We Are Selling with Lee Woodward

Begin with the End in Mind

• Realtair • Season 1 • Episode 41

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We explain how to adapt pricing and selling strategies in a changing market using the “begin with the end in mind” approach and digital sales methods.

• start pricing conversations based on current market reality, aiming to move up in value rather than down
• use timed sales and timed auctions to create urgency from day one instead of waiting until the final moments
• introduce a starting bid as a public pricing benchmark to stimulate buyer engagement early
• leverage digital notifications and transparency to extract offers from a watching market
• understand the difference between timed auction (auction conditions) and timed sale (private treaty conditions)
• position the platform as a facilitator for compliance, transparency, and buyer engagement
• use shorter, sharper campaigns to avoid long, stagnant listings
• create buyer confidence and reduce pressure through virtual bidding and timelines
• use significant early price adjustments to attract attention and drive activity
• build future listings by encouraging potential sellers to follow auctions and experience the process

A practical guide to selling in a shifting market by changing the conversation, using digital tools strategically, and turning stalled listings into active, competitive campaigns.



Hosted by Lee Woodward Training Systems

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Lee Woodward:

Hello, I'm Lee Woodward, and welcome to the podcast We Are Selling. This podcast is brought to you by Realtair. Realtair is the platform being used to pitch, sign and sell real estate by some of our greatest real estate professionals. The platform starts the journey at digital prospecting with our price update. And at time of recording, 40,000 price updates, claiming doors happened last month. It then moves on to the digital introduction, the proposal, the accept of our consumer, and then over to sell. And sell's where our tip's going to be placed today as the digital sale is assisting in the change of market, the unsold real estate that is now causing concern across the nation. Which means a different approach is required. A different conversation with our owner will win you the business, but not only that, give you a chance in a marketplace where the traditional method has stopped working as good as it was. Let's get started with our tip. When it comes to pricing real estate in a changed market, we've got to use the technique with begin with the end in mind. And what I mean by that is we know where the pricing sits today based on the change figures. So instead of let's start high, leave it for six weeks, let it all adjust, let's just see if the market repays like it did, we need to begin with the end in mining and say, look, it's gonna be round here. How do we get a starting point where we move up for the opportunity instead of down to what it's worth? Meaning the golden rule of real estate is the longer the property is on the market, the less the purchaser expects to pay. So to start a different conversation with your owner and introduce a more effective method of sale, you now have access to a timed sale and a timed auction. And it's important we understand the power of a sale that starts from day one. Unlike a traditional auction that runs for three, four weeks, and then at the last ten minutes, everyone starts bidding. In a timed auction, on day one, the paddle is raised, the time can be changed if required, yet the auction has started. And the mistake we've seen with those people learning the timed auction is they treated it like a normal auction. It started and we'll all wait till the end. Whereas in a timed auction, you can bring the time back in time or forward. So for example, you might have an incredible offer from someone that we're not going to see again. And you can say to that person, if you put that bid in now, I will speak to the owner, we'll bring the timed auction back to tomorrow. Everyone registered will be notified, but the property would be yours. And this is a great way of extracting offers from a marketplace that is watching the market. And with an auction starting on day one, you have this unique and incredible advantage of a starting bid. So a starting bid is not the reserve, it's not what the owner will accept. It's just like an auctioneer taking the lawn at the end saying, Someone give me a starting bid. And yes, you would make that within close to your range that you are looking for that property. You wouldn't do that untoward in any way. But having a starting bid with a minimum increment of twenty or fifty thousand suddenly creates a public pricing benchmark where the owner is understanding this is where we're starting on day one. So the property's gonna go up in price instead of we set it high, we waited too long, and it's just fallen as we missed the compression of the marketplace. Now, timed auction and timed sale are technically or digitally the same thing. The only difference is in a timed auction, you are under auction conditions, meaning if you are the highest bid above reserve, the property is on the market and you would be the highest bidder. In a time sale, that is not the case. If you did walk away, it's no different to a normal private treaty. For sale or auction is the same in the digital sale. We're just using the Realtear platform to facilitate, notify, and keep the entire sale together with compliance and transparency for the consumer. So let's cross to an agent who's had some excellent success trying this new method of sale and begin with the end in mind. And from Elder's Lifestyle Group in Port Macquarie, we have Mr. Greg Bates. Greg, you've been having some great results out there using the platform. How's everything going for you, Greg? Over to you.

Greg Bates:

Great, we've signed up another three, Lee.

Lee Woodward:

Absolutely fantastic. Yeah. Greg, take us into a recent story and what's got you interested in the digital sale because it's still for sale or auction. You're just using the real tear platform to facilitate it. But what's got you excited about it?

