Unfortunately there has been a fair amount of negative publicity on market conditions as of late.
This is especially evident amongst industry professionals with agents talking down the market and putting a negative spin on house prices.

My thoughts are that the market hasn't gone backwards at all. For me, the reality is that buyers are a little more price sensitive than before, which is why we are seeing buyers take more time to make their purchase decisions. Houses that are priced correctly are selling in a timely manner and are attracting a lot of interest.

This brings me back to why I am here 11,500km from home in San Francisco. As an active agent in the area, I’m always looking for new cutting edge ways to re-invent the wheel, so to speak. Americans seem to do it so well. Their emphasis is on service and communication, which in a tighter market is important.

American realtors are also big on FaceTime blogging and do regular Facebook live videos to show their human side. We often do live videos on our Facebook page now too. It gives us a chance to interact with people who are interested to know more about properties we have listed for sale.  

The market place in the United States is very different to ours with properties having agents both on the buyer’s and seller’s side of the transaction. In addition to the selling agent who would typically earn a 3% commission on the purchase price, the buyer’s agent will earn a 3% commission for their work as well.  Selling agents will hold 3-hour open homes and tend to use these open houses as their "office" to spend this time meeting future sellers. Buyer’s agents spend their time escorting buyers to these open homes in order to make their split of commission.

Americans have been through one of their worst market crashes since the Great Depression, this has made them resilient and more adaptable to change. There is a lot that we can learn from the challenges they have faced in recent times. The past 4 days at INMAN Connect have provided us with a wealth of knowledge to bring back to home and share with our clients. This conference in particular attracts top agents from all over the US and abroad who come together to share their insight on what’s making waves in the industry and how we can constantly evolve our service in an everchanging market.

Head over to our Facebook page @RhysWildermothFirstNationalPalmBeach to see our live videos!