Century 21 Collett Realty owner Liam Collett and colleague Donna a'Beckett made a quick house sale after including this MP4-12C McLaren in the deal. Photo / Supplied
Century 21 Collett Realty owner Liam Collett and colleague Donna a'Beckett made a quick house sale after including this MP4-12C McLaren in the deal. Photo / Supplied
Making your house sale stand out isn't always easy in Auckland's crowded market, but one couple recently hit on a novel way to rev up publicity - throw their McLaren supercar into mix.
The unique ploy seemed to work because the lifestyle block and McLaren were snapped upby a car enthusiast buyer in a matter of days, despite the slow market.
While Auckland house prices have been holding steady, the number of homes selling has been dropping.
OneRoof property columnist Ashley Church said sellers didn't have to resort to such tactics two years ago when the market was running hot.
So how to get your home to stand out? Here are five ways home owners and real estate agents have sought to create a buzz.
Selling agents Century 21 Collett Realty hit upon the idea of including McLaren in the sale of the Waitoki lifestyle block.
Company owner Liam Collett told the Herald the lifestyle block was attractive and unique in its own right but throwing the McLaren into the deal helped create a marketing buzz that quickly led to a "car enthusiast" buyer stepping up.
The Waitoki lifestyle block in North Auckland that sold with a McLaren sports car thrown in. Photo / Supplied
But not everyone has a spare McLaren lying around.
Church said more modest marketing ploys could include selling fully furnished houses.
"A $20,000 or $30,000 furnishing package - that was a fairly common technique with apartments during the flat period of the last cycle," he said.
However, he said the item included in the sale needed to be fairly valuable to stand out given the high prices people paid for Auckland homes.
Crypto gold: Bitcoin
Collett and his Century 21 Collett Realty team were at it again last month when they listed a million-dollar Auckland home as being up for sale to Bitcoin buyers.
Owners Dean and Rachel said they were fans of the cryptocurrency and would be willing to accept full or half payment in Bitcoin for the $1.225 million price tag they had put on their four-bedroom North Shore home in Unsworth Heights.
This Auckland home in Unsworth Heights is on sale for $1.225m and owners say they will accept Bitcoin. Photo / Supplied
The home was yet to sell but if it was paid for in Bitcoin it was believed it would be the first such sale completed in New Zealand.
Real Estate Institute of NZ chief executive Bindi Norwell said a number of properties had used Bitcoin as a clever marketing strategy but she wasn't aware of any selling in the cryptocurrency.
Go jump off a cliff
Most real estate agents now employ professionals to produce sleek and stylish videos showing off the homes they sell.
But in a bid to further stand-out, some agents resort to comedy, music and Jackass style stunts.
A 2016 Herald article asked whether Tauranga's Brent Bastin from The Bastin Group was the country's "goofiest" real estate agent.
He appeared in videos promoting the homes he was selling riding a kid's bike, juggling fruit, roasting marshmallows, planting kale and generally hamming it up.
North Shore agent Tim Webb from Wallace & Stratton dressed as the Blues Brothers and made a musical video called The Cash Cow Blues to help sell a home in 2016.
While in February, Bayleys agent Jack Kooger jumped off a cliff in Manly in north Auckland wearing his suit to help sell a home for his clients.
Church said such tactics usually only worked if they highlighted unique selling points the homes already contained.
"The assumption is that the house would sell if only people knew about it and therefore we are trying to get attention," he said.
Reverse auction
A $5m Auckland mansion was offered for sale in 2008 during the Global Financial Crisis by reverse auction.
The reverse auction runs opposite to a standard house auction, by having bids get lower as buyers hold out for the lowest price.
In the case of the 2008 sale, the owner had the right to reject an offer that was too low.
"I understand the psychology ... the risk you take as a buyer is that you wait too long and somebody gets a deal before you do," Church said.
$1 reserve
Another auction technique designed to lead to quick sales was setting low reserve prices.
In 2016, a Tauranga home ended up selling for $700,000 despite the owners being willing to sell for their $1 reserve price if no higher bids were lodged.
The sale price was above its council valuation of $598,000 but below others' estimates that valued it at $800,000 according to media reports at the time.
