's eight it's on at nine hundred, but they've ⁓ they've said eight fifty. speaker-2: Right, okay, yeah. So I would say, okay, well you're saying that if I had a cash buyer tomorrow at seven hundred and ninety thousand, are you taking it? No. Are you taking eight hundred? No. Are you taking eight ten? No. Are you taking eight twenty? Hmm. Hmm. I might push or push. speaker-0: What the what the fuck are we doing on it nine hundred? speaker-2: So why are we wasting time? What about offers over eight hundred? Because I've got a better chance of getting you to eight twenty five from eight offers over eight than I do from nine hundred. And actually from offers over eight, I've got a great chance of getting you up to eight fifty if we can create competition amongst buyers. So yeah, it's just basically giving them that psychology, and get getting into their psychology rather and thinking about it and getting them to think differently, asking better questions. Because when it's real, they'll just have a completely different mindset. speaker-1: Do you think we should go down ⁓ just talk about the agent collaboration bit as well? Because that that's much more relevant at the the upper end of the market. And then we talked in a previous podcast about fees, and they're quite often, well not quite often, like I would say sometimes maybe one or two out of ten transactions, you you can get a buyer introduced by another agent and you're gonna have to give away part of your fee. And the way I demonstrate it to my clients is that, you know. Whilst we're quoting two percent and it'd be nice to have the whole fee, the reason we do that is because we can again you talked earlier about marketing spend and marketing budget. We've got the ability to work with other agents. So we're not just closing the door, it's not just us. You've got access to every agent in the country and we're able to give them a a piece of the pie. And but you still have my negotiating power, my marketing, etc. That and and that's what you've employed me to do. speaker-2: Yeah. speaker-1: But also it allows me to open and also to kind of articulate what that looks like. Now we're part of various different ⁓ sort of informal off market groups that are run. And you know, you you can put it out there into the universe that, you if you're charging, let's say two percent, you can offer a 50-50 split with somebody off market possibly. ⁓ if it's on market, you might offer somebody ⁓ I don't know, if you've if you've got ⁓ let's say a 35, 40 grand fee, you might offer somebody a a 10k intro. ⁓ and know it's worth I mean you you've probably seen it yourself and you you guys I mean I I know that a house I sold over three million I had to give away part of my fee for a buyer that was introduced. ⁓ arguably could they have come and seen it online and got in touch? Maybe but they didn't. ⁓ but again to that client, at the end of the day I st ⁓ from the outside world, the outside world s sees I sold it. Of course speaker-3: I mean, speaker-0: You've also retained that listing because if you weren't open to collaboration, you're gonna lose the whole thing. It's better to have a bit of the pie than none of it. Yeah. ⁓ and I think that helps you retain the listing because how you know, you're all gonna get agents sending shit letters through your sellers doors saying, I have buyers waiting for properties like yours and sellers naively and go, Yeah, they told me they've got a buyer. Really? Well I've got it I've put it out to the whole wide world that I offer an intro fee. Yeah. They don't need to spend money any money on any form of marketing. All they need to do is pass me the buyer and I'll do all of the work and I'll buy and I'll give them ten grand for the privilege. Yeah. So yeah, if they want to ⁓ have a chat with me and then funnily enough they're sending those letters are not the collaborative ones. They're not. If you phoned them and said, Hey, I've got a buyer for one of your listings, they're gonna be charging one percent at best, so they don't have a high enough fee to be able to correct give any of that away. speaker-2: They don't. speaker-1: Exactly that. And and the the client's investing in your skill. It's not just about investing in what you can put on right move. It's invested in your skill. So, you know, they want to know that when that buyer comes through the door, regardless of which medium it's from, if it's fire or another agent, they're invested in your negotiation skill to make sure you get them the best possible price. And, you know, just talking about that particular example, we achieved a price there. ⁓ I mean it's you know, it's incredible really when you look at what other valuations would come in at. But again, they're raving fans for the future now. They'll go and they'll talk about that with