In the hands of Divinity or a Real Estate Agent – which one would you chose?

You’ve been searching for a property for weeks and finally you have found the perfect home – come hell or high water, you want this property! You do your due diligence and get a Builder’s report in advance, you speak with your Solicitor and you ensure that the bank will release your funds in time to make a cash offer.

Then you put together your Sale and Purchase Agreement, you check in with your Solicitor, and then you submit your offer at the advertised time and date. Simple as that!

You then get down on your bended knees and you pray that your offer is the winning offer. You pray that if there is any negotiating to do that your offer will be the one negotiated with.

I once undertook a Tender presentation where all the offers were almost exactly the same. That’s right, price, deposit, no conditions. So how did the Vendors know which offer to accept or which offer to work with? Divine intervention?

What about this situation? Two Purchasers put in a Tender for a property, one of the two offers wins the Tender by $250. The people who lost submitted a cash offer and demonstrated that they were serious Buyers as they even tried to purchase the property in advance of the tender date. Very keen, I would say, but no, they didn’t even get a look in, not even a call from the Agent to see if they would like to raise the price of their offer.

So, how do you stop situations like this happening to you, and how do you become the winning offer? Yeah sure, you can pray, but essentially it comes down to two things:

1.      Understanding what’s important to the Vendor. In the situation with identical offers, it was flexibility around settlement. The Vendor had put a settlement date in the Tender but wasn’t too sure if it was going to suit them. So, one of the Purchasers gave the Vendors their settlement date plus made settlement earlier or later by mutual agreement. This satisfied the needs of the Vendor heaps more than just putting in the date of settlement.

2.      The influence of the Real Estate Agent to advocate for the offers. Make sure the Real Estate Agent knows your back story. Explain, your situation e.g., Number of family members; why this property is important to you etc. Make your back story memorable, even ask the Agent to present a letter handwritten by you explaining your situation and the love you have grown for the house you desire.

Ultimately, in a Tender process, the Real Estate Agent will discuss your situation and in doing so may inadvertently advocate for your offer.

Real Estate Agents are not supposed to influence the process; it’s up to the Vendor to make the decision. However, no matter how professional the Real Estate Agent is, they are human, with human mannerisms that are easy to read….and the tone of the voice, well, that can be a sure give away. Without actually trying to influence the process, Agents actually do, they can’t completely prevent it!

Once I presented some tenders and as I did so I laid out each Purchasers’ back story, and upon hearing one of the Purchaser’s story, the Vendor refused to sell to the top offer as the situation of the lowest offer resonated with the Vendor. The Vendor loved their property, and they wanted some people just like them to purchase their house. Hence, they accepted the lowest offer. This situation clearly reflects the amount of emotion involved in selling and purchasing property.

In summary, don’t leave your offer to divinity:

- Understand the needs of the Vendors and differentiate yourself around these needs.

- Grow a relationship with the Agent so that the Agent will present your offer in a  humanly emotive way that might resonate with the Vendors.

Divinity may appear helpful but a Real Estate Agent sitting at the right hand of the Vendor might be dramatically more helpful when purchasing property.


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