August 26, 2024 • 33 mins
The discussion focuses on four primary topics:
- Overpricing listings
- Underquoting
- Absence of price guides, and
- Detrimental social media practices by real estate agents.
(plus, a dash of AFL fun)
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Tom Panos (00:03):
John Panos, john McGrath, troy, malcolm, million
Dollar Agent.
The week leading up to spring,and what a day to be doing our
podcast.
The sun is out, it is aglorious day.
Here in Sydney, people cansmell that spring is around the
corner and the stock's coming in.
Hey, john Troy, be honest.
(00:25):
As an opening intro to ourpodcast, what score out of 10's
the best, 0's the worst?
Give me a number.
What was it like?
Five?
Troy Malcolm (00:36):
Troy Five, tommy, I would say seven.
You got the sun shining on you.
Tom Panos (00:43):
People pleasing Troy People pleasing Remember when
John said we get to 1,000episodes.
I'm going to take you out tolunch.
John Mcgrath (00:52):
Yeah when are we at.
Troy Malcolm (00:53):
Are we at 1,000 yet?
I don't know.
John Mcgrath (00:56):
We've got to become expert.
I've heard of stretch goals.
Tom Panos (01:00):
I've heard of stretch goals, john, but I'll be honest
with you 300 podcasts in totake us out to lunch to get to a
thousand needed more than that,johnny.
John Mcgrath (01:11):
I'll tell you what , tommy, close to your heart.
There's a guy in Sydney onTikTok and he's doing 2000 days,
2000 kebab reviews, one a dayfor the next 2000, and of course
I'm not very good at math, butthat's about 5 to 6 of having a
kebab every day on TikTok.
I don't see that.
That's like that movie.
Tom Panos (01:33):
What makes it even worse, Troy, I'm watching every
one of the ones he's talkingabout.
I watch this guy.
John Mcgrath (01:40):
He's actually very good.
He's actually good.
He's really good.
He's really good.
But today we're not talkingabout kebabs.
We're talking about dumb thingsthat real estate agents do,
yeah.
Tom Panos (01:49):
We're going to do four dumb things.
So this has been inspired by aguy on TikTok.
When he says he goes, heactually says on the video he
goes.
This is just simply dumb.
Why would you quote 800,000 andget me and my wife to show up
to a house that sells for $1.5?
It doesn't make sense.
This is what this guy has said.
So I want to go over four things, four things that dumb agents I
(02:15):
shouldn't say dumb agents,because sometimes I don't think
they're dumb, I just think thatthey don't know a better way of
doing it Four dumb things thathappen in real estate that are
unnecessary.
And we're also going to givepeople the solution to the dumb
thing like how you could do itdifferently.
So I've hogged this a littlebit and I've actually come up
with the four things.
(02:36):
I want to go through the fourthings.
The first one is overpricing.
A listing Absolutely dumb.
They go in and they say it'sworth two million and then they
come back two weeks later with asledgehammer oh, the bedrooms
are too small.
They're only thinking one, six.
Well, quite frankly, thebedrooms did not change size in
those two weeks.
The bedrooms were exactly thesame size.
Oh, the kitchen needs work.
(02:57):
Well, it doesn't deteriorate intwo weeks.
Even if it was a Byron Bayhostel with 300 people in there,
right, does not deteriorate intwo weeks.
So let's talk about that.
We're also going to talk aboutprice guides.
I know it's a favorite of yours, john, and it is a favorite of
mine, and all I want everyone todo is to think about walking in
to Coles, david Jones, target,any shop, and walk through and
(03:23):
pretend that they can't see theprice on anything like that is
the experience people have whenthey're looking at a no price
listing at all.
And then the last thing we'regoing to touch on is the two or
three dumb things that we see onsocial media.
So let's kick it all off, andthe first one is the
(03:44):
underquoting Unnecessary,doesn't need to get done.
It is probably the biggestthing that annoys consumers in
the marketplace, I would say, inrecent times.
So firstly, before we go on,you both agreed it's probably
one of the dumbest things thathappens in real estate.
John Mcgrath (04:03):
Well, I think those four are a good collection
of the dumbest, most stupid.
And look, I think you gave alot of people the benefit of the
doubt by saying they just don'tknow better.
I actually think there's anumber of agents that choose
some of these stupid actions aspart of their strategy, or best
case is they're just too bloodylazy to learn how to do it right
(04:23):
, which is kind of where youwere going, tommy.
Overpricing, and now let'sexclude.
There are going to be occasionswhere an agent does, and
hopefully a number of occasionswhere an agent honestly quotes
the right price and can get itwrong.
I mean, that can happen andwe're going to talk about
underquoting.
Do you want to talk aboutunderquoting or overpricing
(04:43):
first, because they'reinterlinked, but did you want to
do underquoting to the publicor overpricing to the vendor?
Tom Panos (04:49):
So let's do John, let's do the overpricing at the
listing presentation.
Yeah, I think so, yeah.
John Mcgrath (04:56):
So what are the reasons you can overprice?
Number one is you actuallyhaven't done your homework.
Haven't done your homework,which is stupid, expensive,
irresponsible.
When someone's about to giveyou the key to their Rolls Royce
, their home, and you can't bebothered doing all the due
diligence to come up to speedwith what's on the market,
what's sold, why they sold forthat, you shouldn't be in the
(05:18):
industry.
That gives our industry a badname.
So, first thing, they do thestupid thing they do.
They get it wrong because theydon't do the effort.
So I think that's reallycritical.
The worst one, though, as we allknow and I see you nodding as
we're about to chat about thisone, tommy agents have and some
of them, sadly, are taught insome classrooms and workshops by
some expert brands that youknow just tell the vendor what
(05:42):
they want to hear, don't worryabout it.
Whatever they say, nod yourhead and say that sounds very
achievable, sign them up andthen we can work on them later.
That was never a good strategy,but it might have worked in the
80s and 90s because thereweren't, you know, there wasn't
the data around, there weren'tthe good quality agents that are
around today.
So I think many people sadly doit.
(06:03):
They think the biggest lie, thebiggest price, is going to get
the business.
So I'll quote them high Atleast.
Then, if I can sign it up, Igot a chance.
And I just think, like you werealluding to before, tommy, it's
because they're either devious,which is terrible, or they just
haven't learnt.
Let's have the conversation,tom.
The one thing we can't reallybe conclusive about today is
(06:24):
price.
What I'm going to do is, Ithink, the best thing for us
today.
Let's walk through what similarhomes to this, with similar
plots of land, similarimprovements and similar
locations, have been selling.
For Once we do that, tom, we'regoing to be able to then
understand in the buyer's eyeswhere they're likely to see fair
value.
Then it's my job, tom, to workwith you and we team up and
(06:48):
let's do everything we can tomake sure we maximize the price
and try and achieve anabove-market result.
I'm here to get your premiumprice, not a fair market, but we
have to start at fair market,some sort of iteration of that
conversation, whatever it is,and everyone will have their own
words and so forth, but that'skind of what I say when I'm at a
listing presentation to thisday.
(07:10):
And you're right, you can't takesomeone's hope away.
You don't want to say you'redreaming.
If you think this is worth morethan $2 million, you're on
drugs.
This is crazy, because numberone, it might be worth who knows
, things can happen.
But number two is you can't bedisrespectful and you don't want
a depressive end all, but youcertainly don't want to mislead
them on purpose.
So, troy, I think it's, youknow, 80% of the time it's done
(07:33):
because agents have just gotvery bad habits.
They should get out of 20%.
It's probably either a mistakeor just complacency.
What says you?
Troy Malcolm (07:42):
Yeah, I actually put it down to a little bit of
disorganization as well, John.
I think the smart agents arevery well researched.
They take the time, theyunderstand the product before
they meet with the client, andso they don't get put in a
position that they have toover-promise what they could
possibly achieve.
Now how do you do that?
