Mike’s Rant has moved!

At Harcourts we have always prided ourselves on being industry leaders when it comes to IT and real estate technology. And occupying this enviable position places on us the obligation of ensuring that we never rest on our laurels – the shear speed of technology growth makes sure of that!

One of the results of this continual quest for the best are our new websites, which we have just launched. These new websites were built using the very latest Microsoft platform incorporating Web 2.0 tools and functionality, with large clear photos and easy-to-navigate features.

They include open home and auction times, and also have social media options available, so visitors to the site can share their favourite properties with their friends on Facebook, Digg, MySpace, Live, Reddit, Bebo, Delicious, LinkedIn, Blogger, Buzz Up! to mention but a few.

Our new websites (www.harcourts.com.au & www.harcourts.co.nz) also feature a Community Page, with a newsroom, blog posts, and feeds to Harcourts’ YouTube Channel.

As part of this upgrade – Mike’s Rant will continue being published at the following address: http://news.harcourts.net/mikegreen/ .  Look forward to seeing you there!

 

- Mike

Auction – the most effective way of selling in today’s market!

Contrary to what many people might think, marketing and selling property by auction is now more than ever before the most effective way of selling a property. I say this for a number of reasons.

Firstly, we find that auction properties are generally on the market for about 30 days; far less than properties sold the traditional way. There’s good reason for this: auction properties always have far greater exposure to the market and this attracts a greater number of prospective buyers. In addition, auction creates a sense of urgency throughout the campaign and on the day of auction. This urgency is not typically felt where a property is listed at a price with no time frame within which a buyer needs to act.

Secondly, by not revealing the reserve price, the seller of a property being auctioned is not putting a ceiling on the price a buyer may be prepared to pay. Where urgency and competition occur, this can often mean the seller achieves a premium sale price. There is certainly that opportunity at the moment with the shortage of good property for sale.

Finally, in today’s uncertain and volatile market, many buyers are still cautious and are “testing” the market. Where homes with a price  stay on the market for a lot longer and become ‘stale’, this can ultimately mean they achieve less than the market was actually willing to spend.

Homes are still selling and will continue to do so no matter the market conditions. It’s just a matter of changing the way we go about the marketing and sales process. We, as professionals, need to re-educate sellers so that they can achieve the best price possible.

Harcourts as an organisation has always valued its strong auction culture, and our strength in this area is something our clients recognise. Our auctioneers continue to be recognised for their skill, passion and talent. Recently, Phil McGoldrick, National Auction Manager for the Harcourts Group in New Zealand, was announced the winner of the 2009 Australasian Real Estate Institutes Auctioneer Championship. What’s more, of the 16 finalists, two were from Harcourts.

Growth Paramount to Survival

One of the basic cornerstones of business is that it has to grow if it is to survive. We’ve all heard the saying – a business is never stationery – you’re either going forward, or you’re going backwards. In the real estate business, it’s no different.

At Harcourts, we recognise this. Not only that, but we have made it our business to drive growth as a matter of priority. It should therefore come as no surprise that Harcourts is Australia’s fastest growing real estate group. Founded in New Zealand in 1888, the operation grew there until it reached the stage where international expansion became feasible. In 1997 the first Harcourts office opened in Australia. Growth continued unabated and there are now over 600 offices in Australia, New Zealand, China, South Africa, Singapore, Zambia, Indonesia and Fiji.

Growth has important benefits for everyone involved with the group, including ultimately and most importantly, our clients. Continued growth leads to increased brand recognition. The bigger a company gets, the more it is recognised and therefore the more business it does.  This creates more listing opportunities for our people. These are quickly turned into sales as eager buyers visit our high profile agencies around the nation, go online to our web 2.0 websites, and obtain our high profile property marketing material and publications – Bluebook and Luxury Portfolio Collection. As a larger organisation, we have more resource available to ensure our people have the very best training and education, technology, marketing and support which means that our clients receive the very best real estate service in the marketplace, because we have the very best people with the very best tools and resources.

More and more clients choose to deal with us safe in the knowledge that they are dealing with a professional, reputable business that will best help them achieve their objectives in real estate as well as provide a range of additional service through our mortgage arm, conveyancing arm and property management team.

Evidence of the success of this focus is the growth of our international business, which has continued to flourish despite the global financial crisis.

