Bouncing off the Ceiling

One of the challenges a vendor is likely to face in  2022 is that the market peaked in 2021. Acceptance of  this point will make selling easier. Denial of the fact the market peaked in 2021 and is bouncing off all time highs in 2022 can cause a vendor to unintentionally make a costly mistake.

There will still be strong sales and record prices achieved in  2022. But there won’t be boom time results across the board like there were in 2021. Anyone selling in 2022 needs to be careful as to how they treat/ respond to genuine fully priced offers.

When a market is booming, a vendor can decline a good offer knowing another one, quite possibly a higher price will emerge in the near future. In a market that is fully priced if not overpriced, with banks raising mortgage rates, it’s reasonable to expect the market has hit its ceiling price or will do so in early 2022.

The most painful offer to accept is not the offer slightly below your optimistic dream price. The hardest offer to accept is the one that is less than what you previously rejected.

To assist you in making the

right decision under pressure,

let’s examine some of the attributes of the best offers:

• The offer comes early in the campaign, the best buyers are closely watching the  market and are ready to pounce on new listings
• The buyer is emotional about the property and is prepared to sign a contract with a full  deposit and pay a premium price to the broader market
• The buyer does not want to wait for the auction – this is why more than 50% of  successful auction campaigns actually sold before auction in the 2021 boom
• The buyer is prepared to be accommodative in the terms of the contract
• The buyer wants a quick answer from the vendor – they want to secure the property or move onto something else
• The agent is not and cannot be certain they will get a higher offer from another buyer
• The buyer who makes the offer actually makes an offer, whilst other parties claiming to be interested, are less decisive. Enjoying a strong rapport and trust in the selling agent’s skill set will ensure the right decision is made at the negotiation table. No one knows what the market will do in 2022, but it will almost certainly require a more prudent strategy to close a sale at the best market price than what was required in 2021

By Peter O’Malley, author of Inside Real  Estate