Well, I think it's attendingneighboring agents' opens and
auctions and seeing what'shappening in the market, but
(08:04):
also using really valid casestudies to go through exactly
what you said earlier, to guidethem through, to say listen,
this is our strategy for success.
We know that these propertiesare similar to yours.
We don't know the definitiveprice of the property today, but
we do know what sales havehappened around the area that
are recent.
That indicates similar value.
We would like to go to themarket with that same strategy
(08:24):
and let the emotionalcompetition come out in an
auction environment or whetherthat be a private treaty,
private sale environment, to getthat premium result for you,
and I think that that's wherethe good agents are.
I think the other side is youknow the bad agents.
You're exactly right.
They go in and they say oh, Ilove this house, I want this
listing because I'm desperatefor a commission.
I'm desperate for a commission.
I'm going to tell them whateverthey want to hear, which is
(08:45):
obviously setting them up forfailure from day one.
Tom Panos (08:48):
Yeah, john, I'm just going to quickly just chime in
at the end of what Troy justsaid there, because I know that
there are agents that are goingto be listening to this and I
had one say it to me at aclassroom setting.
He said, tom, it sounds reallygood in a training room, but
you've got to come out there inreal life we're fighting for
(09:09):
listings.
There's another two or threeagents that are going in there.
There's a 30 grand fee on theline.
Every owner thinks their houseis worth more.
Every owner thinks their kid'sthe best looking and smartest
kid around.
And I actually said to him.
I said, listen, I totally getit.
I've got to tell you notraining course survives
collision with reality.
But I can pretty much tell you,if you went into an owner and
(09:31):
said to an owner listen, you'vegot a view of value at 1.2.
The comparables are telling methat that is at the upper end At
this stage.
I'm not a valuer, I'm a houseprice maximizer.
My job is to go out there tofind someone that has the same
view on value as you and if I do, I'm going to be really happy
(09:52):
to be aligned with that andthere is no better person than
me in the market.
I haven't subscribed to thetraining course, which is the
biggest liar gets the job.
I'm going to treat this likeit's my own home and I am
letting you know that my job isto find someone who sees the
same price as you.
(10:12):
If we're having challenges,we'll regroup and we'll look at
that.
I think if you actually tiptoearound that issue, give people
hope, not be definitive it willallow you the privilege to come
back and talk to them withfeedback without them saying to
you but you said you'd get us1.2, right, I think, if you
actually learned the way to wordthings properly.
John Mcgrath (10:34):
Yeah, and that was beautifully said.
Tommy and Troy, they both were.
I think people should replaythis.
There's three different,slightly different but similar
approaches to what one might say.
But the other thing remember wetalked about Ryan Holiday and
stoicism in the last couple ofweeks.
You've got to have a North Star.
If part of your North Star isand I loved what you said, tommy
(10:56):
I'm going to treat this like itwas my own home or my own
family.
If you were my family, I'm notgoing to go out and bullshit you
I wouldn't say those words, butI'd be wanting to know.
Here's what most of my clientswant to know, tom.
They want to know what is thebankable price that we can build
upon and then what's thestrategy to get a premium above
that.
That's kind of where you want togo to, and I think that won't
(11:19):
secure 100% of listings becausethere will be people that will
listen and will be seduced by,potentially, the liars that go
out there and promise them 20%above comparables.
But that's okay.
You don't actually want everypiece of business, because to
get every piece of businessyou'll have to twist and burn
yourself inside out and youprobably will have to tell some
(11:40):
people stuff that may not bealigned with your values.
So I think if you use one ofthose three approaches, if you
realize that your job as atrusted advisor is to give them
considered, thoughtful, qualityinformation and a process or a
plan to maximize price, that'sas good as it gets, and if you
(12:02):
can get eight out of 10 of thelistings, you go for doing that
happy days.
Tom Panos (12:05):
Okay, perfect, let's move on to dumb thing number two
that real estate agents do, andthat is they under quote, and
I'm specifically talking aboutan auction setting has to be
probably the thing that mostconsumers get upset about.
This got inspired by a TikTokvideo I watched from a pundit
(12:29):
out there and there's plentythat don't post TikTok videos
about how unhappy they are butit was quite interesting because
he actually said if it's goingto go for 1.3 or over that, just
say 1.2 upwards.
He said there's no need for youto say 800 or 700.
John, I know that number twoand number three, which we're
(12:52):
going to cover right after thisone, are sort of married to each
other, because it's no priceguides right, which I know
that's another thing.
That's not highly intelligent,but let's talk about agents that
have this view.
If I don't quote it low and yes,there is trainers out there
that say quote them low, watchthem go right, or quote them
(13:13):
high, watch them die and thepublic fed up with it and in
fact it made me.
I was doing the CPD points.
I've just realised they'veactually brought in to New South
Wales.
I wasn't aware of it.
You do a separate course at theTAFE now in addition to your
CPD provider, and it's onemodule on underquoting.
(13:34):
I mean, it is a serious issue.
So what a better way is Troyand John of handling this issue?
John Mcgrath (13:42):
Well, it starts with.
The first one is being honestwith the seller.
I mean, I'll tell you theeasiest one say the same thing
to the seller as you say to thebuyer.
I think that if you want toboil it down to a sentence, you
quote the comparables to both ofthem.
That are the honest, realisticcomparables, and then you use
your salesmanship to point outthe points of difference with
(14:04):
the property and the excitementabout that particular listing
that you believe sets it apartfrom the rest.
And that's how you build it up.
So we had one, and again, thisis a 90% strategy.
We had one on the weekend.
Troy, I don't think you did it.
Scotty called the auction.
We value the property around2526.
Bendor said that's about right.
They actually put a reserve of27 on.
(14:25):
We had 19 registrations.
We just had a bit of X factor.
Everyone seemed to like it andit actually went about 700,000
above reserve.
This can happen.
And again, fraser Turvey didthe sale.
Great sale, well done.
You found a unicorn of a sale.
However, if this is happening toyou every time, if you're
constantly underquoting, themarket gets sick and tired of
(14:48):
you.
The OFT wants to chase you,which they should, and it's just
a bad strategy.
So I'm saying occasionallyyou'll have such an
extraordinary result, it wasinexplicable.
But most of the time you shouldhave a pretty good idea on
where the market's at.
So I think realestatecom, youknow, talks about price guides
and it talks about accuracy offigures and I've got a lot of
(15:10):
stats to back up what we'resaying.
Your name will be mud in themarket if you constantly and
systematically underquote.
So what do you do?
You just tell them it's exactlythe same comparables, and if
they shift up or down, you havethat conversation too.
I spoke to one of our agentstoday.
He's been selling a property.
(15:30):
He's had 30 groups through itand the market's saying that his
original quote was too high.
So I said you've got to go backto every single person and say,
look, we thought it was worth Xto Y, they're now saying it's
worth Z to X.
And I don't want to letanything slip through the cracks
.
I just want to come back to youand see if this new range of
(15:50):
deals.
So if you actually make agenuine mistake, you can cover
it up by going back to peopleand having another honest
conversation, and that can be up.
Just to you know, we said it'dbe one and a half to two.
The market at this stage is atthe very upper end of that and
I'm now thinking it's probablygoing to be two plus.
That's fine, as your guy onTikTok said, tommy, as long as
you're honest and you're in theballpark, everyone's good.
(16:12):
No one expects perfection inany exact science, but people
don't expect you to besystematically lying about you
know values.
It's a waste of time, it erodesyour credibility, it screws up
the industry for the rest of usthat actually believe in telling
the truth and just wasteseveryone's time, troy.
Troy Malcolm (16:32):
Yeah, you're right , john.
I think the best way is.
Transparency wins you every dayof the week.
I remember very early on in mycareer, the agent that I was
working for within McGrath.
We used to have those recentsales that we presented at the
time of listing and we wouldhave the paper signed agency
agreement.
