When prospective buyers walk into Moira Verheijen’s open homes this weekend they will be greeted by the sight and smell of freshly baked ANZAC biscuits.
But rather than this being a special occasion, the Ray White Erskineville senior sales executive bakes cookies for every open home she holds.
“I suppose it comes from my European background,” Ms Verheijen said.
“We love to entertain, we love to give people food and if I’m doing an open, I just want people to feel welcome.”
Ms Verheijen has been in the industry for eight years, learning the craft from Shaun Stoker, before becoming a standalone agent four years ago.
And she’s baked cookies in her vendors’ ovens ever since.
“The dough is already made (at home) and all I have to do is cut the dough, put them on paper and bake them,” she said.
“I get to an open home 15 minutes early, the cookies take 10 minutes to bake, so it means I am opening the home just as the cookies have come out of the oven.
“There’s a really nice smell that comes through the open home.”
Throughout the year, Ms Verheijen usually bakes chocolate chip cookies, but each year, around ANZAC Day, she cooks ANZAC biscuits instead.
As well as creating a homely feeling in the properties she sells, and helping buyers to picture themselves in the home, Ms Verheijen said baking the cookies had helped with her personal branding.
“When I do a pitch, I usually don’t talk about it, it’s a little surprise value add that I do,” she explained.
“But there are actually some vendors who have chosen me to sell their home because they’ve been to one of my opens and loved the cookies.
“They want their own cookies baked at their opens.”
Initially Ms Verheijen said buyers weren’t too sure if the cookies were for them, but after she made little place cards, they started to disappear from the plate faster.
She said some buyers attended several of her opens to try the cookies.
“They need to time it right, because if they are too early the cookies aren’t ready and if they’re too late they are already gone,” Ms Verheijen said.
She said having the cookies at the opens also provided a great ‘icebreaker’ to talk to buyers about and they helped warm the conversation naturally.
They also help when her team does callbacks.
“Buyers will often say, ‘Oh I saw a few houses on the weekend,’ and I can say, ‘Mine was the one with the cookies’,” Ms Verheijen said.
“I’m very happy that it’s my personal touch.”
Moira’s simple ANZAC biscuits
Ingredients
- 1 cup oats
- ¾ cup desiccated coconut
- 1 cup plain flour
- 1 cup brown sugar
- ½ cup butter
- ½ bicarbonate of soda
- 2tbs golden syrup
- 2tbs boiling water
Method
- Mix oats, flour, sugar and coconut together.
- Melt butter and golden syrup together.
- Mix bicarb soda with boiling water and add to melted butter mixture.
- Place tablespoons of mixture onto greased tray or baking paper.
- Bake in slow oven (150 degrees celsius) for 20 min and until lightly browned.
- Allow to cool then store in an airtight container.
