Make Sure You Ask Your Agent for Details, Post Inspection

After each inspection or open home, your agent will have gathered an array of information about your property and how buyers are responding to it. This information will be used to determine the level you should set your reserve at (if you’re going to auction), and also help you decide whether or not to accept a buyer’s offer.

If you have selected a good sales agent, who is open and transparent with you throughout the sales process, then they will be forthcoming with this information. And it’s important that you listen to the feedback you’re getting from your agent after each inspection, as it’s a crucial component of any successful sale.

Post Inspection Updates Help You Make Informed Decisions

If you’re aware of how your property has been performing throughout the sales campaign, then you should have a fairly good idea of the level you’d like to set your reserve at on auction day, so you can avoid setting it too low, just as it will help you to gauge whether an offer you’ve received is really the best you’re going to get.

You’ll have an arrangement with your agent when it comes to keeping you updated on the progress of your sales campaign. Depending on what your particular arrangement is, your agent will typically inform you of the following after each inspection:

• Number of groups through the property
• Number of contracts out on the property
• Feedback from buyers

Understanding Post-Inspection Data

Number of groups through: This helps you to determine buyer demand for your home. An in-demand property on the Lower North Shore of Sydney should see upwards of 20 groups through the first few opens — I recently had 45 groups through the first open home inspection of a property in Cammeray.

Number of contracts out: Having lots of people through your opens is great, but unless a significant proportion of them request the contract of sale, then something is wrong. You should see, again for a property on the Lower North Shore, at least 3-7 contracts issued following an open. (I had 7 contracts out on the Cammeray property I mentioned before.)

Buyer feedback: If you’re seeing a good amount of people coming through each open home inspection, but very few contracts being issued, then you need to know why. It could be that it’s overpriced or that something, like an unmowed lawn or messy tenants, are putting buyers off. Responding to this feedback early on is the key to a successful sale.

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