We would remove the owner'sname and the commission selling
(16:53):
fee but we'd actually highlightthe price range on the agency
agreement and laminate that andhave that on display at the open
for inspection along with thoserecent sales for full
transparency to say to thebuyers as they came through.
Well, this is what we quoted.
These are the recent sales thatwe indicated to the owner and
you can see a copy of the signedagency agreement is also on
(17:14):
display that we used at the timeof listing.
Now, that was back in the dayswhere it was paper signed and
all the rest of it.
But I think the methodologyremains.
You have to be honest andtransparent.
Now you can't go and say onething to one and not the other
because, let's face it, there'stwo degrees of separation within
Australia.
The community is very small inthe markets we operate.
The feedback you're giving tothe buyers it's going to get
(17:35):
back to the vendor, so why putyourself in that position?
Make sure they're presentedvery nicely, make sure they're
printed out, those recent sales,and actually give them to a
copy of the buyers of theproperty, Troy, that's gold.
John Mcgrath (17:47):
Tommy.
What Troy just said then and Iknow you used to do it, Troy,
Matty LaHood used to do it toowhen he was selling many, many
years ago.
Troy Malcolm (17:52):
I think I learned it from.
John Mcgrath (17:53):
Matt, yeah, matty used to white out the fee and a
couple of personal details andhe would laminate the agency
agreement and it had a pricerange.
He would also then laminate thecomparable sales, the exact
same that he gave to the vendor,and he'd have both those on the
table and he'd say, well,that's what I've quoted the
(18:13):
vendor, full transparency.
So I mean, yeah, this is notoverly complex Like that's a
brilliant strategy, but aterrible strategy is telling the
vendor 1.2 and the buyer is 900plus.
Not only is it illegal,unethical, it's just a terrible
waste of time for the human race.
Tom Panos (18:34):
You've got to really be really, really, really bad to
screw the truth up right.
If you say the truth, you can'tstuff it up right.
But even on that, by the way,troy, that is absolutely
outstanding.
I hadn't thought that was thefirst time.
I'd never heard of that before,but I'm even thinking to myself
that a lot of agents are goingto turn around and say, oh.
(18:56):
Then they'll say, oh, what ifthey put in an offer at that
level and it doesn't getaccepted?
I think the bottom line is youcan actually say and I used to
do that when I was in realestate 30 years ago I'd say,
listen, I've got to let you know.
My owners, like all owners, arehoping to get as much as they
can.
However, what I do want to tellyou is their circumstances also
(19:18):
tell me that they're definitelygoing to be selling this
property because of theircircumstances mean that they do
have to sell the property, andnormally property sell at market
value.
So if this home is suitable andyou like it, I'd be coming
along, but the bottom line isit's unnecessary.
There are ways that you canactually achieve the result that
(19:38):
you want without actually beingdeceptive.
Let's move on to.
Troy Malcolm (19:42):
Just as we wrap up , as we wrap that one, tom, what
a great message to the marketas well.
If you're the agency thatprovides that transparency as a
group, imagine if you and allyour colleagues go to the market
in your local area and you'rethe people that actually display
that information.
What a great, powerful positionfor both buyers and sellers to
become those custodians oftransparency and truth.
(20:04):
I think it's an amazingopportunity for those that
embrace it.
Tom Panos (20:07):
Troy, my stock standard solution on any
property that doesn't go offunder the auction condition and
there's a pause, just pull outthe reserve.
I don't know why more people oh, no, like, keep it a secret,
like, don't tell anyone.
No, no, no, it's, it's a mate.
This is it.
This is it black and white.
This is what the owner wants,right, yeah, yeah, and and
(20:29):
there's no need talking aboutthat because this happened on
saturday there's no need for anagent.
If you're a good negotiator,you don't show the reserve and
say, oh, but don't worry aboutthe reserve, I know that I'll
get them down.
I mean, that's also unnecessaryand dumb.
Let's move on to the thirdthing, which is married to the
(20:49):
second thing, and that is priceguides.
Obviously, properties that areprivate treaty generally have
some indicative figure, whetherit's a direct price or a guide,
but often with auctions thatthey don't.
John, you were very loud manyyears ago when this policy was
being pushed around by thegovernment.
(21:11):
You've got a strong view.
John Mcgrath (21:13):
Oh well, look, it's just, yeah, the Queensland
government.
It's just absurd.
So you know, we apologise toQueensland agents that would
like to follow our guidance andput price guides, because the
ridiculous government got to beone of the worst piece of
legislation I've ever heard saysyou can't indicate price on an
auction.
Anyway, that's a differentstory.
Realestatecom has stats andthey generally gravitate between
(21:36):
65% and 75% of people that aresearching on REA indicate they
pass by or even ignoreproperties that don't have a
price guide.
So you are putting at risk yourvendor If you just put contact
agent price on request, whichare these horrible phrases?
And, believe me, some of ouragents do it and it drives me
crazy and I try and coach them,but we haven't reached
(21:57):
perfection yet.
Do it and it drives me crazyand I try and coach them, but we
can't, haven't reachedperfection yet.
Um but, but it's two, just twoout of three or three out of
four of your potential buyersmove on to the next agent's
listing because the next agentgave them a price range and most
people they can't be botheredcalling you.
They're embarrassed that it'sgoing to be too high if you do a
good job.
By the way, the irony of thisstory is if you do great job
(22:18):
marketing, you should make yourproperty look like it's worth
more than it is.
They should be looking atsaying, oh my God, what a
beautiful home.
So you know, putting a priceguide and a price range, and
obviously within thejurisdiction, within the legal
limits of your jurisdiction, isjust, it's unarguable.
Now, what are the exceptions inmy world?
Well, the exceptions are when avendor does have what you might
(22:44):
call an overly optimisticstarting range and you think a
conversation with buyers is abetter starting point.
I think that can work If avendor wants 1.5 and you've
given them comparables around1.2, 1.250, and they say yeah, I
hear what you're saying, butI'd still love to see if we can
get.
I think sometimes it's probablysafer to start with having
discussions if you have to.
So that's one thing.
(23:06):
Obviously, if legislationprevents you from doing it, well
, you've just got to do that.
The third one is probably uberluxury homes.
If you're in the end of 12 or20 to $25 million range, if
you're in the $10 to $12 or $20to $25 million range, it's
probably a better thing at thatpoint to have a discussion with
your potential buyersno-transcript.
Troy Malcolm (23:36):
I definitely believe.
If you get point one and pointtwo that we discussed in this
podcast, if you get those right,point three is actually pretty
straightforward and easy, True,true.
If you don't get those firsttwo right, then that's part of
the reason why you're hesitantor reluctant to put a guide on.
So I think they all work veryclosely together and you can see
(23:57):
how one action actually has adomino effect during the course
of the whole campaign.
John Mcgrath (24:02):
Number four dumb thing.
Tom Panos (24:04):
Fourth dumb thing.
And fourth dumb thing could be4A, 4B, 4C, 4D, because there
would be about 100 things, andthis has been inspired by Reese
Witherspoon, Actually.
John Mcgrath (24:18):
Reese Witherspoon.
She really, john, that day atAric.
Tom Panos (24:24):
It's actually had a profound impact on me because
she said the next time you pressthat send button on your social
media feed, just think toyourself how will it make not
you feel.
How will it make the otherperson feel?
And it's what people areposting.
It might make them feel good,but it's actually doing the
(24:48):
exact opposite to the personthat's reading it.
So number four is stupid postson Facebook, instagram, linkedin
, tiktok all the platforms thatagents do.
We could go through and talkabout all the posts, but a lot
of them seem to be, as Troy saidoff air to me before.
They're all sort of under theumbrella of luxe living, luxury
(25:12):
car look at me partying LasVegas, rolex watches that need
and desire to show affluence.
I mean we simply do not seedentists putting hashtag best
agent, hashtag 10th deal,hashtag million dollar.
