Motivation

Buying or selling a home is a big deal, literally.

Usually it’s the biggest financial transaction of one’s lifetime.

There’s a lot of stress involved, a lot of money at stake. There is lot of friction to the transaction.

Stamp duty for the average house in Armadale is around $150,000 and selling costs around $50,000… Makes you think twice about flipping.

Moving house is not much fun either. Having recently done it with a toddler and a three week old, amidst the busiest work period of my entire career, I can categorically say it was the most stressful week of my life.

Selling a house can be a trying experience too. Getting your home to the level of presentation required for a successful campaign takes a lot of effort.

And then buyers still come in and criticise the house. The third bedroom is too small. It’s not the best street. The bathroom needs re-doing even though you only renovated it five years ago.

So you have to be motivated to buy or sell.

You have to be motivated enough to put up with all the challenges and inconveniences…

To fill out the loan pre-approval documents for the sixth time.

To spend your weekends traipsing across Melbourne looking at properties that you are never going to buy and that look far worse in real life that the photos.

To miss out on three auctions in a row by less than $10k.

To move into the in-law’s house while your house in on the market, only to pass in at auction and not know whether you will be able to find a buyer, as the settlement of your new house looms.

You have to be highly motivated. Because only the most motivated end up buying and selling.

We see downsizers dip their toes into the market several times over many, many years before they build up the courage to bid on something. Just the thought of clearing out five bedrooms and an attic full of 30 years of accumulated junk is terrifying!

Yet people still do it! Because life happens and everyone needs a bigger, smaller or otherwise more suitable home.

As agents, our job is to sift through the sticky beaks, browsers, dreamers, serial inspectors and newbies to find the motivated buyers and sellers and to help them transact.

The Pareto Principle or ‘80/20 rule’ states that for most outcomes, 80 percent of consequences come from 20 percent of causes. E.g. 80 percent of goals in footy are kicked by just 20 percent of the players.

In real estate I would hazard that this would be closer to 95/5. As in, 95 percent of houses are bought by just 5 per cent of the buyer pool.

This means that at any given time, 95 percent of buyers inspecting or enquiring on properties are in research mode and are not yet motivated enough to bid or offer.

A typical successful auction campaign will see 30 to 50 groups inspect, resulting in just one to three bidders.

No wonder it is so hard to get that first bid at auction! Only the most motivated of buyers will overcome all the emotional, financial and logistical barriers and put their hand up.

Fortunately Stonnington is a highly desirable place to live with close to 40,000 dwellings, so there are always plenty of motivated buyers and sellers, and we get to deal with them every day.

So if you’re feeling motivated and would like some help, please let us know.

Feature Property: 13 Darlington Parade, Richmond