their friends and you know, proximity's power, isn't it? That's Tony Robbins. Cheers, Tony. being around the right sort of people. Did you like the way I looked into the camera there? There's another white teeth moment. speaker-2: All these people could be logging in, watching this tonight. speaker-1: Hey yeah. I I was gonna try to do a Tony Robbins impression there, but I thought you know what you'd probably be able to do one because he's quite low. We'll move on. speaker-2: I've never heard he sounds like speaker-0: Okay. speaker-1: Yeah. Yeah. Safe proximity is power. speaker-3: Proximity is power. There you go, see? speaker-2: You don't have to put a voice. speaker-1: You don't have to do your voice. You are speaker-3: I try to be more Tyson. Yeah. speaker-1: Has anyone seen you and Tyson Fury in the room at the same time? speaker-3: I he did view a house I was selling but I didn't I wasn't eager. speaker-0: Actually you could actually do voiceovers for him. speaker-3: I said that's another sideline. speaker-1: Yeah. speaker-2: Anyway, yeah, solid solid houses. speaker-1: Back to selling houses. but yeah, that's how agent collaboration can work. And like you say, you protect your listings for a start. but also, you know, it's about getting your client the best possible price and opening every single avenue. speaker-2: 'Cause I mean, ⁓ all this is this is going out to agents. So you can you you know it's all about getting the the seller to buy into it. Yeah. And understand we know that the price dictates ninety-nine times out of a hundred. You know, so they need to understand that you are doing everything you possibly can. Yeah. Because you are obviously. But they need to know that you're on a journey together. It's you and them against the market. It's not me versus my client. speaker-3: Because you are speaker-0: And a lot of it is that it is, yeah. ⁓ speaker-2: us against the market, me and my client versus the market. Yeah. That's good. That's my copyright. ⁓ so they need to know that and they've got to know that you've got a plan and a strategy. So again, this is something else we've not really spoken about. We have a a a strategy that we we have on every list and that the client knows about. So if you're going into their into there with a plan, they know they're in the right hands. And again, what are the potential pitfalls that we're going to come across, you know? speaker-3: Yeah. speaker-2: Well, you're not for a start, you're not going to get ten viewings a week like this is a three-bed semi. It's a one point five million pound house, you're gonna probably get dribs and drabs. You might go a few weeks without viewing, that kind of thing. We need to monitor the data, we need to monitor the market, we need to have regular updates so that you know what's happening. And unfortunately, if it's not going to be happening, you know how good the marketing is. We might have to look at the price at some point. But the price is there to get you to the valuation, not the other way around. So the pr the valuation and the marketing price and the valuation are two different things. So the marketing price is there to get us to where we want to be. speaker-0: On the communication levels that you speak about there, and going back to something you said earlier in the podcast, you imagine someone sold a three-bed semi in the COVID market, low interest rates, barely any stamp duty pay, people flooding through houses to buy them, and they've sold for over-asking price within a day. Fast forward five or six years, and they're now in their 750 grand house, nice big four-bed detached, let's say, and after a week they're like, I sold in a week for over asking price with 10 different bids. But why is it not happening now? But if you're explaining to me, by the way, I know that your last move was in a crazy market. Yeah. Just to let you know this time round, just to manage expectations, you're in a higher price point, which is more difficult to sell. We're in a higher interest rate environment, more stocks, more competition, and less buyers about. So I just want to manage your expectations from the start. How many agents in there are over over promising and under delivering? speaker-2: Well here's the other one, right? So there's a house that I've been out to value and didn't win. It's been on the market for Was it F house? Don't I still go back to FO. Yeah. ⁓ so I was I would have been at the time the third agent on the house. ⁓ they've they've already had two on it, I would have been the third. So I've given them my advice, and my advice was that the house is worth less than what they paid for it. And they didn't like hearing That because ultimately they've paid a lot of money for And it was a it was a separation. So ⁓ obviously they wanna both want come out with a certain