You get the impression Plumbersdon't do it, dentists don't do
(25:35):
it, but in real estate we seemto do it.
John Mcgrath (25:38):
I remember you and I were standing together when
we both heard Rhys say that afew years ago, tommy, that you
think of the customer, you don'tthink of yourself, and you
think of how you want them tofeel, not how you want to feel,
and you get ego out of the wayand you provide something which
is of use, of value, andsomething that's got a humble
(25:59):
tone to it, and very rarely domost real estate agents do that.
You're right, they're beatingthe chest.
This is my eighth deal for theday, and the sad thing is now,
by the way, some of those agentsare actually very talented, and
this is one of the greatconcerns I have that sometimes
these very talented but veryhigh ego agents put stuff out
there.
So the other agents that arecoming through the ranks are
(26:21):
saying, oh, that's how you'vegot to do it.
I saw her do it, I saw him doit, they do this and they're
successful.
Well, my proposition would beimagine how much more successful
they would be if they werehumble, and you can still find
ways of displaying success.
My God, if you drive through acommunity that's got your soul
sign everywhere, that's a greatstatement in itself.
(26:46):
I think the other ones are egostatements and, as you say, troy
, some of them the obvious lookat my Rolex, look at my trip to
Greece, look at all this sort ofjewelry hanging off my arms,
male and female, and I think,just, guys, you don't need that,
our industry doesn't need it.
People are sick and tired of it.
Trust me, people roll theireyes when they see it.
10% say, oh wow, look at them,how cool are they.
(27:08):
The other 90% say grow up.
So I just think it's got to beabout how can you add value.
You can celebrate wins, you cancelebrate good sales.
You can still be humble.
You can educate and add value,which is where I want people to
be, and just get off the wholeego thing, troy.
Troy Malcolm (27:29):
It's just, you know it's really, it's actually
embarrassing, I think, yeah, tome, john and Tom, it comes down
to framing.
I mean, like you said, john,there's ways to display your
amazing success that you've hadand there's ways to be humble
about it but still display it ina way that you know it's
educational in the market.
I think somewhere along theline to be a successful real
estate agent, you had to showthat side, uh, and I don't know
(27:51):
where it came from, I don't knowwhen it started, but it's,
you're right, people are over it.
The general feel of people whenyou see those things is, you
know they normally get sharedmore about you know the reason,
the wrong reasons they're beingposted as opposed to people
being appreciative of theirsuccess.
Um.
So, yeah, not needed frame it,show your success, but doing in
(28:13):
a way that adds value to theclient.
Um, exactly the way reese saidit at eric 2023 otherwise tell
me you'll end.
John Mcgrath (28:21):
What's that parody site, king of Something where
they make fun of all the agents.
Troy Malcolm (28:27):
What's that called Troy Lords of the Estate?
John Mcgrath (28:32):
You'll end up there.
Beware You'll end up there andso you should end up there.
Tom Panos (28:37):
Let me run through.
I asked over a two-week periodof auctions I owes.
I asked people that were comingto auctions what kind of stuff
they'd love to read on socialmedia.
So I did a my own mini survey.
It's going to take me 10seconds.
I'll read them out.
They want local community hotspots.
They want events in the area.
They want highlights in thearea.
They want to know what thefavorite things are in the area,
(28:58):
like favorite triad restaurant,favorite event, massage place,
favorite whatever New businessesthat open up, best place for
top things to do.
They want to know about what'sbeing listed, what's being sold.
They want to know clientstories.
They love seeing an excitingauction.
They love market summaries thatare really tied down to a
(29:18):
specific suburb.
They want economic updates.
They love real estate factsBelieve it or not.
They said they love predictionsand I sort of get that and
opinions and they like questionsbeing asked and I would say
that real estate agents could doso much better by just putting
stuff out that meets those needsand maybe spend 10% of the time
(29:40):
showing people that you're ahuman being A few photos of your
dog, of your family, yourinterests that show that you're
not just a real estate robot,but a human being.
John Mcgrath (29:52):
Which, tommy, one of the ones that I love and I've
let you know this before is Ilove your live auctions.
Every Saturday afternoon I sithere and if I see one coming up,
I love watching it.
It educates me, it entertainsme.
You've often got a few funlines to say, but that's
information that is useful.
I can see in action, I can seea price result.
(30:13):
That's all good.
So I think, education,information, infotainment, if
you will, but just get the egoout of the way, guys, because
really everyone's over it.
The industry's being ridiculed.
Just be humble, just delivergreat service, and that's the
way we want to go forward.
Troy Malcolm (30:35):
Hey, tommy, can I add in one more?
I've just thought of it and Iknow that we've spoken about
this in the past.
But the one thing that alsocomes up and it's probably been
a little bit more recent indifferent markets but the way
you deal with other agents andthe way you deal with industry
professionals, I think people dothat the wrong way and it's a
dumb thing, right?
You never know when the nexttune junction is coming through.
You never know where the nextteam member that joins your
(30:57):
business or you join theirbusiness comes from.
I think we just need to getaway from.
We hate each other and becauseyou wear a different jersey,
you're the enemy, I think it's asmall industry and we should be
all working closely together toobviously lift the standard and
create an industry that'srespected in Australia.
Tom Panos (31:14):
I mean they're a client.
They're a client, if you thinkabout it, they influence, they
can refer you stuff if they'rein other areas.
Finally, guys, I just want toask very quickly, because we're
at that time of the year.
I want you to tell me, tipwho's going to win the NRL grand
final I want to put this onvideo now and who's going to win
the AFL grand final.
(31:35):
I'd like to have your tips.
John Mcgrath (31:39):
I'm going to be led by Troy on AFL, because I've
been following it.
I'm going to say Penrith, Ithink will come good.
They've lost a bit of theirluster.
I'll guarantee you neither theRoosters nor the Tigers will win
, but I reckon it's Penrith.
Troy Malcolm (31:55):
Troy, you're going to say Roosters, no doubt.
Yeah, I don't know.
I think final footy is a wholenew ball game.
I do think the professionalismof the Panthers and having the
experience of three grand finalwins in a row going into their
fourth campaign, I think that'sgoing to be important.
I think Melbourne is thebenchmark.
I would essentially say theRoosters Any one of those three
teams I think have been the bestthroughout the year.
(32:17):
So I'd love to see and who arewe liking?
John Mcgrath (32:18):
the AFL Troy have been the best throughout the
year, so I'd love to see and whoare we liking in the AFL Troy?
The Sydney Swans are winning,aren't they?
At the moment, it has to be theSwans.
Troy Malcolm (32:22):
They went through a lull, but they've bounced back
hard.
They've just secured the minorpremiership, so it has to be the
Swans.
John Mcgrath (32:29):
The one game I tuned into about three weeks ago
they lost by 100 points.
Troy Malcolm (32:33):
John, don't watch them anymore.
John Mcgrath (32:37):
What do you think, Tommy?
Who are your two picks?
Tom Panos (32:39):
Well, I'll be honest with you.
I wasn't too sure who were inthe final four teams in the AFL,
so I've just Googled it andSydney is clearly in the lead 68
points to 64.
So Sydney Swans and theBulldogs are going to win the
grand final, and I know thatthat is total left field
Bulldogs yeah, good.
I've got to tell you they'renot losing any games at the
(33:00):
moment.
They just keep winning andwinning and winning, and yeah.
John Mcgrath (33:06):
Under the radar.
They could do it, you know theycould pull off.
That would be, like you know,one of the biggest upsets for as
long as I can remember back,because you'd have to say it's
Melbourne, it's Penrith, it'smaybe Roosters, but they're
coming through and no one'sbeating them.
They're really doing good.
So we'll see, george.
Capos will be very happy.
George Capos will be happy ifthe Bulldogs win.
Troy Malcolm (33:28):
Is he a Bulldog supporter?
He would yeah he would.
John Mcgrath (33:32):
He's in the heartland, my friend.
