Looking For The Next Sale

The Nelson Mail:

Take a look in the Nelson’s Property Weekly and you might notice Brent Palmer. He’s one of several agents with a solid handful of listings around Richmond.

It turns out he’s a nice guy, too — grew up in the region, has a wife and two children, and recently joined the Richmond School board of trustees. For the last five years he has made a “decent living” from selling properties under the Ray White Richmond franchise.

The media and real estate agents don’t have the easiest of relationships — some agents have become increasingly bitter as the property market tightens — so it is a relief to find Palmer is open to talking about his job, and even to have a reporter tag along for a day.

“I’m happy to be upfront and tell it like it is, I’ve got nothing to hide,” he says.

Darting from one property to the next in a brand new diesel-fuelled Hyundai car that he’s just bought that week, Palmer fits in seven open homes between 11.15am and 4.45pm on a Sunday.

He says the open homes are quieter than usual, even in today’s market. Four fail to attract any lookers, while others get a smattering of interest. Then there’s the last one, listed a week before, and one of the day’s least-attractive properties.

A steady stream of people file through and there are three offers on it by the end of the day.

Palmer is still working at 7pm that night dealing with the offers and by the end of the week, he has it sold, not to the highest bidder but to the one who offered the most favourable conditions.

No routine, no pattern. Palmer says that’s typical of real estate and the work that it involves. “I guess you always wonder where your next business is coming from. Nothing’s certain or set in stone.”

Salespeople aren’t employees of the agencies whose brands they work under they each run their own business and personally pay for things like petrol, computers and paper.