amount of money, but it's i it just is where it is. They're they're still on the market after I think two and a half, three years. It's had a bit of stint renting, and they're on about the fifth agent, and they've never really called me since. So what we did is looked at what they paid for it in 2021, and they'd significantly overpaid for that property, like probably five to ten percent. So the nine hundred that they'd paid. was actually should have been more like eight, eight hundred and ten, eight twenty. So what I said to him is that I need to take you back in time a little bit here and show you what the market was doing in 2021. Now, at the time the market was at a certain level and they paid, like I said, 10% above that level, the average host price level at that point. We showed we looked at price per square foot at the point, and that's where day slot is great, by the way, again, because you can back. I said what you should have paid was eight to ten, eight ten, eight twenty. I know you would never have paid it then, because probably three or four people wanted it, but you've bought this asset as your family home that you're expected to live in for the next twenty, thirty years, it's unfortunate that they're in the circumstances that you're in now, that you're you're separating and you need to sell it, but you've you've overpaid for the asset. So if if we start working out the data based on twenty twenty one values and applying all the inflation that we've had since then, it gets you to what you're on at now, one point one million. But what we need to do is take all this off. speaker-0: And you're saying the average agent would just do a typical like, Well, this is what they paid for it, this is what the market's done. Yeah. But you're going back in time and saying you overpaid 'cause you're in a bidding war, yeah. Interest rates were low, you could borrow loads of money, you no stamp duty pay, you got a bit excited. Yeah. speaker-2: That's the reality of it. And I and to be quite honest, I draw on my own experiences. You know, I my house I bought I paid £35,000 more for my house than I wanted to. And I've since spent the best part of £100,000 doing it up. If I was to sell my house today, it wouldn't be worth it. Listen, it's a nice place to live. ⁓ it wouldn't be worth ⁓ the money that I've put into it right now. But but but you choose to live in it, don't you? It's your home. So that's what I was explaining to them. speaker-0: Heard you said for yeah. speaker-1: Yeah. speaker-2: You know, you've you've overpaid for your dream home. It's unfortunate the circumstances you're in. But when we look at the data back then, it doesn't support what you've paid for it. So we need to take that off. If you want to sell this house, we need take that off and reassess the value. speaker-0: And what you've said there is why the average agent is selling fifty five percent of what they list only, because they're not going to want to have that uncomfortable conversation. speaker-2: Exactly. And she was basically on at a price that she wanted to hear because the next person in said, Yeah, definitely worth one point one million. speaker-1: gets the listing, gets paid on it. I think there's another part of that as well that builds into the stats that when it comes to selling houses, selling houses is not just about getting under offer. Selling houses is about moving people ⁓ and making sure that they can actually physically move to the next house. Yeah. And that comes from world class sales progression as well. Making sure that you've you know either got a really good in house progressor or really good outsource progressor that's gonna work with your clients ⁓ and and experience is key. speaker-2: Così does. speaker-1: You you you can't just give it to the office junior and you know, or it some some places will just leave it to the solicitors and go, ⁓ it's not my job. speaker-3: It's not even a junior, it's just people who are sat there also booking viewings and valuations. You know, the the last thing they want to do is chase a sale. speaker-0: And all the all the experience you have around this table of you will have that gut feeling where you're like that just something doesn't sit right with that person, right? But then also I think you've heard I've heard you guys speak on the podcast before about due diligence, where others in the chain have royally cocked up for not doing things properly. So it's making sure that from start to finish that's all that's all done. speaker-1: Yeah, hundred percent. And that's a that's the thing when you're again tying up an offer, getting the chain details, making sure that you understand who actually is buying the property, not just first time buyer, for example, at the bottom. What's the name of the first time buyer? What solicitor