He must be Alright everyone.
Tom Panos (33:36):
Alrighty, see you, troy.
John Mcgrath (33:37):
See you.
John Panos, john McGrath, troy, malcolm, million
Dollar Agent.
The week leading up to spring,and what a day to be doing our
podcast.
The sun is out, it is aglorious day.
Here in Sydney, people cansmell that spring is around the
corner and the stock's coming in.
Hey, john Troy, be honest.
(00:25):
As an opening intro to ourpodcast, what score out of 10's
the best, 0's the worst?
Give me a number.
What was it like?
Five?
Troy Malcolm (00:36):
Troy Five, tommy, I would say seven.
You got the sun shining on you.
Tom Panos (00:43):
People pleasing Troy People pleasing Remember when
John said we get to 1,000episodes.
I'm going to take you out tolunch.
John Mcgrath (00:52):
Yeah when are we at.
Troy Malcolm (00:53):
Are we at 1,000 yet?
I don't know.
John Mcgrath (00:56):
We've got to become expert.
I've heard of stretch goals.
Tom Panos (01:00):
I've heard of stretch goals, john, but I'll be honest
with you 300 podcasts in totake us out to lunch to get to a
thousand needed more than that,johnny.
John Mcgrath (01:11):
I'll tell you what , tommy, close to your heart.
There's a guy in Sydney onTikTok and he's doing 2000 days,
2000 kebab reviews, one a dayfor the next 2000, and of course
I'm not very good at math, butthat's about 5 to 6 of having a
kebab every day on TikTok.
I don't see that.
That's like that movie.
Tom Panos (01:33):
What makes it even worse, Troy, I'm watching every
one of the ones he's talkingabout.
I watch this guy.
John Mcgrath (01:40):
He's actually very good.
He's actually good.
He's really good.
He's really good.
But today we're not talkingabout kebabs.
We're talking about dumb thingsthat real estate agents do,
yeah.
Tom Panos (01:49):
We're going to do four dumb things.
So this has been inspired by aguy on TikTok.
When he says he goes, heactually says on the video he
goes.
This is just simply dumb.
Why would you quote 800,000 andget me and my wife to show up
to a house that sells for $1.5?
It doesn't make sense.
This is what this guy has said.
So I want to go over four things, four things that dumb agents I
(02:15):
shouldn't say dumb agents,because sometimes I don't think
they're dumb, I just think thatthey don't know a better way of
doing it Four dumb things thathappen in real estate that are
unnecessary.
And we're also going to givepeople the solution to the dumb
thing like how you could do itdifferently.
So I've hogged this a littlebit and I've actually come up
with the four things.
(02:36):
I want to go through the fourthings.
The first one is overpricing.
A listing Absolutely dumb.
They go in and they say it'sworth two million and then they
come back two weeks later with asledgehammer oh, the bedrooms
are too small.
They're only thinking one, six.
Well, quite frankly, thebedrooms did not change size in
those two weeks.
The bedrooms were exactly thesame size.
Oh, the kitchen needs work.
(02:57):
Well, it doesn't deteriorate intwo weeks.
Even if it was a Byron Bayhostel with 300 people in there,
right, does not deteriorate intwo weeks.
So let's talk about that.
We're also going to talk aboutprice guides.
I know it's a favorite of yours, john, and it is a favorite of
mine, and all I want everyone todo is to think about walking in
to Coles, david Jones, target,any shop, and walk through and
(03:23):
pretend that they can't see theprice on anything like that is
the experience people have whenthey're looking at a no price
listing at all.
And then the last thing we'regoing to touch on is the two or
three dumb things that we see onsocial media.
So let's kick it all off, andthe first one is the
(03:44):
underquoting Unnecessary,doesn't need to get done.
It is probably the biggestthing that annoys consumers in
the marketplace, I would say, inrecent times.
So firstly, before we go on,you both agreed it's probably
one of the dumbest things thathappens in real estate.
John Mcgrath (04:03):
Well, I think those four are a good collection
of the dumbest, most stupid.
And look, I think you gave alot of people the benefit of the
doubt by saying they just don'tknow better.
I actually think there's anumber of agents that choose
some of these stupid actions aspart of their strategy, or best
case is they're just too bloodylazy to learn how to do it right
(04:23):
, which is kind of where youwere going, tommy.
Overpricing, and now let'sexclude.
There are going to be occasionswhere an agent does, and
hopefully a number of occasionswhere an agent honestly quotes
the right price and can get itwrong.
I mean, that can happen andwe're going to talk about
underquoting.
Do you want to talk aboutunderquoting or overpricing
(04:43):
first, because they'reinterlinked, but did you want to
do underquoting to the publicor overpricing to the vendor?
Tom Panos (04:49):
So let's do John, let's do the overpricing at the
listing presentation.
Yeah, I think so, yeah.
John Mcgrath (04:56):
So what are the reasons you can overprice?
Number one is you actuallyhaven't done your homework.
Haven't done your homework,which is stupid, expensive,
irresponsible.
When someone's about to giveyou the key to their Rolls Royce
, their home, and you can't bebothered doing all the due
diligence to come up to speedwith what's on the market,
what's sold, why they sold forthat, you shouldn't be in the
(05:18):
industry.
That gives our industry a badname.
So, first thing, they do thestupid thing they do.
They get it wrong because theydon't do the effort.
So I think that's reallycritical.
The worst one, though, as we allknow and I see you nodding as
we're about to chat about thisone, tommy agents have and some
of them, sadly, are taught insome classrooms and workshops by
some expert brands that youknow just tell the vendor what
(05:42):
they want to hear, don't worryabout it.
Whatever they say, nod yourhead and say that sounds very
achievable, sign them up andthen we can work on them later.
That was never a good strategy,but it might have worked in the
80s and 90s because thereweren't, you know, there wasn't
the data around, there weren'tthe good quality agents that are
around today.
So I think many people sadly doit.
(06:03):
They think the biggest lie, thebiggest price, is going to get
the business.
So I'll quote them high Atleast.
Then, if I can sign it up, Igot a chance.
And I just think, like you werealluding to before, tommy, it's
because they're either devious,which is terrible, or they just
haven't learnt.
Let's have the conversation,tom.
The one thing we can't reallybe conclusive about today is
(06:24):
price.
What I'm going to do is, Ithink, the best thing for us
today.
Let's walk through what similarhomes to this, with similar
plots of land, similarimprovements and similar
locations, have been selling.
For Once we do that, tom, we'regoing to be able to then
understand in the buyer's eyeswhere they're likely to see fair
value.
Then it's my job, tom, to workwith you and we team up and
(06:48):
let's do everything we can tomake sure we maximize the price
and try and achieve anabove-market result.
I'm here to get your premiumprice, not a fair market, but we
have to start at fair market,some sort of iteration of that
conversation, whatever it is,and everyone will have their own
words and so forth, but that'skind of what I say when I'm at a
listing presentation to thisday.
(07:10):
And you're right, you can't takesomeone's hope away.
You don't want to say you'redreaming.
If you think this is worth morethan $2 million, you're on
drugs.
This is crazy, because numberone, it might be worth who knows
, things can happen.
But number two is you can't bedisrespectful and you don't want
a depressive end all, but youcertainly don't want to mislead
them on purpose.
So, troy, I think it's, youknow, 80% of the time it's done
(07:33):
because agents have just gotvery bad habits.
They should get out of 20%.
It's probably either a mistakeor just complacency.
What says you?
Troy Malcolm (07:42):
Yeah, I actually put it down to a little bit of
disorganization as well, John.
I think the smart agents arevery well researched.
They take the time, theyunderstand the product before
they meet with the client, andso they don't get put in a
position that they have toover-promise what they could
possibly achieve.
Now how do you do that?
Well, I think it's attendingneighboring agents' opens and
auctions and seeing what'shappening in the market, but
(08:04):
also using really valid casestudies to go through exactly
what you said earlier, to guidethem through, to say listen,
this is our strategy for success.
