An experienced sales agent in Hobart’s burgeoning property market, Karen Young has amassed a loyal following thanks to her ‘never give up’ attitude. Here, she offers her tips for minimising your property’s days on the market and achieving the best price
WHAT READERS SAID
“We met Karen roughly two years ago at a open home, and though we turned up at the end of the viewing, she took the time to answer our questions and let us spend the time we needed at the property. I guess you can say we hit it off from that moment as a week later Karen provided an excellent, honest appraisal on our home. We decided it was not the right time to sell, however Karen kept in touch on a regular basis. I contacted her quite often to get her ‘real estate’ expertise about properties we were interested in, and Karen would always take the time to talk us through everything and off er sound advice. Eventually we decided to sell and didn’t even think twice about which agent to sell with. Karen achieved the ‘magic number’ we had been hoping for all along and did not push for us to settle for any less.” – Megan Cooper
“We met Karen roughly two years ago at a open home, and though we turned up at the end of the viewing, she took the time to answer our questions and let us spend the time we needed at the property. I guess you can say we hit it off from that moment as a week later Karen provided an excellent, honest appraisal on our home. We decided it was not the right time to sell, however Karen kept in touch on a regular basis. I contacted her quite often to get her ‘real estate’ expertise about properties we were interested in, and Karen would always take the time to talk us through everything and off er sound advice. Eventually we decided to sell and didn’t even think twice about which agent to sell with. Karen achieved the ‘magic number’ we had been hoping for all along and did not push for us to settle for any less.” – Megan Cooper
KAREN YOUNG’S TIPS FOR A SWIFT, STRONG SALE PRICE
1 Prepare your property well before hitting the market. Declutter, repair, repaint and generally spruce up. Look at your property with ‘buyer’s eyes’. Tidy and weed the gardens and make the property shine!
2 Be realistic when pricing. Buyers are far more aware than ever before of property prices and are researching property sales constantly. If you price your property well, you will sell more quickly and for a better price. This means your holding costs will be lower, and you won’t have buyers asking why it hasn’t sold yet.
3 Take advice from industry professionals. I once had a lovely couple that listened to their vet’s advice on the sale price of their property. This mistake cost the owners $60,000 due to their refusal of multiple off ers in the first fortnight. The property sold more than six months later at a lower price as the market viewed the property as stale and wanted to pay less than it was worth.
4 Understand the importance of advertising correctly. Put aside money to invest in advertising as the right media will bring in premium buyers. You cannot sell a secret. It’s false economy to ‘save’ money on marketing as you will lose money by not fi nding a prime buyer.
1 Prepare your property well before hitting the market. Declutter, repair, repaint and generally spruce up. Look at your property with ‘buyer’s eyes’. Tidy and weed the gardens and make the property shine!
2 Be realistic when pricing. Buyers are far more aware than ever before of property prices and are researching property sales constantly. If you price your property well, you will sell more quickly and for a better price. This means your holding costs will be lower, and you won’t have buyers asking why it hasn’t sold yet.
3 Take advice from industry professionals. I once had a lovely couple that listened to their vet’s advice on the sale price of their property. This mistake cost the owners $60,000 due to their refusal of multiple off ers in the first fortnight. The property sold more than six months later at a lower price as the market viewed the property as stale and wanted to pay less than it was worth.
4 Understand the importance of advertising correctly. Put aside money to invest in advertising as the right media will bring in premium buyers. You cannot sell a secret. It’s false economy to ‘save’ money on marketing as you will lose money by not fi nding a prime buyer.
-It’s an absolute honour to win this award, and I’m very thankful to my clients for nominating me. I appreciate that they have taken the time to nominate me as I understand that we all lead hectic lives.
-A good real estate agent should have several qualities to ensure that their clients receive the best service and sale price for their property, but communication is key. A good agent understands that people communicate and receive information in differing ways, so we must be a chameleon when communicating and pass on the required information in a way that the client and buyer understands and processes best.
-Some personality types like lots of updates and information while other types don’t want to be bogged down with detail, and a weekly catch-up is more than fine for them. A good agent will work out the personality type and tailor their handling of the client/buyer accordingly.
-Sellers should choose an agent based on their negotiation skills, not how cheap they are. Ask yourself: if the agent cannot negotiate a fair and reasonable fee for their service, how can they negotiate a great price and conditions on the sale of your property? You will be gambling potentially tens of thousands of dollars on the sale price to save a few thousand dollars in commission costs.
-You also need an agent who is familiar with the area that your property is located in. How many properties have they sold in that area? Do they know about the local attractions and why it’s so great to live there? Do they sell your type of property? Acreage is not the same as apartment sales.
-And always ask for testimonials from previous and existing clients. Word of mouth is very powerful, and social proof is the best way to know the qualities of your agent.
