After 25 years in Brisbane real estate, Place New Farm agent Alex Rutherford said the changing market is separating agents who can sell from those who can simply benefit from favourable conditions.
Brisbane continues to perform strongly, but buyer behaviour is becoming more considered. With affordability tighter and more information available than ever before, buyers are comparing properties closely and sellers can no longer rely on momentum alone to carry a campaign.
“In a fast-moving market, a lot of people can look like great agents,” Alex said. “But when buyers have more choice and sellers need more guidance, that is when experience, communication and judgement become really important.”
Alex said sellers should be wary of choosing an agent based solely on the highest price promise or the most followers on social media.
“In a more selective market, the advice you receive at the beginning can make a huge difference to the final result,” she said.
“You can’t tell a seller only what they want to hear just to win a listing. The important conversations are often the harder ones. What is the market telling us? How are buyers responding? What needs to happen to give the home its best chance?”
Alex’s advice for sellers and agents in the current market is:
- Start with the truth. Sellers need realistic advice, while agents need the confidence to have hard conversations early.
- Treat feedback as intelligence. Buyer feedback should guide a campaign, not be dismissed because it is uncomfortable.
- Communicate more, not less. Sellers want to know what is happening. Agents who stay close to a campaign build confidence and prevent surprises.
- Protect your reputation in the small moments. For sellers, that means choosing an agent based on conduct and track record. For agents, it means remembering every call, update and negotiation contributes to how people speak about you afterwards.
Buyers can now easily research comparable sales, price changes and how long a property has been listed, making credibility increasingly important throughout a campaign.
“Social media can help people find you, but reputation is what makes them choose you,” Alex said.
“That comes from doing what you say you will do, knowing your market, returning calls, being honest about feedback and looking after people properly when the stakes are high.”
Alex said reputation was not a marketing line, but something earned over years of appraisals, inspections, negotiations and difficult conversations.
“Clients remember whether you were straight with them. They remember whether you were available and whether your advice held up when things became stressful,” she said.
“That is what creates repeat business and referrals. In a changing market, that is the real advantage.”