Market News » negotiation


Light on the Horizon

Light on the Horizon
This may have been the last of my regular, really long, walks for a while. It’s 6.00 pm Saturday and what a change in outlook this week from last week. We have moved from pause Pre-Easter, to part-time Post-Easter, to full-time from next week. The phones are ringing again, meetings and walk through of homes are happening and [...]
Control or Be Controlled

Control or Be Controlled

The 2 G’s! Gina and Geordie at 17a Nevis Street Camberwell Is it still plagiarism when you copy your own work. Please explain the Feb Pep in 2019 2020! The Feb Pep Is a positive vibe from increased numbers of refreshed buyers out in the marketplace and it occurs every February. It’s like the first round of the footy [...]
New Service – Full Seller Advocacy

New Service – Full Seller Advocacy

The market has changed and so have we at James Advocates. When 67% of homes are not selling at an auction. When you spend $30,000 on advertising for a failed auction and all that’s achieved is you’ve told everybody what your home is not worth. When the market has changed but your selling agent hasn’t, isn’t it time to [...]
Is now a good time? 6% bought under the hammer today!

Is now a good time? 6% bought under the hammer today!

A-Graders are still selling! However, this was the only home we saw sell under the hammer today. There were 3 bidders at 2 Irymple Avenue, Glen Iris which  sold for $2,750,000, John Morrisby. Contents: 1. Under the Hammer 2. Is Now a Good Time? 3. Dr. Good Strategy 4. Around the Grounds – Auction Reports 5. Market Fresh – one-liners on 25 Top [...]
Bang a Big Easter!

Bang a Big Easter!

The 2018 market has been challenging for buyers & sellers and therefore buying & selling agents. So it was good to have a laugh with the great GERALD on his Vespa – after our client bought in Sorrento on Easter Saturday. Good work as well by the third musketeer – Liz Jensen of Kay and Burton. Left Field [...]
Values versus Pricing at the Highest End

Values versus Pricing at the Highest End

Week One: Value is not a number, it is a feeling. Price has no emotion, no conjecture, it’s factual. Price is not value and value is not price. I buy a number of family homes for people –  perhaps more than anybody else in Melbourne, perhaps not – and at some point in the client and buyer advocate discussion [...]
The slowest start since 2012 – but is that bad news?

The slowest start since 2012 – but is that bad news?

  Welcome to our $2m plus auction season opener and the first weekend of our three weekend, James 100 Auctions Market Test; specifically designed to measure the true market temperature of higher end, Inner Melbourne Family Homes. It’s 6.00pm Saturday and the James Clearance rate for $M+ Inner Melbourne was a middle of the road 68% on the 34 Auctions we covered today. James Bidderman, that [...]
“Dummy Bidding” and the Current Market

“Dummy Bidding” and the Current Market

Contents 1. Hammer Watch – Quoting / Underquoting 2. Final Word on The Block and “Dummy Bidding” 3. Inside James – Bumper 5 Stories this week: Don’t buy it – better a missed opportunity than a mistake Build family wealth over individual wealth Handing back a fee to a client – and it hurt – hurt a lot. Pricing Heritage – pricing covenants [...]
The Block Apology

The Block Apology

The Block Articles in excess of 15,300 reads The heartbroken buyer, who followed the rules, was the winning bidder only to be cheated out of it. Every Saturday Melbourne buyers ask, what more could they have done. Above the quote, above the reserve, highest bidder, followed the CAV and the auctioneer read out rules and they didn’t [...]
Welcome to 2017 – Back on the hustings today

Welcome to 2017 – Back on the hustings today

Clockwise visits today – no substitute for foot leather, listening, looking and listening again. 1st Slide Clockwise from top left: Malvern East:$2.5m?  – little cutie – no, not the agent John Manton – the house. Good crowds at the OFI. Hawthorn: $4m? Off -Market or Pre-Market? – good family home. Crowds – Only one! Armadale: $4m? Nice one – listening [...]
How to buy a Top End home well – it’s different!

How to buy a Top End home well – it’s different!

INTRODUCTION If I told you buying a home at the Top End is more about trust than money, would you believe me? Maybe, maybe not. Well this is a story about 3 homes involving strategy, dealmaking and truths at the Top of the Top End. Towers Road, Toorak (Marcus Chiminello) Bought 2016: James Home Rating 942/1000 Kooyongkoot Road, Hawthorn (Ross Savas / Jeremy [...]
Making Beautiful Decisions

Making Beautiful Decisions

Beautiful Decisions – Buy/Sell Welcome to our final series for the year – over the next three weeks we will try to highlight just how much is added to your life with beautiful decisions. This final 2016 series is about getting the most out of buying and selling a home via a beautiful decision. We are splitting the series [...]
It’s going to be a white (hot) Christmas

It’s going to be a white (hot) Christmas

Welcome to our 2016 Bumper Christmas Edition. In this, our last article for 2016 – the key to good sex, nothing about that American bloke and a segment on how to get $70,000 for free every year. Plenty of positives, but apologies we don’t seem to have any fake news! And to the Inner Melbourne Market. Wow, what a finish [...]
Struggling to see the sense in only considering land + build? Me too!

Struggling to see the sense in only considering land + build? Me too!

Big day today for auctions and, despite the fact that this year we are dealing in more properties away from auction than at auction – as a company we were involved in nine today – I’m zonked. We could not cover as wide a cross section of auctions (only 20) as it was all hands on [...]
How To Negotiate Very, Very Well

How To Negotiate Very, Very Well

Welcome to our 3 Part Series on Negotiation Part 1 – Negotiation Noise Part 2 – What’s Really Important in a Negotiation Part 3 – How to Negotiate Well Hey you, what would you know about negotiation? You’re reading this article because you’re desperate to pick up a free morsel from me; the master, who has already beaten over a [...]