are they using? speaker-0: You imagine if you thought, ⁓ you know, I can definitely think of one particular person who actually ended up going to prison for fraud, who I was involved in a chain. And can I take this person's name? And ⁓ their first name was Malcolm, I always say their last name because that would be I'll probably get killed by it. But the I phoned up to get chain t chain details. ⁓ the buyer is Malcolm XYZ. Yeah. I rang up the song and said, We're not getting involved in this. The person's a Fucking lunatic. Yeah, yeah. Like it's not a real buyer. He go he does this once a year, he goes round. Yeah. But then sold a ha someone else's house, his buyer, who was not a realistic buyer. speaker-1: You get it. And the thing is as well, you get people on your books that you know and we've had it before where you you take first time buyer or you take a chain free buyer at the bottom, but then you've also had a viewing request recently from that chain free buyer. And y you you kind of have to ask yourself, well, hang on a minute, what what is going on here? ⁓ but also it's again it's it comes down that to communication. We talked about it a lot, you know, with the client, but also communicating with solicitors, communicating ⁓ with other estate agents, having good relationships with other agents, you know, it's what there's another saying I feel like there's another classic. We need a buzzer every time we say a saying, but collaboration happens at the top. Yeah, competition at the bottom, collaboration at the top. I'll take that one, made that just up now. but the working well with other agents, I can see you guys looking at me like speaker-0: Do you remember do remember when you started talking about ice cream in one of your episodes? ⁓ my god. And you just went, James, what the fuck are you talking about? Yeah. It did it. Me and Ian were just looking at each other like. speaker-2: ⁓ I didn't know. speaker-1: What do you do about vanilla ice creams? speaker-2: ⁓ yeah. speaker-0: Well you're wearing the same thing. Exactly. ⁓ I think in terms of the collaboration thing as well and giving good advice, particularly from a sales progression point of view, if you have a seller who says, ⁓ yeah, I'm going with this solicitor and you know they're dog shit and having the bollocks to say, just let you know they're a really shit solicitor, I can't recommend enough you do not go with them because it will take a course. I just like the way I said it. Is that not how you speaker-1: There's a reason you're not a stage anymore. speaker-0: Those who can't do teach. Right? ⁓ no, but you've you've you've got to tell them that, you know, the the brutal truth there of look, these are lists I recommend, not because I'm getting a referral fee from it, but they're actually I've got their mobile number and I can ring them up and say, John, sort it out. Not someone who's in a call centre somewhere who will respond to an email saying, I'll come back to you in five working days. speaker-1: Again, it goes down to that, you know, transactional and relational part of the market, transactional at the at the bottom, relational part. You know, for a relational transaction, you need relational transactions with everyone throughout that process. So even a solicitor, having a relationship with the solicitor and making sure, you know, like you said, you can ring them up, you can WhatsApp them, you email them, they're they're there, they've got you back. So if something does happen or something turns up on a survey or, you know, on the title, you can ring them up and go, what on earth? It's a section forty two B or whatever. And be able to articulate that to client, come up with a solution and collaboratively work together to make sure it moves forward. We've had things recently where the foot ⁓ a footpath, a random footpath appeal, ⁓ appear, sorry, on the title of a house. ⁓ and I won't go too deep down in the rabbit hole because it's a bit of a long, boring story. But the reality is, if that had been a tick box conveyancer dealing with that, it would have been reported to the lender in such a way that the computer says no, and that. 750 grand deal at 2% would have gone, you know, and it's not just about me, it's about my client for a start, ⁓ and them losing the the value of their home, ⁓ the buyer losing their chain, the kids losing their dream home. But because we're able to work with a highly skilled solicitor on both sides that were both pragmatic in their approach as well, that we could have a conversation about what that looks like and move forward with it and say speaker-3: One recently is £1.85 million sale. And had two driveways. It had one that he'd created when he developed the house, the bet like the main one, and one at the back for like the horse box entry or whatever it was. And