The people who understand buyers best: nearly 2,000,000,000 in 6 years, helping you win before the starting line!

No buyer restrictions, luxurious interiors, a low price per square metre, city views, a double garage…

Even after racking your brains, are these the only kinds of selling points you can find

to put in your sales advertising?

 

Ceiling height, floor area, amenities, interior finishes…

After viewing apartment after apartment, do you find that, apart from the location,

nothing stands out, and buying any of them would be much the same?

 

Completing apartments only to find they will not sell, or will not achieve the right price, is a headache;

having the money but being unable to find an apartment you love is frustrating too.

 

In fact, how easily apartments will sell, and whether profits can be maximised, are determined at the project’s inception and planning stages. Analysing potential buyers, choosing a marketing strategy and identifying selling points all help set the right direction for the project’s product and brand design.

Could bringing in, from the concept design stage, a team that understands buyer needs, market trends, promotion and sales to create a residential development that delights buyers and sellers alike be a Mission Impossible?

YIJU’s editorial team exclusively interviewed Matt Baird, Projects Manager of the Barfoot & Thompson Projects team, asking him to share with our readers how a team that understands buyers, marketing and the market better than anyone helps apartment projects get ahead from the starting line.

 

Matt Baird

Projects Manager     Barfoot & Thompson

Matt Baird leads the Barfoot & Thompson Projects team, a “special forces” unit established by Barfoot & Thompson’s head office to coordinate all branches in selling large developments, particularly off-the-plan properties. A respected market leader in New Zealand real estate, Matt has led the design, promotion and sale of numerous distinctive, high-quality residential developments during his 21-year career.

For clients, Matt’s pioneering approach to property projects, analytical thinking and natural talent are valuable assets. During marketing, he maximises project returns by combining the Projects team’s specialist expertise with the market strengths of sales teams in the company’s local branches. Through this work, Matt has built strong relationships with developers and related industries, helping many projects he has handled excel.

 

Of a project’s success, 95% is down to initial analysis and due diligence

Barfoot & Thompson’s project services begin with initial analysis and due diligence for the land purchase.

When developers prepare to buy and develop a piece of land, their first question is: what type of homes should be built here? Answering that depends on a series of further questions. What are market conditions like in this area? What do potential buyers look like? Where are the gaps in the market, and how can they be filled?…

This is where advice from the Barfoot & Thompson Projects team—my team—becomes crucial.

As Auckland’s largest real estate agency, Barfoot & Thompson has many agents working in the areas proposed for development. They understand local markets and demand better than anyone. Where they need more information, they can visit the area and speak to the local branch manager, then give my team and me the most accurate, up-to-date feedback.

That feedback allows us to identify buyer needs and market gaps in the area where the land is located. We can then give developers an evidence-based answer about what to build, laying the foundations for a successful project.

In fact, 95% of the success achieved by projects involving my team is down to meticulous work at the due diligence stage.

The Wynyard Quarter project in Auckland’s new waterfront precinct is a typical example.

When my team became involved 7 years ago, this was still undeveloped land, and we truly started from scratch—first removing the oil terminal facilities. Through close collaboration between my team and developer Willis Bond & Co, we have now sold around 300–320 apartments, worth approximately NZ$800,000,000. A particular challenge was their leasehold tenure, with a land lease of only 125 years. How could we persuade buyers to choose leasehold apartments, traditionally viewed less favourably, over freehold apartments just a few kilometres away?

The key to this project’s success was that, through initial analysis and due diligence, my team and I clearly identified the area’s potential buyers: people living in the suburbs who wanted to downsize, but wanted somewhere close to the city centre rather than in it. Based on their needs, we worked with developer Willis Bond and the architects to design this series of spacious, premium apartments with extra-large balconies. They sold well and proved hugely popular with buyers.

Wynyard Quarter project

 

Assessing every angle, overlooking no detail

After initial analysis and due diligence comes the second stage of Barfoot & Thompson’s project services: concept design. This work is usually completed before a resource consent application (RC) is submitted to the council. From our perspective, the earlier we become involved, the better, as we can then work as a single team with the other consultants.

At this stage, my team and I hold a series of full-team development meetings with architects, interior designers, engineers and others, along with Project Control Group (PCG) meetings involving potential clients and marketing teams. We assess your project from multiple perspectives, including the overall concept, product mix, current pricing thresholds, location factors and target market. We also evaluate marketing campaigns and advise on floor plans. Rigorous, precise assessment addresses developers’ concerns at this critical stage.

Concept design complements the results of initial analysis and due diligence, further developing and refining the conclusions reached at those stages. Here we examine finer details: what is the average sale price of homes in the area? Which bedroom configurations sell best? Is there a gap in the NZ$900,000–1,200,000 price range? Once we identify a market gap and define potential buyers, my team and I can work closely with the developer to fill it and ensure the expected profit margin is achieved.