We know that these propertiesare similar to yours.
We don't know the definitiveprice of the property today, but
we do know what sales havehappened around the area that
are recent.
That indicates similar value.
We would like to go to themarket with that same strategy
(08:24):
and let the emotionalcompetition come out in an
auction environment or whetherthat be a private treaty,
private sale environment, to getthat premium result for you,
and I think that that's wherethe good agents are.
I think the other side is youknow the bad agents.
You're exactly right.
They go in and they say oh, Ilove this house, I want this
listing because I'm desperatefor a commission.
I'm desperate for a commission.
I'm going to tell them whateverthey want to hear, which is
(08:45):
obviously setting them up forfailure from day one.
Tom Panos (08:48):
Yeah, john, I'm just going to quickly just chime in
at the end of what Troy justsaid there, because I know that
there are agents that are goingto be listening to this and I
had one say it to me at aclassroom setting.
He said, tom, it sounds reallygood in a training room, but
you've got to come out there inreal life we're fighting for
(09:09):
listings.
There's another two or threeagents that are going in there.
There's a 30 grand fee on theline.
Every owner thinks their houseis worth more.
Every owner thinks their kid'sthe best looking and smartest
kid around.
And I actually said to him.
I said, listen, I totally getit.
I've got to tell you notraining course survives
collision with reality.
But I can pretty much tell you,if you went into an owner and
(09:31):
said to an owner listen, you'vegot a view of value at 1.2.
The comparables are telling methat that is at the upper end At
this stage.
I'm not a valuer, I'm a houseprice maximizer.
My job is to go out there tofind someone that has the same
view on value as you and if I do, I'm going to be really happy
(09:52):
to be aligned with that andthere is no better person than
me in the market.
I haven't subscribed to thetraining course, which is the
biggest liar gets the job.
I'm going to treat this likeit's my own home and I am
letting you know that my job isto find someone who sees the
same price as you.
(10:12):
If we're having challenges,we'll regroup and we'll look at
that.
I think if you actually tiptoearound that issue, give people
hope, not be definitive it willallow you the privilege to come
back and talk to them withfeedback without them saying to
you but you said you'd get us1.2, right, I think, if you
actually learned the way to wordthings properly.
John Mcgrath (10:34):
Yeah, and that was beautifully said.
Tommy and Troy, they both were.
I think people should replaythis.
There's three different,slightly different but similar
approaches to what one might say.
But the other thing remember wetalked about Ryan Holiday and
stoicism in the last couple ofweeks.
You've got to have a North Star.
If part of your North Star isand I loved what you said, tommy
(10:56):
I'm going to treat this like itwas my own home or my own
family.
If you were my family, I'm notgoing to go out and bullshit you
I wouldn't say those words, butI'd be wanting to know.
Here's what most of my clientswant to know, tom.
They want to know what is thebankable price that we can build
upon and then what's thestrategy to get a premium above
that.
That's kind of where you want togo to, and I think that won't
(11:19):
secure 100% of listings becausethere will be people that will
listen and will be seduced by,potentially, the liars that go
out there and promise them 20%above comparables.
But that's okay.
You don't actually want everypiece of business, because to
get every piece of businessyou'll have to twist and burn
yourself inside out and youprobably will have to tell some
(11:40):
people stuff that may not bealigned with your values.
So I think if you use one ofthose three approaches, if you
realize that your job as atrusted advisor is to give them
considered, thoughtful, qualityinformation and a process or a
plan to maximize price, that'sas good as it gets, and if you
(12:02):
can get eight out of 10 of thelistings, you go for doing that
happy days.
Tom Panos (12:05):
Okay, perfect, let's move on to dumb thing number two
that real estate agents do, andthat is they under quote, and
I'm specifically talking aboutan auction setting has to be
probably the thing that mostconsumers get upset about.
This got inspired by a TikTokvideo I watched from a pundit
(12:29):
out there and there's plentythat don't post TikTok videos
about how unhappy they are butit was quite interesting because
he actually said if it's goingto go for 1.3 or over that, just
say 1.2 upwards.
He said there's no need for youto say 800 or 700.
John, I know that number twoand number three, which we're
(12:52):
going to cover right after thisone, are sort of married to each
other, because it's no priceguides right, which I know
that's another thing.
That's not highly intelligent,but let's talk about agents that
have this view.
If I don't quote it low and yes,there is trainers out there
that say quote them low, watchthem go right, or quote them
(13:13):
high, watch them die and thepublic fed up with it and in
fact it made me.
I was doing the CPD points.
I've just realised they'veactually brought in to New South
Wales.
I wasn't aware of it.
You do a separate course at theTAFE now in addition to your
CPD provider, and it's onemodule on underquoting.
(13:34):
I mean, it is a serious issue.
So what a better way is Troyand John of handling this issue?
John Mcgrath (13:42):
Well, it starts with.
The first one is being honestwith the seller.
I mean, I'll tell you theeasiest one say the same thing
to the seller as you say to thebuyer.
I think that if you want toboil it down to a sentence, you
quote the comparables to both ofthem.
That are the honest, realisticcomparables, and then you use
your salesmanship to point outthe points of difference with
(14:04):
the property and the excitementabout that particular listing
that you believe sets it apartfrom the rest.
And that's how you build it up.
So we had one, and again, thisis a 90% strategy.
We had one on the weekend.
Troy, I don't think you did it.
Scotty called the auction.
We value the property around2526.
Bendor said that's about right.
They actually put a reserve of27 on.
(14:25):
We had 19 registrations.
We just had a bit of X factor.
Everyone seemed to like it andit actually went about 700,000
above reserve.
This can happen.
And again, fraser Turvey didthe sale.
Great sale, well done.
You found a unicorn of a sale.
However, if this is happening toyou every time, if you're
constantly underquoting, themarket gets sick and tired of
(14:48):
you.
The OFT wants to chase you,which they should, and it's just
a bad strategy.
So I'm saying occasionallyyou'll have such an
extraordinary result, it wasinexplicable.
But most of the time you shouldhave a pretty good idea on
where the market's at.
So I think realestatecom, youknow, talks about price guides
and it talks about accuracy offigures and I've got a lot of
(15:10):
stats to back up what we'resaying.
Your name will be mud in themarket if you constantly and
systematically underquote.
So what do you do?
You just tell them it's exactlythe same comparables, and if
they shift up or down, you havethat conversation too.
I spoke to one of our agentstoday.
He's been selling a property.
(15:30):
He's had 30 groups through itand the market's saying that his
original quote was too high.
So I said you've got to go backto every single person and say,
look, we thought it was worth Xto Y, they're now saying it's
worth Z to X.
And I don't want to letanything slip through the cracks
.
I just want to come back to youand see if this new range of
(15:50):
deals.
So if you actually make agenuine mistake, you can cover
it up by going back to peopleand having another honest
conversation, and that can be up.
Just to you know, we said it'dbe one and a half to two.
The market at this stage is atthe very upper end of that and
I'm now thinking it's probablygoing to be two plus.
That's fine, as your guy onTikTok said, tommy, as long as
you're honest and you're in theballpark, everyone's good.
(16:12):
No one expects perfection inany exact science, but people
don't expect you to besystematically lying about you
know values.
It's a waste of time, it erodesyour credibility, it screws up
the industry for the rest of usthat actually believe in telling
the truth and just wasteseveryone's time, troy.
Troy Malcolm (16:32):
Yeah, you're right , john.
I think the best way is.
Transparency wins you every dayof the week.
I remember very early on in mycareer, the agent that I was
working for within McGrath.
We used to have those recentsales that we presented at the
time of listing and we wouldhave the paper signed agency
agreement.
We would remove the owner'sname and the commission selling
(16:53):
fee but we'd actually highlightthe price range on the agency
agreement and laminate that andhave that on display at the open
for inspection along with thoserecent sales for full
transparency to say to thebuyers as they came through.
