August 16, 2025 • 12 mins
00:24 – I’m expecting large levels of stock coming onto the market Sep–Nov
01:29 – 15% of properties go to auction, 85% don’t — yet we’re obsessed with auctions?
07:27 – Simplifying auction price guides
09:52 – How AI is transforming the buyer–seller and agent relationship
My Clearance Rate: 5/7 SOLD
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
In Australia we've actually created a narrative
that you're a winner if you owna home, which is really a stupid
narrative, right?
Like basically saying you're awinner, you're doing good,
you're great if you own a home.
You can actually be great inlife not owning a home, right,
being healthy, having asuccessful business, right but
(00:20):
we've had this dream of owningreal estate.
Ladies and gentlemen, I've gotto say to you I'm expecting a
large level of stocks happeningSeptember, october, november,
december, just the first week.
In fact, I would urge anyvendor that's out there don't
(00:43):
auction your home after thefirst week in December.
And I'll tell you why.
December is the month theydon't go to your auction.
They go to Westfield.
December is the month theydon't come and bid, they go to
Bondi Beach.
So I've got to say to you I seea lot of fatigued stock hanging
(01:07):
around in December with verymotivated vendors that want to
get out, and I see a lot ofbuyers going around cherry
picking getting good value.
So if you're a seller, youshouldn't be selling the last
couple of weeks of December.
I've got to give you a coupleof fun facts.
(01:29):
It's been a fueled week or sowith auctions and price guides
and quotes.
I've got to let you know I'mfascinated how in Australia 15%
of the properties go to auctionand 85% don't.
(01:50):
Yet we seem to be obsessed withauctions.
And then I thought to myselfwhere are all the auctions?
Because I look at New SouthWales and Victoria and then when
you look at the data, itappears that Sydney sorry, new
(02:11):
South Wales 20% auction, 80%,not auction.
Melbourne 22% auction, 78%auction.
Then you go in and you actuallygo in deeper and you look at
the city of Sydney Sydneyauctions 50%.
Melbourne auctions roughly 50%.
Why has Sydney and Melbournegot the largest proportion of
(02:38):
properties that go to auction in?
I would consider the world.
I just don't see other realestate markets being so obsessed
about auctions as we do inSydney and Melbourne.
And I've got to tell you hereare the reasons why I think so.
Number one Sydney and Melbournehave traditionally been the
(03:04):
areas where the demand andsupply curve, particularly for
houses, favoured the seller, iemore buyers than sellers.
People weren't building stockshortage of supply and they are
perfect.
However, over the last coupleof years we've seen Melbourne
slip down.
Perth, brisbane and Adelaideget ahead of it behind Sydney
(03:29):
and those areas now, andincluding Canberra is
surprisingly a big auction areaas well.
So one of the reasons is thedemand supply curve, but there
are more reasons why Sydney andMelbourne have 50% of their
properties going to auction.
The second one is mediareinforcement.
You see, when you open up thepress on a Sunday, what you'll
(03:54):
see is the property that's soldin Coogee for $500,000 over.
You're not going to see thetwo-, two bedroom house that got
sold as a private treaty ingrey stains.
You won't see that right.
So you get media reinforcementTalking about great prices.
(04:15):
I've got to let you know I hada property today that sold for
like 400 over.
That's been a long time andI've got to tell you it was a
copy book, option Guide andReserve quoted.
The same number Guide went upand you've got to listen.
Like if you've got lots ofbuyers you've got to be putting
(04:36):
the guide up.
I'm not going to go into all ofthat.
We've spoken a lot about that.
I want to finish this subject onauctions.
Candidates in trouble, says Donhe.
Will Australia follow?
I'm not quite sure, but I cantell you the depth of buyers
that people think they are withrates going down, and today was
a really big test the week ofinterest rate cuts.
(04:58):
But I think most people are notthat stupid these days, right?
They sort of factor in thatrates are going to happen.
It's not.
Oh, rates went down.
Let's go buy a house and pay100 grand more.
It doesn't work that way.
Let me keep running through whySydney and Melbourne are the
capitals.
We've said media reinforcementnumber one.
Number two the demand supplycurve Number three cultural
(05:20):
reasons.
Have you noticed in lifesometimes that's the way we do
things around here, right?
Cultural, there's no reason,but we just done it that way.
Like anyone, think of something, like people of Greek heritage,
when you walk through a frontdoor visiting people, you've got
to walk through the front doorto go out.
You can't go out the side gate.
It's like that's superstitious.
(05:42):
That's what it is.
It's right, I don't know.
So that's the next reason.
Let me give you another reasonBecause the stakes are so high
in Sydney and Melbourne andbecause in Australia we've
actually created a narrativethat you're a winner if you own
a home, which is really a stupidnarrative, right?
