Agents in Australia are turning to increasingly frenzied measures to hunt for sellers.
Lower supply, falling house prices and rapid interest rate rises are deterring sellers from entering the market.
Latest tactics include handwritten “pleas”, recipe cards and even garden seeds, posted through letterboxes in an attempt to lure new prospects.
The number of newly advertised homes for sale on Realestate.com fell by 7.5% last month, the latest PropTrack Listings Report released on Wednesday found, in a sluggish start to the usually busy spring season.
The Hello Haus founder, Scott Aggett, said agents were under pressure with housing stock levels notably lower than previous years, resorting to door-knocking, cold calling and flyer drops.
“Agents are on the hunt for more quality listings to service,” he said. “Their personal income and business income will be down, due to lower trading volume and lower prices when compared with last year’s revenue.
“They need listings that are fresh and priced to today’s market value, not homes they may have been working on with vendors that have been considering selling for some time and [are] yet to adapt to current pricing levels.”
Scott Aggett, Founder Hello Haus
angering some homeowners
Planting the seed
Tougher market conditions are also encouraging some agents to get in touch with their creative side to lure prospective buyers.
Some residents have reported to have been receiving three or four offers for agent evaluations a week, often accompanied by handwritten notes, recipes or garden seeds, to help seal the deal.
this approach a little “creepy”.
How far would you be prepared to go to get new clients? Let us know in the comments below.
This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of overwrite.ai and its owners.
This story has been published from an article in The Guardian by Caitlin Cassidy on 21st October 2022. The headline and images have been changed.
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