Sellers: Sam & Warwick

Their property: A large renovated 6 bedroom bungalow on a full site in Grammar zones.

Sellers' motivation: After twenty happy years the children had flown the coop. A new home and lifestyle north of Auckland beckoned.

How they decided on me: Although I had sold many homes near them over the previous 12 years, I had never met Sam & Warwick. They had noticed that I sold most of the homes in their vicinity. A year before they called me they received an unsolicited offer via an agent from a smaller agency. They called to ask my advice and I established some rapport with them then. When it came time to list for sale they didn’t want the complication & confusion that can arise when interviewing several agents, so they called me alone.

Selling Method: When I asked Sam & Warwick if they favoured any particular selling method they said they would leave that decision up to me. This responsibility was quite a burden and it placed pressure on me to make the right decision for them based on my experience. Their home was unique and the gardens were spectacular. I believed there was a good chance one buyer might pay a lot more than anyone else. I chose to tender.

Marketing: Over a four week campaign ending a fortnight before Christmas we placed large advertisements in all the key property media. We utilised an impressive double page spread in the Property Press. The NZ Herald kindly interviewed Sam & Warwick then ran a free full page feature in the Weekend Herald. We erected a signboard with a photo that showcased the backyard. The home featured on the websites www.barfoot.co.nz, www.stevekoerber.co.nz, www.realestate.co.nz & www.trademe.co.nz. Colour glossy DLE, A4 & A3 size brochures were produced with floorplans. The home featured in my regular flyer distribution to surrounding homes, my email newsletter & I alerted my buyer database and kept in touch with visitors via phone and text alerts.

Results: This was a perfect programme. Sunday afternoon open homes were attended by over 100 groups of customers. Many were neighbours. Customers were also introduced through B&T salespeople from the Greenlane, Onehunga, Epsom, Mt Roskill, Meadowbank, Panmure, Parnell, Ponsonby, Papatoetoe and Mt Eden branches. There were four tenders & the opening ceremony was very exciting. The lowest was $1,650,000 and the highest $2,356,000. This (sale) figure was above expectations and far enough above the second best tender to convince us all that the tender method was the right method for such a special and unique home. My written appraisal range had been $2mil to $2.5mil.

Main Success Factors: The owners handed me complete responsibility for selling their home. They allowed me to dig deep & call on all my skills & experience to get them top dollar. One tender came via me and three were generated via the amazing B&T network. It was an incredible result that I can replicate with other unique homes.