there was a piece of land you had to cross over that he used to own when he developed the whole site, but he'd recently it belonged that the piece of land belonged to the house behind. But it this house we were selling had access over it. And the solicitor acting for the buyer, who was the worst one of the worst we've ever dealt with, hadn't checked, didn't know there was a second drive. speaker-0: Shout them out. speaker-3: She thought that was the only drive into the property. And we didn't realise this until probably eight weeks into the sale that she hadn't realized that was the fucking second driveway, even though you could see on the photographs on the listing. And it's just absolutely shocking. So having someone that is good at progressing your sale and that can speak to you the right way. And we really steered the buyer away from her solicitor's advice because she was fucking wrong, you know, with what she was saying. So having someone that can do that, we saved this £1.85 million sale for the buyer, for the seller that, you know, a ⁓ a lesser agent that didn't have the time to progress properly. Would have lost. So it's massively valuable when it comes to that. speaker-1: That's the proofs and the standard. Again, that's where you articulate those stories in in the living room is yeah to the clients that you know this is what you're paying for. You know, it's not just about getting you on the right move, it's not just about nice photos, it's not just about the video and the quality of the marketing. No. You're buying my experience and expertise. speaker-3: Yeah, it's the benefits, isn't it? Explain the benefits. speaker-1: Getting you through from start to finish. Now, do you want that eighty to ninety percent chance of moving or do you just want to leave it to chance? speaker-0: It's up to you. speaker-2: The other thing as well to demonstrate to your owners is the cost of change. Because how many people think that this is what they want to achieve on their house? And actually what they need to look at is the overall package. speaker-0: Destination valuing. Like you said earlier of that couple divorcing and it's like, well I want this price because this is what I need out of the house. Well just 'cause it's what you want. Yes. How many times? speaker-1: On Right Move don't go, ⁓ my god, they need a million quid, I'll pay speaker-2: Yeah. Yeah. But it's like so many times you'll get somebody that that is buying a more expensive home ⁓ and selling their own home and the the cost difference is is is quite significant. But ultimately we have like we've got one at the moment where the the house is eight hundred and fifty thousand and i the guy's so caught up on his own value ⁓ and we're looking at a potential part exchange. ⁓ I was trying to say to him, Well, you you you could the the other guy could sell his house for free as long as he can get this one for three hundred and fifty. It doesn't matter. It's just about what does the overall package look look like? So again, getting homeowners to look at the bigger picture sometimes enables you to get them to move on to the next. speaker-0: Chapter. In terms of that changeover cost, my grandmother sold her house, moved a few years ago, and moved in with my parents. Now let's say someone was offering less money and her going, well, that's not the price I'm asking. It's like, okay, it's not quite the price you wanted, but the quicker you move in with your ⁓ daughter and son-in-law, you're no longer paying for that cleaner, for that gardener. How much is that costing you for them to come in every week? Because you're 90-something years of age. The money you're going to save there, like you're going to make the money back. Mm in the move. So it's it's explained that. speaker-3: We say to sellers, I think it's a Josh Fegan quote. ⁓ don't lose it, use it. Yeah. With an offer. So we have one recently where we've sold the lady's house for one point five. She's buying one. She wants to buy one through another agent. I neg the offer for her. It's on at eight fifty. I rang the agent and said, What would you take? They said, start with an eight. Unbelievable. Unbelievable the conversation I had with that agent. So I'll start with an eight. speaker-0: Your voice. Can you d yeah, can you do your voice? speaker-2: Yeah. speaker-3: So I said confused about what voice I'm doing now. So just do So I'll start with an eight, start with eight hundred. Anyway, long story short, she would have paid eight fifty for that house. It was on eight fifty. I got it for eight ten just by asking two questions of the agent. Yeah. And the seller has moved on with more money in her pocket than she thought she was going to have at the start. And at the start she wanted more than one point five. It's definitely worth one point. speaker-0: