Paul Biller, principal of Biller Property, proves that although the Sydney market may be cooling, there’s still sales to be made for agents willing to put in the work.
Mr Biller is celebrating his 20 year anniversary in real estate, 15 years of which he’s been selling in Sydney’s eastern suburbs.
While there are a variety of property types in this market. Mr Biller says his bread and butter is apartments and houses in the $3 – $10 million dollar range. It was these properties that were being sold in March which earned the agency a $22 million weekend.
“Some of the sales [from that weekend] included 123 Bellevue Rd Bellevue Hill which sold at auction for $6,170,000; 2A Coolong Rd Vaucluse which sold at auction for $6,400,000 & 1Kippara Rd Dover Heights which sold prior to auction for $9,280,000,” said Mr Biller.
Despite pulling off such impressive numbers in a single weekend, Mr Biller doesn’t deny the market is cooling. However, he says that it’s just pushing agents to be better, and that his agency are just working harder to get the sales through.
“The tougher market conditions just mean we have to work harder to put the deals together. We are spending more time working closely with buyers and sellers,” says Mr Biller.
“We have to think outside of the box to create the market rather than sit back and wait for the buyers to come to us.”
When it comes to tips and tricks, there’s no magic wand that gets the sales over the line, says Mr Biller. It’s just good old fashioned hard work and doing the right thing for your vendors.
“There are no secrets to real estate. The harder you work the luckier you get,” says Mr Biller.
“We are constantly looking at ways of improving our business and adding value to our clients. Look after your vendors and do the best by them.
“As for getting sales over the line, we engage with every prospective buyer and use all of our resources. Strong negotiation skills is what often gets the sale over the line, helping our vendors and buyers come to an agreement.”
Biller Property has a big database of active buyers, who the agents are constantly connecting with and keeping engaged. An active database which is regularly maintained is one of the most important tools for closing deals, says Mr Biller.
“Every potential buyer we meet at an open home goes into our database and we try to match the buyers with suitable homes. I think taking properties to market in order to gain maximum exposure is important as it helps to attract the maximum number of buyers. This becomes more important as the market gets tougher.”
As for sales method, you don’t need a rising market to have a good auction, says Mr Biller; “I am also a big believer in the auction processes as I believe it puts pressure on buyers to make a decision and brings the process to a close.”
