Is a new way of selling actually better?

by Paul Foster

When it comes to selling a house, a few different real estate models have emerged to ‘disrupt’ the traditional approach. But, will they deliver better results? We put that question to the test…

Five years ago, if you’d mentioned the idea of paying to stay in someone’s house (instead of a hotel), people would’ve looked at you twice. Not to mention the funny looks you would’ve gotten if you talked about tapping your credit card instead of entering a PIN. Today, disruptive technologies like Air BnB and Paywave are now
part of our everyday lives.

When it comes to real estate, new models are also promising to disrupt the norm by offering vendors a different way of doing things. While the concept sounds inviting, particularly if involves a cheaper commission, there are a few issues to consider.

Beware of hidden costs

Many of ‘new concept’ models use a sunk-cost approach to hook sellers in. This involves getting the seller to shell out up-front (and often substantial) sums of money to cover marketing costs. As we’ve said before, the benefits of vendor-paid marketing are mostly mythical (learn more here).

In this case, getting the seller to spend money at the outset means they are less likely to walk away from the agency, even if they are seeing poor results, because they are financially and emotionally invested.

Do you really want a standard approach?

At Iron Bridge we have hundreds and hundreds of sales under our belt and, with all of that experience in mind, we can categorically say that no real estate transaction is ever cookie-cutter.

Each property, vendor and buyer is unique, which means that whoever is selling your property must be both expert and flexible in their approach.

The agency also needs to go the extra mile – we’ve gone to the extent of getting a contract completed at the beach on New Year’s Day to ensure we got the deal done for our seller!

It takes expertise, commitment and a skilled negotiator to deliver the best result – not a one-size-fits-all approach.

Finding the right real estate model

If you’re looking to sell your home, seek a real estate method that’s proven. Select a model (and an agent) that can give sound advice, based on experience, and negotiate to deliver you the best result. Crucially, make sure they carry all of the risk and don’t charge you a cent until you’ve got the result they promised!

If you’re thinking of selling and want some more honest advice, give our team a call.

Download a PDF of this blog.

Selling A House
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Is a new way of selling actually better?