First offer not always the best

12-03-2007 | Not Specified

Farms are hugely valuable assets and farmers need to ensure they get the best possible price for their asset when selling.

It is important when they do decide to sell that they sell to the best offer and not the first offer, and this is where real estate agents come into their own.

Shane O’Brien, director of Bayleys Canterbury says real estate agents have the ability to stand as intermediaries and control the flow of information between to the farmer and potential buyers, as well as ensuring the buyers are competing on a level playing field.

Most importantly by using an agent, farmers are kept in control of the whole selling process and given every opportunity to sell their farm and to sell it well.

O’Brien says buyers tend to shy away from dealing directly with the owner of a property, particularly a farm, and this is the reason why the concept of selling privately has never really taken off. Buyers typically prefer to use an intermediary to handle the negotiations.

Real Estate agents are duty bound to act for the vendor but also have a duty of care to the purchasers to ensure they are given every opportunity to buy the property. To ensure real estate agents act in the best possible way for their clients they are bound by the Real Estate Institute’s code of ethics and its set of rules.

To allow the farmer to get the best possible price for their asset, real estate agents will make use of various marketing tools such as advertisements and national and international databases in order to create competition amongst purchasers.

A sole agency is the most common and preferred method of selling a farm and by using just one agent farmers are dealing with just one point of contact ensuring a clear line of communication.

Multiple listing are not favoured as they often create the impression to buyers that the farmer is not in complete control of the sale.

The actual method of sale is usually dictated by the market conditions. For example, O’Brien says just recently there has been a lot of no-price marketing of farms, allowing farmers to capture the premium in the market.

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