Like basically saying you're awinner, you're doing good,
(06:04):
you're great if you own a home.
You can actually be great inlife, not owning a home, right,
being healthy, having asuccessful business, right.
But we've had this dream ofowning real estate.
So that dream means that you'vegot buyers who are sitting
there that are highly motivated,highly motivated and, yes,
(06:26):
melbourne will improve,melbourne will improve.
So you basically got theAustralian dream wanting a house
.
And then the last reason I thinkthat people love auctions is
with so much money at stake, itis actually clearer and people
feel more comfortable knowingthat they're bidding with social
proof in front of them in realtime and they're able to see it,
(06:48):
whereas some of the othermethodologies are probably not
as transparent.
Example like if you're puttingnumbers in an envelope, people
are going to say not knowingwhat the other person put in,
and they could actually feellike they're not getting trust,
with the agent saying, oh no, wehad a higher number, there's
all that sort of stuff.
(07:08):
So I think people like the real, in-time social proof.
Hey, look at this person, thatperson's bidding, that person's
bidding, that's an underbidder.
So they're the reasons Iactually think, ladies and
gentlemen.
Anyway, team, I'm going to headoff here and I've got to let
you know.
(07:28):
I think it's a lot more, youknow a lot more complicated on
that option front than it has tobe right, it's not difficult,
right, it's not difficult toactually, because a lot of
agents have been saying Tom,what do I do?
What if the vendor wants this?
What if this?
It's really simple, team, whatyou do.
Hey, let me just go through itvery quickly.
(07:51):
You go to a property and let'sassume you think to yourself
it's worth $1.3 to $1.4.
Okay, you put that on theestimate, right?
You put that on the estimateand as people come through, you
(08:11):
say to them my estimate is $1.3to $1.4.
To 1.4.
By the way, you can obviouslygo 10%, so it can be 1.3 to
whatever 10% of 1.430thereabouts.
Right, you can have a 10%bracket.
You can also turn around andactually say not quote a figure,
(08:31):
right, which I can tell youit's actually going to annoy
buyers.
But you know what, in certainmarketplaces where buyers are
pretty savvy with real estate AI, I think, with people like that
and I'm seeing it happeningwith my own eyes they're turning
around and they're knowing thatwhy would they actually be
(08:53):
guided by the agent who's got arelationship with the vendor,
that's getting paid by thevendor to get them the best
price?
Why would that buyer make theirwhole housing plans based on
that kind of relationship.
I suggest that every buyer doestheir due diligence, and you
know one of the fastest way youcan do it you grab your phone
(09:17):
and you just say I'm at X SmithStreet, number.
Blah, blah, blah.
That's the suburb.
I want to ask you what are thefour closest comparable sales
that have sold to this property?
Right, that way you are gettinginformation that is not
(09:38):
influenced, right?
So a lot of people actually arestarting to do that.
And whilst we're talking aboutthat man, I've got to tell you
AI is actually transforming howthe relationship that vendors,
(09:59):
buyers and agents have.
Example vendors now are usinglots of various tools that they
were using before, like Rumor,which is Laff realestatecom
going up their domain looking atsold results.
Right, but a lot of them arenow also going on and saying,
(10:23):
hey, I want to sell my house inLeichhardt, I want to call three
agents over.
Who are the three to call Oncethey've come on over?
You then ask it this question Ihad three agents come over.
One's given me a fee of 1.5%,one's given me a fee of 2%.
One's given me 1.75%.
(10:45):
This is what each agent ischarging and I'm confused on
which one I should pick.
Please give me some suggestionson who it should be.
This is actually happening, sothis basically means that every
real estate agent now has notonly it would be good to, it's
actually non-negotiable to builda digital footprint,
(11:08):
particularly now that we haveIOS.
Every update coming in whichstops canvassing calls, which
means that, as a society, theway that we're going to be
interacting with customers willprobably be less.
On the sales phone approach I'mnot talking about talking to
people, but I'm talking aboutthe Manila call center approach
(11:31):
might actually slowly disappear,where it's all going to be
about brand attention and it'sall going to be about people
going on there collecting theinformation themselves.
Obviously, ai is going to be avery fast way to do it, so it
means that you should become avideo first agent.
(11:55):
Shoot more video content.
Add more value.
Don't be a commodity.
Go to your local councilwebsite.
Print off the newsletter Everymonth.
Do a video blog bringing thecommunity together, because I've
got to tell you they don't needother crap.
They don't need you on yoursocial media posts talking about
(12:17):
how great your life is.
They don't want to know howmuch money you're making.
They don't want to see yourRolex, right, you know what?
