In real estate, local matters
As home sellers, we select local agents for many reasons. As real estate professionals, the term ‘you don’t just buy a home, you buy a community’ is often thrown around, and it is true. When a buyer goes to inspect a property, they take note of the surrounding streets on their drive toward the signboard. What type of houses did we drive by? Is it close to schools, and did we pass any shops? Yes, the property itself has to tick many boxes in order for an offer to be made, but it also isn’t on an island, so its community matters. Unless it is on an island… but that’s another blog!
This is where the value of employing a local expert to negotiate with your buyers comes to the fore. A local agent will not only be able to validate value based on comparable property sales, but also tell a buyer the quickest way to avoid the traffic light log-jam at 7:00am on weekdays. Where the best coffee is. They’ll be able to genuinely recommend local schools because either their children go there, or they have friends whose children do. Restaurants? Tell them what you like, and a local expert will point you in the right direction. Parks and recreational things to do? They know, because they use them.
When it comes to employing an auctioneer, all of the above is critically important as to how they will resonate with the bidders at your action. We have a short opportunity to make a big impact. An auctioneer who possesses true empathy – a love and passion for the area he or she is representing – can absolutely ensure that their emotion is transferred in that very small window of public negotiation. That transferal of love and passion for the home and its community can be pivotal to engaging bidders on the auction floor, making them feel comfortable in an unnerving situation, empowering them to make that one more bid, and validating why that final bid will be worth it. Evoking passion in others comes from a place of honesty. It can’t be fabricated.
You can pick an out-of-area auctioneer a mile off. They rattle off their robotic scripts, feigning insincere adoration of schools they’d never heard of a year ago, café’s they’d never normally frequent, or local amenities they’ve never, ever used. Cliché-filled introductions. ‘Insert school name here’, ‘Insert shopping centre here’, and ‘Insert notable transportation method here’. Soulless scripts used at every. Single. Auction. It’s the auctioneer equivalent of hiring an out-of-area agent to sell your home. It discounts the value of local, and implies that anyone can do it. Maybe, but not better. Why settle for maybe, but not better?
As the owner of a local auction business, I implore you, our local home owners and real estate agents, to please continue to support local. Local matters, and you best of all know it.
As a baby I was brought home from hospital to my first home on Cross Street, Baulkham Hills. I learnt to swim in North Rocks. Mayor Dr. Geoff Brooke-Cowden was our family doctor. Mayor Bernie Mullane (MBE) was my mum’s boss at Baulkham Hills’ first ever pharmacy. Mum, also a pharmacist, eventually owned and ran Dural Village Pharmacy until her retirement. Kellyville Public School and Crestwood High School educated me. So too did the Castle Hill Tavern. My eldest two children were born at Baulkham Hills Private, my youngest two born at Norwest Private, all now educated at Our Lady of The Rosary in Kellyville. You’ll find my family at the Hills Basketball Stadium, Kellyville Netball Courts, Bernie Mullane Soccer Fields or Annangrove Swimming Centre almost every morning or night of the week. We live local, are invested local, shop local, spend local and always, always support local.
Whether choosing an agent or an auctioneer, please support local. Local matters.