Why It Is Important To Have A Defined
Marketing Plan
Our Marketing plan centres around the 3 core principles
- #Focus – A defined marketing plan tells us what to focus on and how we plan to promote the property through proven methods.
- #Transparency – We state openly the actions that will be taken to bring your property to the market and how we communicate with you on viewings and offers.
- #Consistency – This is crucial as the constant frequency of advertising reaches out to new buyers who are entering the market at different times and to follow-up and address buyers’ concerns.
Generally, sellers turn to open listings because:
1) they do not have someone they can trust
2) their prior experience was unpleasant
3) they want to test the market to see if their expected price can be met
4) they believe that having more agents means more exposure and bigger pool of buyers
5) they met agents who are unable to give them a defined and committed marketing plan
Why Do agents take on open listings?
> The agent readily accepts the open listing as there is an opportunity to engage direct buyers to sell them other products or take them to view other listings.
> The agent is not willing to spend money as he/she is risk adverse or has a low budget.
> The open listing allows the agent to fill his/her shop with products to sell.
> The open listing arouses the curiosity of other home owners to enquire about the market value of their own unit.
> The agent does not have enough capital set aside yet.
> They do not have a mentor who can give them proper guidance.
Co-Broking
Co-Broking is still prevalent in today’s market. Some buyers may prefer to DIY while savvy buyers prefer to have trusted real estate partners to assist them in the entire process especially to identify the pros and cons of a property, especially on issues that are often overlooked. In fact almost 70% of all enquiries are from co-broke agents.
Sellers may not realise that by paying a lower commission, the listing agent may decide not t0 co-broke because the amount of commission is not enough to cover his/her expenses. This is where transparency is key to ensure there is mutual trust between the client and realtor.
Our Services (GST is payable to IRAS)
4%
- Professional photography
- V360 Virtual Tour
- Zoom viewings
- Property briefs for buyers to preview the property
- Advertise on major property portals
- Monitor ad relevancy and constantly re-advertise to ensure first page ranking on the platforms
- Advertise the property on social media platforms with geo-targeting
- Blast-out to Agency’s Communications Channels and Website
- Home staging and painting touch-ups
- 3D Interior Design Visualisations of the unit after renovations
- SMS to listing agents with similar unit layout in the vicinity
- Co-broking fee is included
- Sellers to co-share minimum $3,000 upfront (reimbursable upon successful sale of property by us)
3%
- Professional photography
- V360 Virtual Tour
- Zoom viewings
- Property briefs for buyers to preview the property
- Advertise on major property portals
- Monitor ad relevancy and constantly re-advertise to ensure first page ranking on the online platforms
- Advertise the property on social media platforms with geo-targeting
- Blast-out to Agency’s Communications Channels and Website
- De-cluttering and painting touch-ups
- SMS to listing agents with similar unit layout in the vicinity
- Co-broking fee is included
- Sellers to co-share minimum $1,500 upfront (reimbursable upon successful sale of property by us)
2%
- Digitally touched up photos with Adobe Photoshop
- V360 Virtual Tour
- Zoom viewings
- Property briefs for buyers to preview the property
- Advertise on major property portals
- Monitor ad relevancy and constantly re-advertise to ensure first page ranking on the platforms
- Advertise the property on social media platforms with geo-targeting
- Blast-out to Agency’s Communications Channels and Website
- SMS to listing agents with similar unit layout in the vicinity
- Co-broking fee is included
Why Exclusive?
We have to work on an exclusive marketing basis as this gives us reasonable assurance that we are able to secure our remuneration and cover the expenses spent on the marketing campaign. Sellers do not realise there are “hidden” costs that agents incur such as commission split with the agency, co-broke commission split, cost for viewing (per trip ~$100), CPF contributions etc. No agent or any person would put in good money, time and effort without reasonable assurance of recouping the expenses and getting a salary for the time and efforts put in.
We have to be cognisant of the risks and rewards involved and that we are unable to fight every battle and deplete our war chest as the upfront costs involved already puts us in a deficit P&L position right at the start.
An open listing agent knows that the seller can simply inform them the next day that the property is sold by someone else or that the seller decides to give someone else the exclusive. This is why the agent will not be able to commit to a defined marketing campaign with actionable items that requires significant time, effort and money.
Do parallel import car dealers have exclusivity to sell Toyota, Honda or Mercedes cars? They do not, hence they have to compete based on pricing and consumer ignorance.
1) Tenant shops for the best deal
2) Owner reduces her Closing price Due to pressure and desperation
This is what can happen in an open listing. The owner clearly stated her terms are: 1 year lease – minimum rent at $2,200 and 2 years lease at $2,000.
In this case, the tenant was willing to pay $2,000 only and she had already decided to rent the place at $2,000 for 2 years and to bring her husband to sign the tenancy the next day.
The tenant called other agents until an agent told her to cancel on me and meet the owner the next day with him. In the end, they signed for 1 year lease at $2,000.
Can my property sell for a higher price than my neighbours'?
Buyers, like yourself, have access to multiple sources of information such as URA caveats, online portals, property agents, property valuers and banks to get the current market value of a property. The bank and CPF board finances only the market value or purchase price of the property, whichever is lower. Therefore any amounts in excess of the market value cannot be financed by the bank and CPF monies.
Buyers want to feel good about their purchase and overpaying for it is the last thing they want to do. For a similar product, the buyer is not likely to pay a market premium unless it is due to one or more of the following factors:
1. Unique Proposition – Buyers are more willing to pay a premium if the property has unique propositions that other similar units do not have, such as tasteful renovations that are recent (saving time and money), rare floor plan layout (ie: larger usable space, good bedroom sizes), good maintenance, rare configuration (ie: scarcity of unit sizes) and of course high floors with unobstructed panoramic views. Most importantly, the property has to have “feel good” / “right at home” factors for own stay buyers.
2. Positive Market Sentiments such as escalating bid prices for government land sales, en bloc fever, hot money inflow, constant influx of expatriates, transformation and increase in plot ratio in the Master Plan.
3. Supply and Demand factors such as a drastic decline in supply (ie: shortage of resale HDB flats except in SK and PG during COVID period in May 2020-2021) and different unit configurations that are higher in demand.
1. Such listings are considered very high risk and are not feasible for committed agents to take up as they prefer to focus their time, effort and money on serious listings.
2. As the probability of a sale is very low, the agent is unlikely to put in sufficient efforts hence unable to sell the property. This leads to the seller to think that having more agents will help to close the deal.
3. There will be many buyers who want to view the property as they will be curious why the property is listed at a higher price than similar units. In the end, there are either no offers or low ball offers from these buyers as they are just doing product comparison.
4. Other listing agents will take advantage of this large price gap to educate buyers that their own unit is a good deal due to the lower price.