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PRD Hunter Valley moved from 11th to third position in REB’s Top 50 Sales Office 2022 rankings after posting increases across several metrics.
Sales volumes surged by almost 47 per cent to $448.2 million between 2020 and 2021, while settlement numbers increased from 557 to 739 and listings rose from 707 to 839.
The REB Top 50 Sales Offices rankings data is compiled using a range of indicators, including sales volumes, settlements, listings, and an efficiency rating that is determined by the ratio and sales support staff.
The agency’s principal Luke Anderson attributed the performance to the agency’s robust social media strategy to market their properties.
“A lot of it is back to basics stuff,” he explained to REB.
“We believe marketing the property is more important than the agency or agent. We’ve got to get back to our core business, which is listing and selling houses. That’s what we do.”
Outlining his agency’s strategy, Mr Anderson said it spends $100 of its own money on social media marketing (particularly Facebook) for every property it lists.
The agency also allocates between $3,000 and $4,000 on text messaging, with Mr Anderson asserting that it is one of the most effective tools of communication as it offers immediacy.
As such, he underscored the importance of agencies allocating their own financial resources towards marketing their brand.
“You’ve got to spend money to make money, while having a look at your cost of sale and doing transactions,” he said.
“I don’t believe in charging your vendors to market your own brand. They’re paying to market their property. Agents should be paying to market themselves.”
Buoyed by the housing market
The agency’s performance was also spurred by the booming property market and high buyer demand, with its average fees rising by almost 30 per cent in one year.
“We’re still very much in an affordable area where two people on an average income can afford to buy a house,” Mr Anderson said.
“We’ve seen huge demand not only from the first home buyer market but your average mums and dads upgrading from their first to second home. A big portion of our market has been homebuyers moving from Sydney.”
Despite being buoyed by a booming property market, Mr Anderson said he would prefer to see a slower market as this is when agents can demonstrate their skills.
“There are too many agents in our area who are just order takers. They don’t know how to list or sell but when anyone that puts up a ‘for sale’ sign on a property can sell it in the first week, there’s no skill involved in that,” he said.
“We’re hoping to see a stabilisation in the number of buyers to the number of houses for sale and have a market again where we can grow. It’s hardest to grow in a buoyant market.
“Anyone can do the job when the market is booming but the skill sets come out in a harder market.”
Pivoting during the pandemic
PRD Hunter Valley also automated its communication with clients as it had to manage high volumes of inquiry (it was receiving 30 to 40 inquiries for a single property).
“We automated our processes where an email would automatically be sent to those sending enquiries and we would then follow up with the people who wished to be contacted,” Mr Anderson said.
The agency also conducted virtual tours of all properties to pivot to online auctions.
“We were lucky because we already had a 3D scanner which allowed us to do the 3D virtual tours,” Mr Anderson said.
“We had already created a marketing department where we did our own photography and videography. That allowed us to flip that very quickly during the pandemic and start doing high quality video tours of properties.”
This was significant as 20 to 30 per cent of the demand stemmed from Sydney residents who were not allowed to leave their homes during lockdowns.
REB’s Top 50 Sales Offices data showed that the agency ranked second in the staff efficiency rating metric, which Mr Anderson attributed to a united team.
“We have a real sense of a united team and a united front where everyone is working together for the common goal,” he said.
“No one individual is trying to be the hero.”
To download the full REB Top 50 Sales Office rankings and report, click here.
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