Have you ever seen a dentist gohashtag 10 root canals.
This week, hashtag milliondollar month.
This week, hashtag number onedentist in Leichhardt no, but
(12:42):
you see it in real estate allthe time.
In Australia we've actually created a narrative
that you're a winner if you owna home, which is really a stupid
narrative, right?
Like basically saying you're awinner, you're doing good,
you're great if you own a home.
You can actually be great inlife not owning a home, right,
being healthy, having asuccessful business, right but
(00:20):
we've had this dream of owningreal estate.
Ladies and gentlemen, I've gotto say to you I'm expecting a
large level of stocks happeningSeptember, october, november,
december, just the first week.
In fact, I would urge anyvendor that's out there don't
(00:43):
auction your home after thefirst week in December.
And I'll tell you why.
December is the month theydon't go to your auction.
They go to Westfield.
December is the month theydon't come and bid, they go to
Bondi Beach.
So I've got to say to you I seea lot of fatigued stock hanging
(01:07):
around in December with verymotivated vendors that want to
get out, and I see a lot ofbuyers going around cherry
picking getting good value.
So if you're a seller, youshouldn't be selling the last
couple of weeks of December.
I've got to give you a coupleof fun facts.
(01:29):
It's been a fueled week or sowith auctions and price guides
and quotes.
I've got to let you know I'mfascinated how in Australia 15%
of the properties go to auctionand 85% don't.
(01:50):
Yet we seem to be obsessed withauctions.
And then I thought to myselfwhere are all the auctions?
Because I look at New SouthWales and Victoria and then when
you look at the data, itappears that Sydney sorry, new
(02:11):
South Wales 20% auction, 80%,not auction.
Melbourne 22% auction, 78%auction.
Then you go in and you actuallygo in deeper and you look at
the city of Sydney Sydneyauctions 50%.
Melbourne auctions roughly 50%.
Why has Sydney and Melbournegot the largest proportion of
(02:38):
properties that go to auction in?
I would consider the world.
I just don't see other realestate markets being so obsessed
about auctions as we do inSydney and Melbourne.
And I've got to tell you hereare the reasons why I think so.
Number one Sydney and Melbournehave traditionally been the
(03:04):
areas where the demand andsupply curve, particularly for
houses, favoured the seller, iemore buyers than sellers.
People weren't building stockshortage of supply and they are
perfect.
However, over the last coupleof years we've seen Melbourne
slip down.
Perth, brisbane and Adelaideget ahead of it behind Sydney
(03:29):
and those areas now, andincluding Canberra is
surprisingly a big auction areaas well.
So one of the reasons is thedemand supply curve, but there
are more reasons why Sydney andMelbourne have 50% of their
properties going to auction.
The second one is mediareinforcement.
You see, when you open up thepress on a Sunday, what you'll
(03:54):
see is the property that's soldin Coogee for $500,000 over.
You're not going to see thetwo-, two bedroom house that got
sold as a private treaty ingrey stains.
You won't see that right.
So you get media reinforcementTalking about great prices.
(04:15):
I've got to let you know I hada property today that sold for
like 400 over.
That's been a long time andI've got to tell you it was a
copy book, option Guide andReserve quoted.
The same number Guide went upand you've got to listen.
Like if you've got lots ofbuyers you've got to be putting
(04:36):
the guide up.
I'm not going to go into all ofthat.
We've spoken a lot about that.
I want to finish this subject onauctions.
Candidates in trouble, says Donhe.
Will Australia follow?
I'm not quite sure, but I cantell you the depth of buyers
that people think they are withrates going down, and today was
a really big test the week ofinterest rate cuts.
(04:58):
But I think most people are notthat stupid these days, right?
They sort of factor in thatrates are going to happen.
It's not.
Oh, rates went down.
Let's go buy a house and pay100 grand more.
It doesn't work that way.
Let me keep running through whySydney and Melbourne are the
capitals.
We've said media reinforcementnumber one.
Number two the demand supplycurve Number three cultural
(05:20):
reasons.
Have you noticed in lifesometimes that's the way we do
things around here, right?
Cultural, there's no reason,but we just done it that way.
Like anyone, think of something, like people of Greek heritage,
when you walk through a frontdoor visiting people, you've got
to walk through the front doorto go out.
You can't go out the side gate.
It's like that's superstitious.
(05:42):
That's what it is.
It's right, I don't know.
So that's the next reason.
Let me give you another reasonBecause the stakes are so high
in Sydney and Melbourne andbecause in Australia we've
actually created a narrativethat you're a winner if you own
a home, which is really a stupidnarrative, right?
Like basically saying you're awinner, you're doing good,
(06:04):
you're great if you own a home.