Good Investment Opportunities in Every Market

With strong signs that the real estate market is picking up again, particularly in Australia and New Zealand, many investors are wondering whether they may already have missed the boat. True, interest rates remain at an all-time low and sellers who have to move have had to reduce their asking prices to get a sale, but all is not lost – yet.

There are still good investment opportunities in every market, however, one area in Australia that currently offers excellent opportunities is Tasmania. Asking prices remain low, rental demand continues to soar; it is now actually cheaper to buy than to rent in many Tasmanian suburbs, such as New Norfolk, Derwent Park, Strahan, Railton, Shorewell Park, Campbell Town and Rocherlea.

Tasmania also has the highest percentage of affordable homes for first-home owners in proximity to a capital city, with 11 areas, including Kingston Beach and Moonah, falling into this category.

Many real estate investors are also beginning to investigate opportunities in overseas countries as well, and as we are a participant in RELOHomeSearch.com, a global home listings website, this gives investors access to literally millions of listings in over 30 countries. With our membership in Leading Real Estate Companies of the World, we can put you in touch with the very best real estate people in those global markets.

If you’re thinking of taking advantage of the current affordability of investment property in your market, in Tasmania or anywhere else in the World, talk to Harcourts now!

What a difference a day makes!

As the old saying goes, what a difference a day makes. Only a few short months ago, the global real estate market looked to have stalled with buyers and sellers preferring to take a wait-and-see attitude.

The last few months have seen a dramatic shift, particularly in the New Zealand and Australian markets, to such a degree that would-be sellers seem to have been caught off guard. And the danger buyers face as a result is a leap in prices due to the competition that pent up demand creates.

What worries me about this is that we are about to enter the Spring selling season, a time when the market traditionally is at its busiest.

A number of reliable indicators are already pointing toward the first step in the recovery of the Australian and New Zealand economies, and this has caused a lift in confidence across many sectors, including the housing market.

But the reality is that many would-be sellers were advised six months to a year ago that they should hold onto their home if they could, and ride out the global financial crises, to avoid having to accept a lower price or having their property sit on the market for months on end with very little interest.

Now the situation has changed rather quickly, and the fewer properties that are on the market are often receiving multiple offers with some selling over the asking price. This means we are facing a tight market that is being artificially constrained due to a lack of stock. I say artificially, because I believe the stock is there; it’s just that the would-be sellers are holding out for the market to turn. Trouble is, it has turned so quickly that they just haven’t noticed.

This is why now a great time to sell with competition from buyers strong. This will change just as quickly as new stock comes onto the market, buyers buy and we move back towards greater equilibrium in supply and demand.

The Harcourts Foundation – an update…

The Harcourts Foundation is only a year old and already it is having a huge impact in our local communities. I must say that the way our Harcourts family has embraced it, supported it and promoted it at every occasion is really amazing. I am extremely proud of the significant contribution it is making in these challenging times and it really is a reflection of the wonderful culture we have developed and nurtured in our business globally.

In just twelve short months, The Harcourts Foundation has already passed the $300,000 donation milestone, and that figure is rising by the day.

Together with the funds donated to the Red Cross Victorian Bush Fire Appeal earlier this year, and over $70,000 that has already been donated to 19 other charities in Australia and New Zealand, the Foundation has donated over $170,000 to 28 charities so far.

The Harcourts Foundation is already creating a very special legacy in all corners of Australia and New Zealand, and gives all of us here at Harcourts the opportunity to give back to the community that supports us. Another milestone will be reached in October, when Harcourts South Africa will launch the Harcourts Foundation in the republic at their annual Conference.

I am delighted to see The Harcourts Foundation continuing to grow, due largely to the enthusiasm and willingness of our people to share a helping hand with vital organisations in the local community and to become a fundamental and significant part of what the name ‘Harcourts’ stands for.

Entrust Your Investment to a Good Property Manager!

I often hear people say that if they were to buy an investment property, they would manage it themselves. And when I ask them why they would do that, they invariably reply they would like to save money.

Now I am sure that isn’t the only reason. I know that the monthly fees good property managers charge isn’t going to break the bank by any stretch of the imagination, and in fact will not end up costing anything because of what a great property manager will save them and the additional rent received because of their knowledge of the rental market. After probing a little further, they often add that they have heard horror stories about property managers. Just ask any decent tenant, they often respond.

