LANDSCAPE BONVILLE CENTRE

Just next door to the nursery the juxatoposition of sand, soil and stone is obvious. Bonville Landscape Centre seems like rugged terrain but the people and service are anything but. We caught up with Owner Ben Dyer to chat more about this dynamic, thriving landscape supplies business.

Quality is huge. For example, all of our soils and compost are heat treated to avoid contamination from weeds like onion grass which is a common occurrence on untreated soils.

I think with the pandemic now passing, our desire to make our homes our castle is something that is hanging around, and landscaping is such a huge part of that. Take front gardens, for example, this is the first thing people see when they come to your house, and landscaping plays a huge role. You want the products you use to reflect the premium nature of the property. What kind of service can customers expect when visiting? Our team are super approachable and has a great rapport with customers. There are definitely no dumb questions! We have such diverse customers of all ages, genders and with different product requirements so we are used to hairy questions! Also, we have a few extra services we include, like free use of our trailer and affordable delivery options. Finally the fact that we have our good friend Bonville Nursery just next door means that our property acts as a one-stop shop and full-service facility when it comes to landscaping. Finally, what’s the one thing a garden can't go without? Its gotta be a fantastic firepit area. I love the look of a perfectly gravelled firepit paired with some garden planters and timber seating. Who needs a TV when you have a fire?

325 Pine Creek Way, Bonville NSW 2450 (02) 5606 2495 bonvillelandscapecentre bonvillelandscapecentre.com.au

Selling in a reasonable time frame is every genuine vendor’s aim, second only to selling for the highest possible price. Yet most agents say that the hardest sale to make is the one that comes along in the first days of marketing.

Inexperienced vendors are often unaware of the mechanics of the marketing process. They think that if purchaser one is prepared to pay ‘X dollars” in the first week of marketing, then purchaser two will pay ‘X dollars plus” the next week. Or the other fatal trap that they believe, they may have listed too low. They say things like if the first ad brings in this sort of response, what will the second one bring? – it’s as if price increases incrementally with time.

Vendors should be aware of the processes that are set in motion when a property first comes on the market. A property attracts the greatest amount of attention, if marketed properly, when it is first presented. If you were to plot this information on a graph, you would see a large spike of enquiry in the first week which begins to taper off from about week two.

All the purchasers that have been looking for their ideal home for weeks and months converge eagerly on a new listing. These are the qualified purchasers - the ones who have done their homework and know exactly what their money will buy. New listings attract numbers and numbers mean competition and it’s competition that creates the climate that generates the highest offers. This is the time when a purchaser who falls in love with a property will be afraid that someone else will snap it up before they do. The longer a property is on the market at a given price, the more the sense of competition fizzles out and the more likely subsequent purchasers are to feel they have plenty of time to make up their minds. The feeling that time is on their side gives purchasers the psychological edge. Basically they feel they can afford to offer less with more chance of getting a bargain, it’s not hard for them to work out that a property is getting stale.

One of the first questions prospective purchasers ask an agent during an inspection is, “how long has it been on the market?” A property starts to go stale once all the “qualified” purchasers have inspected it. Those who come on the scene subsequently are new to the marketplace and have yet to work out what their money will buy. Naturally new purchasers are unready and unwilling to commit themselves until they have done their homework.

In the final analysis, the vendor’s two main aims are not separable, they are two sides of the same coin. Selling for the highest price usually means getting serious about that early offer. Vendors who fall victim to First Offer Syndrome often regret their early refusal to negotiate when they discover that further down the track they end up settling for less. Purchasers who have done their homework are their own best advisers, especially since a more professional agent will always be acting for the vendor. By the time purchasers are ready to make an offer they know what is selling for what price. But they need to be realistic - a ridiculous initial offer on a competitively priced property rarely ends up in the bargain the purchaser was hoping for. Vendors who are offended often refuse to come back with a counter offer and the purchaser misses out on the opportunity to buy.

Many people forget that negotiation is a two-way process - a kind of adjustment where two parties evolve slowly to a position they find mutually satisfactory. Vendors who won’t negotiate miss out on genuine purchasers and end up selling for less in the long run when the property becomes stale. Only very skilled negotiators know when refusing to negotiate is the best strategy. Whether you’re a purchaser or a vendor, leaving a window open for negotiation usually means you won’t get the door closed on the sale. A non-negotiation stance is confrontationist and leads to a breakdown in communication and a no-sale. Vendors who don’t negotiate never find out the highest price their would-be purchaser is prepared to pay. Even if they don’t like the highest offer the information is useful for future comparison with other offers.