You can actually be great inlife, not owning a home, right,
being healthy, having asuccessful business, right.
But we've had this dream ofowning real estate.
So that dream means that you'vegot buyers who are sitting
there that are highly motivated,highly motivated and, yes,
(06:26):
melbourne will improve,melbourne will improve.
So you basically got theAustralian dream wanting a house
.
And then the last reason I thinkthat people love auctions is
with so much money at stake, itis actually clearer and people
feel more comfortable knowingthat they're bidding with social
proof in front of them in realtime and they're able to see it,
(06:48):
whereas some of the othermethodologies are probably not
as transparent.
Example like if you're puttingnumbers in an envelope, people
are going to say not knowingwhat the other person put in,
and they could actually feellike they're not getting trust,
with the agent saying, oh no, wehad a higher number, there's
all that sort of stuff.
(07:08):
So I think people like the real, in-time social proof.
Hey, look at this person, thatperson's bidding, that person's
bidding, that's an underbidder.
So they're the reasons Iactually think, ladies and
gentlemen.
Anyway, team, I'm going to headoff here and I've got to let
you know.
(07:28):
I think it's a lot more, youknow a lot more complicated on
that option front than it has tobe right, it's not difficult,
right, it's not difficult toactually, because a lot of
agents have been saying Tom,what do I do?
What if the vendor wants this?
What if this?
It's really simple, team, whatyou do.
Hey, let me just go through itvery quickly.
(07:51):
You go to a property and let'sassume you think to yourself
it's worth $1.3 to $1.4.
Okay, you put that on theestimate, right?
You put that on the estimateand as people come through, you
(08:11):
say to them my estimate is $1.3to $1.4.
To 1.4.
By the way, you can obviouslygo 10%, so it can be 1.3 to
whatever 10% of 1.430thereabouts.
Right, you can have a 10%bracket.
You can also turn around andactually say not quote a figure,
(08:31):
right, which I can tell youit's actually going to annoy
buyers.
But you know what, in certainmarketplaces where buyers are
pretty savvy with real estate AI, I think, with people like that
and I'm seeing it happeningwith my own eyes they're turning
around and they're knowing thatwhy would they actually be
(08:53):
guided by the agent who's got arelationship with the vendor,
that's getting paid by thevendor to get them the best
price?
Why would that buyer make theirwhole housing plans based on
that kind of relationship.
I suggest that every buyer doestheir due diligence, and you
know one of the fastest way youcan do it you grab your phone
(09:17):
and you just say I'm at X SmithStreet, number.
Blah, blah, blah.
That's the suburb.
I want to ask you what are thefour closest comparable sales
that have sold to this property?
Right, that way you are gettinginformation that is not
(09:38):
influenced, right?
So a lot of people actually arestarting to do that.
And whilst we're talking aboutthat man, I've got to tell you
AI is actually transforming howthe relationship that vendors,
(09:59):
buyers and agents have.
Example vendors now are usinglots of various tools that they
were using before, like Rumor,which is Laff realestatecom
going up their domain looking atsold results.
Right, but a lot of them arenow also going on and saying,
(10:23):
hey, I want to sell my house inLeichhardt, I want to call three
agents over.
Who are the three to call Oncethey've come on over?
You then ask it this question Ihad three agents come over.
One's given me a fee of 1.5%,one's given me a fee of 2%.
One's given me 1.75%.
(10:45):
This is what each agent ischarging and I'm confused on
which one I should pick.
Please give me some suggestionson who it should be.
This is actually happening, sothis basically means that every
real estate agent now has notonly it would be good to, it's
actually non-negotiable to builda digital footprint,
(11:08):
particularly now that we haveIOS.
Every update coming in whichstops canvassing calls, which
means that, as a society, theway that we're going to be
interacting with customers willprobably be less.
On the sales phone approach I'mnot talking about talking to
people, but I'm talking aboutthe Manila call center approach
(11:31):
might actually slowly disappear,where it's all going to be
about brand attention and it'sall going to be about people
going on there collecting theinformation themselves.
Obviously, ai is going to be avery fast way to do it, so it
means that you should become avideo first agent.
(11:55):
Shoot more video content.
Add more value.
Don't be a commodity.
Go to your local councilwebsite.
Print off the newsletter Everymonth.
Do a video blog bringing thecommunity together, because I've
got to tell you they don't needother crap.
They don't need you on yoursocial media posts talking about
(12:17):
how great your life is.
They don't want to know howmuch money you're making.
They don't want to see yourRolex, right, you know what?
Have you ever seen a dentist gohashtag 10 root canals.
This week, hashtag milliondollar month.
This week, hashtag number onedentist in Leichhardt no, but
(12:42):
you see it in real estate allthe time.
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