Australian Property News

Presentation and price are vendor essentials in this property cycle

Posted on Thursday, September 16 2010 at 9:09 AM

As Brisbane property sales continue to move slowly, vendors must present properties at the highest standard possible, communicate more effectively with agents and get the price spot on, according to Ray White sales agent Karen Baumgart.

Baumgart has already observed a surge in vendor attention to gardens, front fences, mailboxes and new blinds as opposed to major renovations, reportedly giving properties the edge over stiff competition, minimising price reductions and speeding up sales.

“On average, Brisbane vendors are currently reducing prices three times prior to selling,” said Baumgart.

Some properties are experiencing reductions ranging from $10,000 to $30,000, she said.

But while this number of price reductions indicates that a little price correction is often required, said Baumgart, Brisbane vendors are starting to communicate more frequently with selling agents to secure a faster sale, in many cases, on a fortnightly basis.

“They figure there’s no point in sitting there with no one turning up to open house inspections,” she said.

Additionally, as a result of slow sales, a strong presence of ‘subject to sale’ clauses in offer contracts exist and in response to this, a rise in ‘sunset clauses’ on the vendor’s behalf (which means while the accepted offer must remain undisclosed to potential bidders, vendors can still accept offers until the first contract becomes unconditional).