Last week, we received a great question from Tony.
Here’s a recap of Tony’s question…
“I really enjoy getting your e-newsletter every week and find it very helpful. I’ve moved to the Gold Coast a few years and am now about to sell our home. The agent we have been recommended to is trying to convince us to market our property in the newspaper with a series of ads that will cost a lot of money. We don’t even read the GC Bulletin and feel that this is a waste of money when it seems to us that everyone searches online for properties these days. In your opinion, is this the case or should we consider the paper?”
I shared my views and experiences on the local papers as well as the Courier Mail and I’ve also shared the views and experiences of other agents I know that swear by the papers as a fruitful source of enquiries for properties that are advertised this way.
We’re often asked “I feel my home would be suitable to Sydney buyers. Should we look at marketing to Sydney buyers and how do we do this?”
This is a question I’ll tackle in more detail next week but I will start by stating that I’ve found the ‘Sydney Morning Herald’ to be an ineffective way to attract buyers from the South.
Logically speaking, if I were looking to purchase a home in Sydney, would I start by trying to find suitable Sydney properties in the ‘Courier Mail’? I think the answer is a ‘No’.
Advertising in the Sydney Morning Herald may attract a ‘situational buyer’ that wasn’t really looking to purchase in Brisbane but I really do believe that this is an expensive way to search for a ‘Needle in a haystack’…so to speak.
Similarly, the Financial Review (whilst it does have different real estate sections for different parts of the country) is just as unlikely to find the right buyer.
So how do you tell if you own a property where you should consider newspaper advertising or whether you are just being taken for a ride to keep the agency in the press?
I would start by asking the agency to provide evidence of sales in the newspaper that they want you to advertise in.
Most successful real estate agencies keep an enquiry log and open home details that include an analysis of where the buyer first viewed the advertisement for the property.
I would ask to see some examples of these sort of reports and documents if an agent wants you to spend money on newspaper campaigns.
If the agency can’t produce these figures, then it is likely that you should be wary of agreeing to such an advertising method.
If you feel that the agency have falsified their claims, it is not hard to validate the sales that the agent has indicated came directly from the newspaper by asking the agent to call the new owner and asking them where they first saw the property advertised (spring this on them whilst they are in front of you. If they won’t agree to this, I’d be sceptical).
Otherwise, you can always knock on the door of the new home owner and ask them the same question yourself.
This might seem a little excessive but we are talking about spending thousands and thousands of dollars so I’d recommend some solid research before you agree blindly to an agent’s pitch.
Finally, let’s get back to the question at hand from Tony…
In my experience, the ‘Gold Coast Bulletin’ is similar in many ways to the Courier Mail (and I have advertised in this publication before). There are areas of the Gold Coast and certain properties that seem to attract the right buyers from the paper but there are other situations where you would be wasting your money.
I’d look at your property type and see whether there’s many properties in your particularly area and price range that are advertised there and this may give you an insight into whether you’re likely to attract a buyer that’s suitable for your property.
Otherwise, I’d use the methods described above to do a little more research and hopefully you’ll draw some conclusions about whether the newspaper is right for you and your property.
I hope this helps and again, thank you kindly for the great question Tony.
Until next week, Happy Listing & Happy Selling.