Immigration is changing the face of New Zealand and Remuera

After a slightly slower 2008 my sales volumes are back up to 2007 levels.  Over the last 3 months I’ve sold twelve homes at the rate of four per month. 

The other day I was studying those sales and noticed something very interesting.  Immigration trends suggest we will see a net gain to NZ’s population of about 20,000 people this year.  It looks to me like plenty of new arrivals are buying homes at the moment, especially in Remuera.  I’m going to share a telling statistic with you that you won’t see highlighted elsewhere.  Of my last 12 sales, 10 were to families born outside New Zealand.  Not all have just arrived, but the majority have.  Most were from China. 

We are so lucky to live in such a safe, clean, culturally diverse environment.  Many people from all over the world can only dream about living in New Zealand and Remuera.

Your Home is Worth Less Than It Was?

This was the front page headline of today’s Sunday Newspaper in Auckland.

I won’t argue the point, for many people this headline is true.  Real estate is cyclical, thank goodness!  Could it go up forever?

News from the trenches:  I’m arguably the busiest salesperson in Remuera at the moment.  I’m running 12 to 14 open homes per weekend.

Last weekend I was face to face with approximatley 150 groups (or 450 people).  Yes, that many came to my open homes alone.  How many other buyers are out there – plenty!

This weekend (Waitangi long weekend) most would expect a slow weekend at open homes.  Again I had approximately 150 groups (or 450 people) through again. 

About 20 groups (or 60 people) were 2nd timers from the previous weekend.  That means, over two weekends (one being a long weekend), I had 280 groups (or 840 people) through open homes.

Methinks there might be some bargains, but not as many as the newspapers would have us believe!

Almost everything you want to know about Steve Koerber’s Listings

This website is no longer updated – please go to

www.stevekoerber.co.nz

Email enquiries about homes for sale

One of self-help guru Anthony Robbins best quotes goes like this:  “The quality of your life is determined by the quality of the questions you ask”.

I’ll admit it!  Many real estate salespeople provide limited information on property websites.  One of the reasons for this is ‘old school thinking’.  It wasn’t long ago that agents found buyers by placing ’teaser’ ads in newspapers.  These ads gave basic details that ‘teased’ buyers to telephone the salesperson to request more information.  Once the buyer was in the salesperson’s net, the rest was history.

These days, if you’re buying, and you send an email enquiry from a property website, you probably won’t receive a long-winded informative response.  One reason for this is because about 90% of people only ask these two questions:  Where is it and how much?

Salespeople, being salepeople, will more often than not, email you back with basic answers to your basic questions, then ask you some questions.  If you are annoyed by this, you shouldn’t be.  It’s your fault!  Any salesperson worth their salt will answer your questions and then ask you questions.

So what’s the solution?  Firstly, yes salespeople should provide more information up front.  Floor area, floor-plans, address, price, lots of photos etc etc.  Many in my industry are working to improve this basic service. I am.

Secondly, if you’re serious about buying, ask your questions, but also send a comprehensive wish-list, your price range, preferred location.  It really helps if you mention a home you have seen that you like, and even better if you mention a home that you made an offer on but missed out on.  By doing this, a good salesperson will sense the type of home you are likely to buy and will be able to help you more efficiently.

Good luck buying, we have a good buyer’s market right now.

Real estate salesperson coaching in Auckland

In association with www.primecoaching.co.nz Chris Prime and myself conducted our inaugural six month coaching program for a select group of motivated real estate salespeople.  The program finished in February 2009.  

The intensive hands-on program included a combination of fortnightly and monthly coaching with myself plus 12 one-on-one coaching sessions from real estate coach, Chris Prime.

The four essential ingredients of the most successful real estate careers were the foundation of the program:  Prospecting, Listing, Negotiating and Selling.

Each program participant was held accountable for their results on a daily basis (yes daily!).  Instruction included assignments that produced (for some) instant listings and sales. 

STOP PRESS:  Our 2009 coaching program for Barfoot & Thompson salespeople will be announced soon.

How important is market share in real estate?

Imagine Auckland with just one real estate company.  Every agent could take every buyer to every house for sale.  Imagine your home on the market with this company.  Would all (or most) buyers see your home?  Yes.

In Remuera, because of a significant market share that varies between  40 – 50%, Barfoot & Thompson is the next best thing to the ficticious company I’ve just described.  That’s how important market share is!