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Veteran selling agent Tony Smith shares his tips and advice on sales and marketing for property developments. Tony is the project sales director for Max Brown, and solely focuses on selling projects, mainly off the plan. He also dabbles in developing himself, so he truly understands the challenges and needs of property developers. During our chat we identify a terrific way to find the best builders, agents and designers in your area, how to build relationships with agents that will lead to you getting buying opportunities, and the one skill you need to ensure you lock in profits early. Tony shares great ideas and tips to help you market and sell your next project. I agree that your agent is one of the most critical people on your team, so finding the right person or sales team and nurturing them will help you enjoy long term success. These are the points I most remembered from our conversation: 1. A property developer's profit is in the buying I’ve heard this before and believe it to be true, so what are you going to do to make sure you get good at identifying the right sites and that you buy them well? Tony suggested finding someone who is experienced and good at it and trying to learn from them. This would be a skill that could set you apart from other developers and take you to another level. 2. Build relationships with real estate agents who will work hard to bring you sites and opportunities This is a really good point. If you are clear with agents about what you want, and a keen agent brings you sites for consideration, then they are demonstrating that they will dig and work for sales. This could be a skill that could be transferred to selling off the plan for you. However, Tony did caution about simply giving the original selling agent your off the plan business, and I couldn’t agree more. A prudent business decision is what it boils down to when choosing a selling agent. 3. Ask local builders, designers, and agents for leads on the best operators in the area This is a fantastic tip. A couple of phone calls among this group should start to unearth the cream of the crop in the local area. I would suggest the real estate agent is probably the best place to start for names of builders and designers, and then you can call them seeking advice on who is good to work with. If you start hearing the same names you know who to call next. I hope you enjoyed hearing from a sales veteran and picked up some inspiration for selling and marketing your next development. If you did enjoy the show, I would love an iTunes review, or drop a comment over at www.propertydeveloperpodcast.com. Links Max Brown Real Estate - www.maxbrown.com.au ps... in light of Justin's comments about female buyers check out this post from Michael Yardney... http://propertyupdate.com.au/8-reasons-women-make-better-investors/ Justin's Latest Project Pics The drainage guys have finished up at Cambridge Rd and have left lots of risers and loads of pipes. Now for the foundations.