Well, this is what we quoted.
These are the recent sales thatwe indicated to the owner and
you can see a copy of the signedagency agreement is also on
(17:14):
display that we used at the timeof listing.
Now, that was back in the dayswhere it was paper signed and
all the rest of it.
But I think the methodologyremains.
You have to be honest andtransparent.
Now you can't go and say onething to one and not the other
because, let's face it, there'stwo degrees of separation within
Australia.
The community is very small inthe markets we operate.
The feedback you're giving tothe buyers it's going to get
(17:35):
back to the vendor, so why putyourself in that position?
Make sure they're presentedvery nicely, make sure they're
printed out, those recent sales,and actually give them to a
copy of the buyers of theproperty, Troy, that's gold.
John Mcgrath (17:47):
Tommy.
What Troy just said then and Iknow you used to do it, Troy,
Matty LaHood used to do it toowhen he was selling many, many
years ago.
Troy Malcolm (17:52):
I think I learned it from.
John Mcgrath (17:53):
Matt, yeah, matty used to white out the fee and a
couple of personal details andhe would laminate the agency
agreement and it had a pricerange.
He would also then laminate thecomparable sales, the exact
same that he gave to the vendor,and he'd have both those on the
table and he'd say, well,that's what I've quoted the
(18:13):
vendor, full transparency.
So I mean, yeah, this is notoverly complex Like that's a
brilliant strategy, but aterrible strategy is telling the
vendor 1.2 and the buyer is 900plus.
Not only is it illegal,unethical, it's just a terrible
waste of time for the human race.
Tom Panos (18:34):
You've got to really be really, really, really bad to
screw the truth up right.
If you say the truth, you can'tstuff it up right.
But even on that, by the way,troy, that is absolutely
outstanding.
I hadn't thought that was thefirst time.
I'd never heard of that before,but I'm even thinking to myself
that a lot of agents are goingto turn around and say, oh.
(18:56):
Then they'll say, oh, what ifthey put in an offer at that
level and it doesn't getaccepted?
I think the bottom line is youcan actually say and I used to
do that when I was in realestate 30 years ago I'd say,
listen, I've got to let you know.
My owners, like all owners, arehoping to get as much as they
can.
However, what I do want to tellyou is their circumstances also
(19:18):
tell me that they're definitelygoing to be selling this
property because of theircircumstances mean that they do
have to sell the property, andnormally property sell at market
value.
So if this home is suitable andyou like it, I'd be coming
along, but the bottom line isit's unnecessary.
There are ways that you canactually achieve the result that
(19:38):
you want without actually beingdeceptive.
Let's move on to.
Troy Malcolm (19:42):
Just as we wrap up , as we wrap that one, tom, what
a great message to the marketas well.
If you're the agency thatprovides that transparency as a
group, imagine if you and allyour colleagues go to the market
in your local area and you'rethe people that actually display
that information.
What a great, powerful positionfor both buyers and sellers to
become those custodians oftransparency and truth.
(20:04):
I think it's an amazingopportunity for those that
embrace it.
Tom Panos (20:07):
Troy, my stock standard solution on any
property that doesn't go offunder the auction condition and
there's a pause, just pull outthe reserve.
I don't know why more people oh, no, like, keep it a secret,
like, don't tell anyone.
No, no, no, it's, it's a mate.
This is it.
This is it black and white.
This is what the owner wants,right, yeah, yeah, and and
(20:29):
there's no need talking aboutthat because this happened on
saturday there's no need for anagent.
If you're a good negotiator,you don't show the reserve and
say, oh, but don't worry aboutthe reserve, I know that I'll
get them down.
I mean, that's also unnecessaryand dumb.
Let's move on to the thirdthing, which is married to the
(20:49):
second thing, and that is priceguides.
Obviously, properties that areprivate treaty generally have
some indicative figure, whetherit's a direct price or a guide,
but often with auctions thatthey don't.
John, you were very loud manyyears ago when this policy was
being pushed around by thegovernment.
(21:11):
You've got a strong view.
John Mcgrath (21:13):
Oh well, look, it's just, yeah, the Queensland
government.
It's just absurd.
So you know, we apologise toQueensland agents that would
like to follow our guidance andput price guides, because the
ridiculous government got to beone of the worst piece of
legislation I've ever heard saysyou can't indicate price on an
auction.
Anyway, that's a differentstory.
Realestatecom has stats andthey generally gravitate between
(21:36):
65% and 75% of people that aresearching on REA indicate they
pass by or even ignoreproperties that don't have a
price guide.
So you are putting at risk yourvendor If you just put contact
agent price on request, whichare these horrible phrases?
And, believe me, some of ouragents do it and it drives me
crazy and I try and coach them,but we haven't reached
(21:57):
perfection yet.
Do it and it drives me crazyand I try and coach them, but we
can't, haven't reachedperfection yet.
Um but, but it's two, just twoout of three or three out of
four of your potential buyersmove on to the next agent's
listing because the next agentgave them a price range and most
people they can't be botheredcalling you.
They're embarrassed that it'sgoing to be too high if you do a
good job.
By the way, the irony of thisstory is if you do great job
(22:18):
marketing, you should make yourproperty look like it's worth
more than it is.
They should be looking atsaying, oh my God, what a
beautiful home.
So you know, putting a priceguide and a price range, and
obviously within thejurisdiction, within the legal
limits of your jurisdiction, isjust, it's unarguable.
Now, what are the exceptions inmy world?
Well, the exceptions are when avendor does have what you might
(22:44):
call an overly optimisticstarting range and you think a
conversation with buyers is abetter starting point.
I think that can work If avendor wants 1.5 and you've
given them comparables around1.2, 1.250, and they say yeah, I
hear what you're saying, butI'd still love to see if we can
get.
I think sometimes it's probablysafer to start with having
discussions if you have to.
So that's one thing.
(23:06):
Obviously, if legislationprevents you from doing it, well
, you've just got to do that.
The third one is probably uberluxury homes.
If you're in the end of 12 or20 to $25 million range, if
you're in the $10 to $12 or $20to $25 million range, it's
probably a better thing at thatpoint to have a discussion with
your potential buyersno-transcript.
Troy Malcolm (23:36):
I definitely believe.
If you get point one and pointtwo that we discussed in this
podcast, if you get those right,point three is actually pretty
straightforward and easy, True,true.
If you don't get those firsttwo right, then that's part of
the reason why you're hesitantor reluctant to put a guide on.
So I think they all work veryclosely together and you can see
(23:57):
how one action actually has adomino effect during the course
of the whole campaign.
John Mcgrath (24:02):
Number four dumb thing.
Tom Panos (24:04):
Fourth dumb thing.
And fourth dumb thing could be4A, 4B, 4C, 4D, because there
would be about 100 things, andthis has been inspired by Reese
Witherspoon, Actually.
John Mcgrath (24:18):
Reese Witherspoon.
She really, john, that day atAric.
Tom Panos (24:24):
It's actually had a profound impact on me because
she said the next time you pressthat send button on your social
media feed, just think toyourself how will it make not
you feel.
How will it make the otherperson feel?
And it's what people areposting.
It might make them feel good,but it's actually doing the
(24:48):
exact opposite to the personthat's reading it.
So number four is stupid postson Facebook, instagram, linkedin
, tiktok all the platforms thatagents do.
We could go through and talkabout all the posts, but a lot
of them seem to be, as Troy saidoff air to me before.
They're all sort of under theumbrella of luxe living, luxury
(25:12):
car look at me partying LasVegas, rolex watches that need
and desire to show affluence.
I mean we simply do not seedentists putting hashtag best
agent, hashtag 10th deal,hashtag million dollar.
You get the impression Plumbersdon't do it, dentists don't do
(25:35):
it, but in real estate we seemto do it.