And how and how many agents will be and this is like s very like American, but they're a sales prevention officer. Where at that point, yeah, if they're in your shoes, they'll go, ⁓ they'd never take that. Yeah. But you've been as this is really cringe, I'm saying it, a sales enhancement officer, use it, not lose it. Okay, how can we work with that to get to the end of it? Yeah. speaker-1: There's just another thing as well on tying up offers. You know, when you if you get an offer and it's not quite what they want, ⁓ you know, you're ten grand apart, you know, would you stick eight hundred and seventy grand on roulette to try and win another ten? speaker-3: I stolen so many. speaker-0: I mean you've butchered that massively. But yeah, it is but that is the same thing. That is a very good that is a very good line from Tom. Right. The line is, so let's say it's on at 900 and you've got eight ninety. Ian, would you go play roulette now and put eight ninety on the table to win ten grand? No, of course you fucking wouldn't. So what are we playing at here? Yeah. Again, that's how I taught, which is why I'm not an agent anymore. ⁓ right, so we've talked through when you're on the actual valuation, how to use data to get the price right at the start. Then we've talked about not rushing it to market. speaker-3: Thanks. speaker-1: House. speaker-0: We've talked about what good marketing looks like. We've talked about the viewing experience. We've then talked about how to actually negotiate deals, not get in the way of it, and actually get it through to the finish line. And I think that is why, as a as a three, the complete agent, selling 80% of what you list 15 days faster and getting your clients 2.22% more in their pocket. Is there anything else we need to cover off on that voice or is that a good point? speaker-3: N maybe only one thing I can think of would be about being able to negotiate a buyer up, you know, to the right level. 'Cause I think a lot of agents aren't particularly good at negotiating their their order taking. speaker-0: Yeah, actually let's yeah, so on so on that, how many ⁓ so you phone up and offer on a house now, it's on a a million quid, high sign would like to offer nine hundred. Okay, Ian, right, so if or when that gets rejected, what's the next offer gonna be? But how many agents are going, ⁓ my god, Ian, ⁓ my god, like amazing, right, I can't wait to speak to the seller. Yeah. Like already like set the expectations. Okay, and what's the next move gonna be? Nine times out of ten they're gonna reveal, aren't Of course. speaker-3: Yeah, yeah, exactly. So we export. Yeah. So we explain to sellers that's in our marketing plan and we explain at our first will of negotiation is that, you know, that we always reject the first offer. And you you do get a few s ⁓ smirks sometimes the the right sort of client likes to hear that you're that kind of negotiator. So I think being firm with a buyer is also really, really key. And be being confident and firm with them and pushing them as high as you possibly can. If they really, really love the house, they're not gonna walk away. They're gonna say, No, I'm not going any higher, but they're not gonna walk away. And you you're you're protecting their equity, yeah. So I think have being firm with the buyer is very, very important. Explaining to them how if they're buying a long-term family home, which most of our buyers are, that everything grows over time. So yeah, you can pick up all these major world events in the last 20 years that have affected the market and maybe it's wobbled a bit, but over time it always grows. And would you really risk losing your dream 25 year home for 30 grand when over time we know it's going to grow way more than that? So it's speaker-1: As an invest you know, if you're buying an investment flat, you know, in a block, you know, you want to get it for as little as possible to make sure you maximize a yield. But you know, w watching your kids grow up in this home for the next twenty five years, choosing their bedrooms, like having a wedding in the garden, you know, in the in the marquee, are you going to be worrying about the extra fifteen, twenty, thirty grand that you pay in this time when you then come to be the next people to sell this house? speaker-3: Twenty twenty. No, you're not. speaker-0: Love it. Right, what a place when. So that is episode four, Done and Dusted, in this mini-series of Open the Gates Small Listings, Meets the Complete Agent. We have talked through how to get into the higher end of the market, how to use direct mail effectively, how to charge higher fees, and how to get the property sold. Make sure you're following Opening the Gates and the Complete Agent. Like, review, subscribe, follow, share, and stay tuned for more coming in the future. speaker-2: Yeah.