Sound Familiar?

“We’re not selling”. We all know the scenario too well; you get a leaflet in the letterbox or a phone call from the local real estate agent asking, “we’re in the area, do you want an appraisal on your property?” Your response is invariably “thanks, but we’re not selling”.

I recently had a conversation with a couple (who were also not selling) about their perception of real estate agents, and what we do. We discussed what I help clients with on a day to day basis, and let me say, they were pleasantly surprised. Did you know it’s not just sell, sell, sell, and real estate agents offer a lot more than just an appraisal when it’s time to move? I feel it’s important to dispel some myths about real estate agents and discuss just a few of the many reasons why having an agent you can trust on speed dial is important.

Most people I meet with are not selling. But I can still help. They might be considering a renovation, are about to buy a holiday home, thinking about buying an investment property or wanting to sanity-check their mortgage or overall risk portfolio. Essentially, even if you’re not selling, getting us familiar with your property is a good idea. We can help with:

• Reliable trades. We all know the stress involved in organising trades for repairs, renovations or maintenance. We have relationships with painters, roofers, gardeners, interior designers, stylists and many more who we trust and work with constantly, so getting the right person introduced ensures they turn up, and do the work in a timely and professional manner.
• Renovating. What adds capital value? What do people want? Some choices are based on personal taste, but something we can do is inform you of what adds capital value when you eventually sell. We can lend you a pair of fresh eyes to help you figure out the best-selling points of your property and how to make the most of them. We often discuss kitchen and bathroom styles, paint selection and sharing what buyers are looking for in the floorplan of homes.  If you’ve recently completed a renovation, we can also discuss how much value may have been added to your property.
• Refinancing. It’s always good to get your property portfolio reviewed. Over the COVID period, a lot of people moved to a fixed rate mortgage on what we can all agree were unsustainably low rates. In the coming months we will see a number of those mortgages move to a variable rate, inevitably impacted by the interest rate increases of 2022. What’s your plan? Loan Market, our in-house brokerage business can give you advice to ensure you’re still getting the best rate the market has to offer your particular lending profile.
• An annual property valuation. Think of it as an annual ‘check-up’ for your property portfolio; for your principal place of residence, the tenanted apartment you’re keeping for when the kids are flying the nest, and the holiday house. This is a great time to check in with your property management agency and ensure you’re still getting the right deal. It may also be an opportunity to leverage any equity for another investment.
• Buying a holiday home or investment property. When it comes to buying your next investment, we can discuss where we are seeing value in the market, show you potential properties to consider, and update you on the potential value of those properties too. With access to CoreLogic, we can send you recent comparable sales for any property you’re considering, regardless of where in NSW, to help arm you with as much information as possible to aid your buying process.
• Answering the question ‘’Should I sell?’’. You might not be ready to sell now, but we can help you answer the question when it is the right time with market insights, and the detail around what a sales campaign entails; whether you’re a month, six months or a year from a move.

The value an agent can bring is much more than just buying and selling your property. At Ray White Lower North Shore we’re about clients for life. We work hard to take out all the unwanted stress at each stage of the real estate journey and to ultimately get the best result for our clients throughout. We’re here to help in any way we can.

Wishing you a restful, wonderful festive season over the coming weeks, from all of us at Ray White Lower North Shore Group.

Gemma Simons

Senior Sales Advisor | LREA
+61 450 745 701

+61 (2) 8969 4110
gemma.simons@raywhite.com