John Mcgrath (25:38):
I remember you and I were standing together when
we both heard Rhys say that afew years ago, tommy, that you
think of the customer, you don'tthink of yourself, and you
think of how you want them tofeel, not how you want to feel,
and you get ego out of the wayand you provide something which
is of use, of value, andsomething that's got a humble
(25:59):
tone to it, and very rarely domost real estate agents do that.
You're right, they're beatingthe chest.
This is my eighth deal for theday, and the sad thing is now,
by the way, some of those agentsare actually very talented, and
this is one of the greatconcerns I have that sometimes
these very talented but veryhigh ego agents put stuff out
there.
So the other agents that arecoming through the ranks are
(26:21):
saying, oh, that's how you'vegot to do it.
I saw her do it, I saw him doit, they do this and they're
successful.
Well, my proposition would beimagine how much more successful
they would be if they werehumble, and you can still find
ways of displaying success.
My God, if you drive through acommunity that's got your soul
sign everywhere, that's a greatstatement in itself.
(26:46):
I think the other ones are egostatements and, as you say, troy
, some of them the obvious lookat my Rolex, look at my trip to
Greece, look at all this sort ofjewelry hanging off my arms,
male and female, and I think,just, guys, you don't need that,
our industry doesn't need it.
People are sick and tired of it.
Trust me, people roll theireyes when they see it.
10% say, oh wow, look at them,how cool are they.
(27:08):
The other 90% say grow up.
So I just think it's got to beabout how can you add value.
You can celebrate wins, you cancelebrate good sales.
You can still be humble.
You can educate and add value,which is where I want people to
be, and just get off the wholeego thing, troy.
Troy Malcolm (27:29):
It's just, you know it's really, it's actually
embarrassing, I think, yeah, tome, john and Tom, it comes down
to framing.
I mean, like you said, john,there's ways to display your
amazing success that you've hadand there's ways to be humble
about it but still display it ina way that you know it's
educational in the market.
I think somewhere along theline to be a successful real
estate agent, you had to showthat side, uh, and I don't know
(27:51):
where it came from, I don't knowwhen it started, but it's,
you're right, people are over it.
The general feel of people whenyou see those things is, you
know they normally get sharedmore about you know the reason,
the wrong reasons they're beingposted as opposed to people
being appreciative of theirsuccess.
Um.
So, yeah, not needed frame it,show your success, but doing in
(28:13):
a way that adds value to theclient.
Um, exactly the way reese saidit at eric 2023 otherwise tell
me you'll end.
John Mcgrath (28:21):
What's that parody site, king of Something where
they make fun of all the agents.
Troy Malcolm (28:27):
What's that called Troy Lords of the Estate?
John Mcgrath (28:32):
You'll end up there.
Beware You'll end up there andso you should end up there.
Tom Panos (28:37):
Let me run through.
I asked over a two-week periodof auctions I owes.
I asked people that were comingto auctions what kind of stuff
they'd love to read on socialmedia.
So I did a my own mini survey.
It's going to take me 10seconds.
I'll read them out.
They want local community hotspots.
They want events in the area.
They want highlights in thearea.
They want to know what thefavorite things are in the area,
(28:58):
like favorite triad restaurant,favorite event, massage place,
favorite whatever New businessesthat open up, best place for
top things to do.
They want to know about what'sbeing listed, what's being sold.
They want to know clientstories.
They love seeing an excitingauction.
They love market summaries thatare really tied down to a
(29:18):
specific suburb.
They want economic updates.
They love real estate factsBelieve it or not.
They said they love predictionsand I sort of get that and
opinions and they like questionsbeing asked and I would say
that real estate agents could doso much better by just putting
stuff out that meets those needsand maybe spend 10% of the time
(29:40):
showing people that you're ahuman being A few photos of your
dog, of your family, yourinterests that show that you're
not just a real estate robot,but a human being.
John Mcgrath (29:52):
Which, tommy, one of the ones that I love and I've
let you know this before is Ilove your live auctions.
Every Saturday afternoon I sithere and if I see one coming up,
I love watching it.
It educates me, it entertainsme.
You've often got a few funlines to say, but that's
information that is useful.
I can see in action, I can seea price result.
(30:13):
That's all good.
So I think, education,information, infotainment, if
you will, but just get the egoout of the way, guys, because
really everyone's over it.
The industry's being ridiculed.
Just be humble, just delivergreat service, and that's the
way we want to go forward.
Troy Malcolm (30:35):
Hey, tommy, can I add in one more?
I've just thought of it and Iknow that we've spoken about
this in the past.
But the one thing that alsocomes up and it's probably been
a little bit more recent indifferent markets but the way
you deal with other agents andthe way you deal with industry
professionals, I think people dothat the wrong way and it's a
dumb thing, right?
You never know when the nexttune junction is coming through.
You never know where the nextteam member that joins your
(30:57):
business or you join theirbusiness comes from.
I think we just need to getaway from.
We hate each other and becauseyou wear a different jersey,
you're the enemy, I think it's asmall industry and we should be
all working closely together toobviously lift the standard and
create an industry that'srespected in Australia.
Tom Panos (31:14):
I mean they're a client.
They're a client, if you thinkabout it, they influence, they
can refer you stuff if they'rein other areas.
Finally, guys, I just want toask very quickly, because we're
at that time of the year.
I want you to tell me, tipwho's going to win the NRL grand
final I want to put this onvideo now and who's going to win
the AFL grand final.
(31:35):
I'd like to have your tips.
John Mcgrath (31:39):
I'm going to be led by Troy on AFL, because I've
been following it.
I'm going to say Penrith, Ithink will come good.
They've lost a bit of theirluster.
I'll guarantee you neither theRoosters nor the Tigers will win
, but I reckon it's Penrith.
Troy Malcolm (31:55):
Troy, you're going to say Roosters, no doubt.
Yeah, I don't know.
I think final footy is a wholenew ball game.
I do think the professionalismof the Panthers and having the
experience of three grand finalwins in a row going into their
fourth campaign, I think that'sgoing to be important.
I think Melbourne is thebenchmark.
I would essentially say theRoosters Any one of those three
teams I think have been the bestthroughout the year.
(32:17):
So I'd love to see and who arewe liking?
John Mcgrath (32:18):
the AFL Troy have been the best throughout the
year, so I'd love to see and whoare we liking in the AFL Troy?
The Sydney Swans are winning,aren't they?
At the moment, it has to be theSwans.
Troy Malcolm (32:22):
They went through a lull, but they've bounced back
hard.
They've just secured the minorpremiership, so it has to be the
Swans.
John Mcgrath (32:29):
The one game I tuned into about three weeks ago
they lost by 100 points.
Troy Malcolm (32:33):
John, don't watch them anymore.
John Mcgrath (32:37):
What do you think, Tommy?
Who are your two picks?
Tom Panos (32:39):
Well, I'll be honest with you.
I wasn't too sure who were inthe final four teams in the AFL,
so I've just Googled it andSydney is clearly in the lead 68
points to 64.
So Sydney Swans and theBulldogs are going to win the
grand final, and I know thatthat is total left field
Bulldogs yeah, good.
I've got to tell you they'renot losing any games at the
(33:00):
moment.
They just keep winning andwinning and winning, and yeah.
John Mcgrath (33:06):
Under the radar.
They could do it, you know theycould pull off.
That would be, like you know,one of the biggest upsets for as
long as I can remember back,because you'd have to say it's
Melbourne, it's Penrith, it'smaybe Roosters, but they're
coming through and no one'sbeating them.
They're really doing good.
So we'll see, george.
Capos will be very happy.
George Capos will be happy ifthe Bulldogs win.
Troy Malcolm (33:28):
Is he a Bulldog supporter?
He would yeah he would.
John Mcgrath (33:32):
He's in the heartland, my friend.
He must be Alright everyone.
Tom Panos (33:36):
Alrighty, see you, troy.
John Mcgrath (33:37):
See you.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com