Greg Bates:

Um well, it was interesting. We were looking, scratching our heads with this particular one that we did last week, 90 Oxbow out of King Creek, and we'd actually had it on the market for almost 12 months. We listed it first up by way of auction, just normal auction strategy, and we had to postpone the auction because we had no interest whatsoever. Then we went, put a price range on the property. We tried everything anyway. I just said, look, how about we try the timed auction approach anyway? They were great. And they said, Yep, we we trust trust you, let's do it. So and we were able to get a result. So for me, it's now in this challenging market or changing market, I think it's a different strategy altogether. I think it takes the pressure of one off the buyer and and also off the vendor as well. And it just makes easy it makes it easier for the clients to do business.

Lee Woodward:

It's interesting, Greg, you said it takes the pressure off the buyer, they get time to breathe as the week's going on versus the last ten minutes of an auction. But for an owner, no one's on your lawn, no one's looking at you, the whole thing's virtual, so they don't have that pride or embarrassment that we see those feelings an owner have or owners have in the normal methods of sale. So, Greg, you got the owner to decide to be on the market. What was the time frame that you used?

Greg Bates:

We put only put a three-week campaign on the timed auction, and they were on board from day one. But we made sure when we sat down with them, we we told them what we needed to do was make sure that we had a starting bid that we knew was going to attract interest in the property from day one.

Lee Woodward:

And what was the starting bid? 1.5. And what was the minimum increments that you had set on the platform?

Greg Bates:

25 grand.

Lee Woodward:

And the purchasing response?

Greg Bates:

Well, obviously we started to get interest from day one. We started to get more inquiry on it, and also more inspections on the property. We ended up um having three registered parties leading to the to the night and uh in one increased bid two days before the end due date.

Lee Woodward:

Now your super leverage agent Rosie is there with you. Also, Rosie, how did the buyers respond to the timed auction?

Rosie:

Yeah, I think it went really well. Um I think that it attracted a lot more inquiries, like Greg said. But I think that having the timed auction and seeing that there was more than just them interested in the property helped get the property sold.

Lee Woodward:

Fantastic. And Greg, back to you. The other properties that you've listed off the back of this result, what's happened there?

Greg Bates:

Yeah, Lou, I was just about to say I've pitched uh the timed auction strategy four times this week, and I've actually two of those have come on board, and they were with other agents that had been for over three months and obviously just not getting any activity whatsoever. So I've used that strategy and it's worked twice. We've got them signed up, uh, two of them signed up, and I've got another two that we're working on that uh I know that we're up against two other competitors, and I know that they're not gonna be talking about that strategy. So that I think that gives us the edge.

Lee Woodward:

Greg, incredible information, and I really appreciate you sharing this experience with us. And this is what I mentioned at the beginning of today's program. We've got to have a different conversation. We've got to have a next plan that allows the consumer to see we're looking to do things a little different. Greg, what are you bringing into your conversation in the lounge rooms that's assisting you to communicate with clarity this method?

Greg Bates:

I think you've got to talk about the changing market. You know, you can't what we did six months ago isn't gonna work in this market now. So we've got to come with a whole fresh approach. It's it's gonna be important to market the property correctly. It's gonna be important not to have the same strategy as what you were using six months ago. You've got to be proactive with it. And I think for me, this timed auction approach, it gives them a shorter period of time. It gives them a strategy that they have got a timeline that they can work to as well. I think for me, the hardest conversation, and it's actually proving the best conversation, is getting a massive price adjustment straight up. You know, because I'm talking about making sure that we've got a starting bid on the property from day one. But that starting bid's gonna make them feel uncomfortable. But put your buyer's cap on, it's got to make the buyers feel excited to one, come and have a look at the property, and two, engage in the property. So I'm finding that's working really well. I don't believe it's gonna work unless you've got an attractive starting bid. But I think it's important that you make sure you get that right from day one.

Lee Woodward:

Now I said this was begin with the end in mind, but starting with the reduction in mind has become the breakthrough of this tip. And also don't forget your other potential sellers, get them following the auction that's similar to theirs. Get them to register, get them to understand what it's like to see the notifications come through. Because one of the greatest parts of the sell platform from RealTear is the followers, and those followers are a future listing stream.

Greg Bates:

Interesting you say that. We had 19 people following us last Thursday evening, and probably half of those were potential sellers.

Lee Woodward:

Well, Greg and Rosie, thank you for joining us and for embracing this strategy of sale. It's not a new method of sale. For sale or auction is the same. The Realtair platform facilitates it to be the digital sale with the notifications and the compliance. So to find out more about this, reach out to Realtair on 1300-367-412 or go to Realtair.com and book a demo. And one of our account directors will demonstrate the digital sale to you, get you activated and started, and let's get those unsold properties sold. Thanks for listening. I'm Lee Woodward, and I'll see you next week on We Are Selling.