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Anthony Fahey has secured the coveted top spot in the REB Top 50 Agents South Australia 2023 ranking, and with good reason. He and his team are determined to get the best sale price for their sellers.
The Ray White Henley Beach principal climbed from fifth in the previous year to first this year after selling 145 properties in the 2022 calendar year for a total value of $154.4 million. This was up from 140 properties for $126.0 million in 2021.
According to Mr Fahey, selling higher end properties – including a property for over $6 million and a few properties for around $3 million – led to improved sales figures.
“While we’d never done it in previous years, we wanted to target and improve in this market,” he told REB.
“After a few sales went our way, vendors saw that we could handle these high-end property sales, and felt confident enough to choose us.”
Above all, Mr Fahey credited his ascension to doing the right thing by his clients and selling properties for the “best price.”
Mr Fahey has a clinical approach to achieving this, including ensuring that the appraisal extracts the appropriate price for the property.
“We find that a lot of our competitors will pump up the price just to try and win the listing,” Mr Fahey said.
“We’re quite realistic from day one, which we believe gets us a much better price in the end.”
Don’t “hit it and quit it”
Mr Fahey continued: “Our priority is to get the best price. If this means we have to wait for another two or three weeks, we’re very happy to do that.
“Some agents just want to hit it, quit it, and move on. But our mantra is to get the absolute best price for our client at all times, and do it diligently. We answer all of their questions and queries.”
This strategy has resulted in significant referral business for Mr Fahey and his team from vendors and buyers, which he credited to doing the right thing in every transaction.
Bolstering the agency’s marketing strategy has also contributed to the higher sales figures, Mr Fahey observed.
“An important element to our success has been getting in touch with old clients via the phone, following up with them a lot more, and improving our databases,” he said.
“My team and I make lots of cold calls and talk to people who are more likely to do business. We talk to those in real estate, or people who attended open homes or have had appraisals done recently.
“We make sure we keep the lines of communication open with these people.”
Teamwork makes the dream work
While these strategies have helped, he underscored that his team has provided significant support by increasing their workload and volumes and improving their skills, which lifted the agency’s output.
The team is offered regular training, including how to run auctions and manage offers effectively, along with corporate training by Ray White.
“They grew their skill set and got a few more years of experience under their belt,” he said.
“As a result, their confidence grew, as did their level of output and ability to prioritise their tasks.”
These skills have become necessary in the current economic environment as interest rates and cost of living rise, and it becomes increasingly challenging to sell to buyers in the higher end of the market.
Days on market are blowing out to reflect the market five to 10 years ago, Mr Fahey observed.
He said offers are becoming relatively more conditional as purchases might be subject to finances or sales as part of the transaction, compared to the recent past where buyers had their finances approved.
“We’ve been working longer and harder in this environment. We’ve just kept presenting and waiting for the right buyer to come along,” Mr Fahey said.
Tips for other agents
When asked for advice on how other agents could succeed, Mr Fahey kept it simple.
He urged agents to “knuckle down”, and work hard for their vendors, ensure they are well looked after, open the lines of communication, and be positive.
“Look after your buyers too,” he reminded agents.
“And don’t be negative. Have a can-do attitude.”
Click here to view Top 50 Agents 2023 rankings for South Australia.