I believe there are very good reasons to entrust the management of your real estate investment to a good property manager. In fact, I believe there are compelling reasons to do so.

Firstly, you really do need a certain level of experience and expertise to minimise expenses while maximising income from your investment property. Tenancy legislation can be complex and is best left in the hands of experts.

Secondly, keeping your vacancy rates low takes time and effort. And good contacts in the market. A good property manager is best able to not only source a good tenant but also screen them. Can you be sure they can continue paying the rent? How trust worthy are they? What would you do should they fail to look after your property as you would like them to? How good are your communication skills? Could you successfully renegotiate a rent rise if you had to? Would you even know what a competitive rent for your area and type of house would be?

I believe there are certain things best left to the experts and this happens to be one of them. The key is to ensure you are dealing with one!

Adding Value – Important to Business Growth!

I know there are many ways to grow a business, the most obvious of which have to do with sourcing more leads, ways of converting them into sales and strategies aimed at generating repeat business. But I believe there is another equally important area a business can pursue to grow and that is by adding value.

One of my passions is doing everything possible to make sure that each and every one of our clients has the best possible real estate experience with us, no matter whether they are buying, selling or renting. One thing I have done to achieve this is to champion the establishment of a Specialist Division, which encompasses Harcourts Financial Services, Mortgage Express, Insurance Express, Strand Conveyancing  and Property Management. We have appointed Julianna Forsyth as Head of this enormously important area.

My intention is to add value to each transaction by providing a range of specialist services so that clients don’t have to deal with a range of different firms and people, all of whom usually have to interact with each other to achieve a single outcome or result. Experience tells me that the ‘traditional’ approach usually results in increased stress levels for the client which often ends up in confusion, complications, additional expense and dissatisfaction. What should be a memorable event can often be turned into one of dread.

I am determined to simplify the whole process so that our clients end up with an enjoyable, profitable result and one that they will tell their friends about. You see, by concentrating on adding value, I believe we will also benefit from another of those tried and tested strategies for growing a business – referrals. There is no doubt that creating an intent to recommend and an intent to return in our clients is the real key to achieving real growth and ultimately outstanding success!

Technology Trends and Real Estate!

One of the exciting trends in recent years has been the uptake of technology. Almost everyone these days has the internet at home. Most people are also at least familiar with social networking, GPS, mobile phones and WiFi.

There is no doubt about it, technology has changed the way we conduct our lives. But what interests me is how business has adapted to these changing trends. And more to the point, how the real estate industry has adapted?

I am proud to say that, at Harcourts, we focus on technology as one of our most important areas and are widely regarded as industry leaders in this area. Our ongoing leadership in the real estate sector has recently been further reinforced with the addition of our property listings to Google Base, an exciting new feature with the World’s leading search engine.

This allows home buyers to search for a property by entering a city or suburb. The listings appear on the Google map, making searching for property in relation to location a simpler process for buyers. In addition, buyers can refine their search by adding in price limitations, number of bedrooms, type of property and more. The map also updates automatically if the viewer pans to another suburb. What could be simpler? Or more convenient?

Marketing Luxury Properties!

Marketing luxury properties is a specialist task at the best of times. During economically challenging times, it becomes even more difficult. Or should I say ‘challenging’?

In tough economic times, luxury properties are often slower to sell as the potential buyer pool, already smaller than most, becomes even smaller. Marketing to that buyer group becomes critical.

Not all real estate organisations are equipped to deal with high end luxury properties simply because buyers for these properties are relatively few and far between and they also tend not to shop around for their next property in the way the vast majority of buyers would. So, the marketing approach must be entirely different to the usual.

To ensure that we achieve the highest possible exposure for our luxury property sellers, we became members of Luxury Portfolio, uploading our $1 million plus properties to http://www.luxuryportfolio.com/, the number 1 luxury property website on the planet. We have also just launched our Luxury Property Magazine, the inaugural edition of which boasts a full 132 pages to showcase our luxury property listings from New Zealand, Australia, and around the world. Called the Harcourts Luxury Portfolio Fine Property Collection, this magazine is a joint initiative between Harcourts International and Luxury Portfolio.

The magazine is aimed at the discerning international real estate buyer and early indications are that it is already making impressive inroads into this exciting niche in the international real estate market.  Click on the link to view the on-line version.