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A Sydney-based agent has revealed how he sold a unique waterfront home for $1 million over the asking price after extending the campaign by one week.
Gareth Richards of McGrath Neutral Bay told REB he decided to run a five-week campaign to capture as many buyers as possible.
According to Mr Richards, the three-bedroom apartment at Cremorne Point – which sold at auction for $4.065 million – is unique because of its location and character.
“It’s the third closest building to the Point,” he said. “It had high ceilings, the floorboards had been recently restored. It had three parking spaces and that is extremely rare for the Point itself.”
Mr Richards explained that adding an additional week to the auction campaign for the property enabled his agency to “spread the net a bit wider”.
“Two of the bidders actually came from the last week of the campaign,” he said.
The extended auction campaign also allowed Mr Richards and his agency more time to build rapport with the buyers, answering their questions and giving them time to do their “due diligence” so that they could bid comfortably and confidently on the day of the auction.
He added that the buyers were kept up to date with the process, receiving phone updates after each of the open homes.
“We went to them to give an update and also made sure that they were very comfortable with everything on their end. They found that extremely helpful because they also knew how the campaign was going,” Mr Richards said.
In tailoring his marketing campaign, Mr Richards drew on local knowledge and took the location of the house into consideration.
“The first open home we actually did was at 5am because it was on the walking track,” he said.
“A lot of people do runs and walks, so it was a great way to let the locals know that it was about to go to market.”
He also considered the nature of the house in determining where to position its advertisements.
“Because it had a front and a back entrance we put two signboards on each side, which captured either side of pedestrian traffic.”
The auction attracted 10 registered bidders and a crowd of 150 people on the day.
