Embracing change key to an agent's success

THE world of real estate has changed. After 26 years in the industry, John O'Donnell wasn't about to pack up his tent and sulk. He embraced change.
"We had to have good cars to put the buyers in the back seat and drive them around for two days showing them houses," he says.
"Nowadays, you seldom see an agent in a car. People no longer walk into your office and ask 'what's for sale'. They do their research on the internet, check out Google Earth; they email or text you and they prefer to meet you at the property they've sussed out.
"They've probably already driven past the property and now they want to see inside," says Mr O'Donnell.
He says the L.J. Hooker website, covering New Zealand and Australia, had several thousand hits 10 years ago, then hundreds of thousands of hits and they have passed a million in a year.
"Nobody bothers to count the hits now. Eighty per cent of inquiry is generated through the internet, and emails and texts. You don't have backseat passengers anymore, but you might spend two days on the computer instead."
Last weekend, Mr O'Donnell was in the Hawke's Bay helping his sister-in-law buy a new house. She had already narrowed the search down to two - and that's all Mr O'Donnell had to advise on.
It's made his job easier or has it?
In March, franchise owner Mr O'Donnell closed his high-profile L.J. Hooker Mt Maunganui office in downtown Mount - after operating in the main street for 20 years.
He combined it with his Papamoa office further down the coast in Fashion Island off Gravatt Rd. There were no staff cuts. All 18 salespeople, three rental managers and five administration staff are working out of Papamoa - with other salespeople knocking on their door to join the bustling team.
The traditional way of selling houses long gone with Mr O'Donnell now calling his real estate office a high-tech service centre.
"This a centre where we put the advertising together for the internet and we service the salespeople," he says. "If you don't embrace technology, you are doomed.
"A salesperson is no good without a laptop. They have to access the information all the time; if they don't answer an email within three or four hours, then people get annoyed and go somewhere else.
"No one (in the office) cares about the cost of phone calls any more. I was on holiday recently and received six calls (after being diverted) and I still gave the buyers the same service - it doesn't matter whether you are in Thailand or Tauranga.
"Buyers want immediate access. We are like the fire service; on call 24/7. You don't know when it will happen but, when it does, you have to be right on the mark."
In reality, his franchise arranged a deal with Vodafone where his staff can call each other free of charge - ensuring someone is available to service the client and pass on the required information straightaway.
The new Real Estate Agents Act, which took effect in November last year, has placed extra responsibility, and regulation, on the industry. The act is designed to provide greater transparency and professionalism in the industry, and give more protection for buyers and sellers.
Mr O'Donnell, a former marketing manager who became a real estate agent in 1984, welcomed the changes.
"The job has become harder and more professional - it's up there with lawyers, accountants and bank managers.
"The changes have created a level of professionalism that was needed in the industry.
"You can't have cowboys in the industry; they won't survive."
From June, newcomers have to undertake a three-month polytechnic course to qualify for the real estate industry. "It used to be three weeks and no one failed," says Mr O'Donnell.
It will probably take them three months to sell their first house and collect a commission - a salesperson sells an average of six in a year - so the newcomers could spend six months without earning money. They need to be committed to the industry.
Under the new act, the agents must hand the vendor, and in some cases the seller, a comparative market analysis (CMA) of recent sales in the area; a handbook outlining residential property agency agreements; and a second handbook, at the time of an offer, giving a guide to residential property sale and purchase agreements.
The agents themselves have  a third handbook outlining their own professional conduct and client care rules under the new act.
"Some people may think we end up working as much as for the seller as the vendor," says Mr O'Donnell. "But that's not the case. We have a duty to treat buyers fairly but our legal relationship is with the sellers - we are performing a service for them.
"Vendors are the ones who need the relationship. They are the ones who need to sell, while the buyers have different reasons - investment, holiday or a place to live in.
"If they don't find what they want, then they can rent and wait," says Mr O'Donnell. "Our job is to negotiate the deals. It's not hard to sell a house but you've got to get the price right.
"Sometimes, vendors won't face reality but it's our job to present every offer in writing and let the vendor make a decision. If the offer is lower than expected, then we can work on trying to get the price up."
Brought up in Palmerston North, Mr O'Donnell worked at IBM in Wellington for six years and then became marketing manager for UEB Industries in Auckland.
He shifted to Tauranga in 1980 - his wife's parents lived here - and was marketing manager for Agri-Feeds for four years.
"I was made redundant when I was 33 and that sharpens your mind," he says. "I wanted to be self-employed and I went into real estate."
He joined Dalgety and then Wrightson Real Estate. His first sale in 1984 was a house in Monowai Drive for $84,000, with gross commission of $2620. The same house sold last year for $360,000 - a 328 per cent increase in 25 years.
In 1990, Dalgety and Wrightson merged to become Challenge Realty and Mr O'Donnell bought the Mount franchise.
Australian giant L.J. Hooker then bought Challenge in 1998 and Mr O'Donnell changed brands. "It was the best thing that happened to the business because the brand was so strong," he says.
"I've loved every day in real estate," he says, despite the changes.
When he started, houses were marketed as run-on adverts in the newspaper with few pictures and For Sale signs didn't go up in front of the homes till the mid-1980s.
Mr O'Donnell took his own pictures (for advertising) with his "Box Brownie".
Now it's professional photography, full-colour advertising, eight-week marketing campaigns - and working the internet.
He says it takes two weeks from signing up a vendor and getting all the information and photographs on the internet.
"You have to have the facts correct on the internet. The public are unforgiving if you make a mistake," Mr O'Donnell says.
ART OF BUYING AND SELLING HOUSES
FOR THE SELLER:
Present the house in clean, tidy state; complete minor repairs, keep lawns mown and garden weeded.
Have an agent who is totally reliable; he or she keeps appointments, involves you in all decisions about the marketing programme; and gives you a weekly progress report.
Make sure the house, and any alterations, are fully documented in the council file, and have a building report ready; this can save time and energy.
Realise the offers you get may not be what you want; by law the agent has to present all offers; it's your decision about whether you will accept them.
Take notice of what the public says the house is worth; if you have not had an offer after three months then you have a problem (with price).
FOR THE BUYER:
Do your homework on the internet first and decide which homes you want to see.
Make sure your offer is inviting to encourage the vendor to negotiate; don't set ultimatums but you can make it clear where you stand; there has to be a willing buyer and a willing seller.
Check the council file (LIM report) and put in an offer conditional, say, on a building report.
Make sure you have the finance organised (a bank will tell you how much you can spend); a broker can source the best mortgage rate for you.