Throughout this process, consistently thinking from the buyer’s perspective is essential to the project’s ultimate success. Developers, for example, often focus on the price per square metre. Buyers take the opposite approach, focusing on whether they can afford the total price: “My budget is NZ$1,000,000, so I’ll look at homes below 1,000,000 and choose the one I like best.” A few square metres more or less, or a price per square metre that is tens or hundreds of dollars higher, is not what really matters to them. Many developers focus solely on developing a particular site and overlook research into housing supply in the surrounding area. Only by truly understanding buyers’ thinking can you reach a wider pool of buyers.  

The Mclennan project in Takanini, South Auckland (https://mclennan.co.nz/) is another outstanding development shaped by my team and me.

 

Mclennan project

There was a time when Takanini was an unassuming neighbourhood on Auckland’s southern rural–urban boundary, its name unfamiliar to many. The government was then working hard to sell prime development parcels, or “super lots”, to developers and organise builders to construct homes there. My team and I were already involved at that point. Through detailed due diligence, we identified the area’s potential buyers as first-home buyers purchasing to live in the homes themselves. We held numerous meetings with architects, interior designers, engineers and others. Keeping affordability central, we planned high-quality homes, attractive landscaping, varied roof styles and exterior cladding materials, and strong building covenants to protect development quality, presenting potential buyers with a compelling vision of life there.

These plans were well ahead of their time. Thorough early planning and coordination among everyone involved—including engineers, architects, planners and designers—have produced today’s excellent homes and attractive sale prices. Prices in the development have risen from an initial NZ$400,000–NZ$600,000 to NZ$750,000–NZ$850,000 today.

Marketing sells the dream of a home

Once we have a clear understanding of the project and have confirmed its unique positioning, my team and I carry out marketing and promotion through a unified platform.

We call this the marketing stage. It includes selecting a project manager and specialist sales team, planning the sales strategy and setting targets, working with our specialist branding agency, preparing comprehensive and appropriate marketing budgets and schedules, and producing creative design concepts. Before the project goes on sale, we introduce it to potential clients, the media and industry opinion leaders, building momentum for the official campaign.

Project marketing has always been one of our highest priorities. With numerous international property marketing awards, Barfoot & Thompson has long been a leader in marketing Auckland developments. Many projects we work on begin as vacant land. What we sell potential buyers is a dream rather than a completed home. Our marketing paints a picture of their ideal home and tells a moving story about their future home and even their future community.    

Take the Mclennan project in Takanini mentioned earlier. From the outset, we planned to create a very strong marketing brand. We researched the market and considered what would make first-home buyers consider living there. We also thought about an inclusive community, planning pocket parks and small children’s playgrounds to meet potential buyers’ social needs. Through videos, website images and other media, we communicated our vision and helped first-home buyers feel this was their dream neighbourhood. The outstanding sales results achieved today confirm that we chose the right marketing strategy.

 

6 years, nearly 2,000,000,000: the specialists in project sales

Our project sales secret is the powerful combination of Auckland’s best project marketing and Auckland’s best real estate agents. Barfoot & Thompson’s 77 branches and more than 1500 agents provide strong sales support. All our agents can list and sell properties in our developments, without the restrictions found in franchised real estate agencies.

The Antipodean, a project my team and I worked on in Beach Road in central Auckland, illustrates the outstanding abilities of Barfoot & Thompson’s salespeople. The development has 160 freehold apartments, with 120 sold off the plans. More than half of those sales were made by Barfoot & Thompson agents rather than the developer’s own sales team. Unlike sales teams from elsewhere, our agents work in the area and know its school zones, nearby attractions and good restaurants inside out. Their loyal clients are already interested in the area, making sales easier to achieve.

 

Antipodean project

132 Halsey project

But the fundamental reason my team and I repeatedly achieve remarkable sales is our involvement from the project’s early stages. Of the 21 projects our team has worked on, we joined 9 at the marketing stage and 10 at the inception and concept design stages.

As mentioned at the beginning, how easily apartments will sell is determined during product planning. My team and I believe in specialist expertise and focus exclusively on new homes and off-the-plan projects. Our planning is based on profiles of potential buyers and target-market data, giving projects clear positioning and design, with appropriate price points. Add the stories and visions we communicate during marketing and the strong professional capabilities of Barfoot & Thompson’s branches and agents across Auckland… and so-called sales miracles are simply the natural result.

My motto is “What’s best for the project”. I focus on what benefits the project most and helps the developer achieve the greatest profit in the shortest time, rather than what best serves an individual agent, branch manager or Barfoot & Thompson. My team and I put professionalism first and choose the most suitable people, doing only what best serves the project’s development. Finding your original purpose is easy; staying true to it is harder. Our achievement of nearly 2,000,000,000 in 6 years proves that we have stayed true to ours.

I want to feel proud every time I drive past a development we worked on: these are homes we helped create!

 

Barfoot & Thompson is the real estate agency that knows Auckland best

Auckland 1/3 of home sales are through Barfoot & Thompson, 

far ahead of every other real estate agency.

Our services

• Residential sales
• Commercial property
• Property management
• Residential rentals
• Body corporate
• Project support