May 2021 Comment in Brief

Taupo Marketplace: Over the past year Expedio has been accumulating a small portfolio of properties in Taupo. It’s a very different industrial proposition from Auckland, with tenants taking longer to secure, but yields are substantially higher. We will be shortly be releasing some of these investment opportunities at yields between 5 and 7.5%

Promoting properties without an agency agreement: We know that often agents will attempt to sell a property they do not have a signed agency for. It’s called initiative. But sometimes that goes too far, when the potential vendor is not even aware an agent is promoting their property. We have no problem discussing potential purchases with agents, but do ask that they declare when they are flying kites. Giving consideration to a purchase, including full analysis, costs time - and as we all know, time is money. We are often prepared to invest that time in potential purchases, but in fairness to all, agents should declare in advance whether the vendor is aware they are promoting a property for sale.

Thumbs Up / Thumbs Down: Thumbs Up to the agent who went to the trouble to meet with a prospective client, and ascertain their requirements, parameters, budget etc, before bringing him on site. It’s refreshing to have an agent who is not confused about their identity, and knows that they are an industrial agent – not a residential agent. Industrial property is about numbers and utility – not about emotion. Residential agents trade on emotion, and hoping that clients with “fall in love” with their property. Not so Industrial.

And, Thumbs Down to the agent who, for the second time, failed to register their client. There is a reason for this process! Perhaps we need a “three strikes and you are out” policy!

And we think this little gem from Seth Godin is worth repeating:

Uncountable

A mass noun is one that doesn’t take an S when we have more. “Butter” and “Information” are both uncountable in use, because when we only have only one unit of butter (or information) we use the same word as if we have four or six units. Butter is butter.

Uncountable words are understandably difficult to measure at a glance. They don’t fit easily into the industrial mindset, and we’re often pushed to find things that are less mysterious.

But it turns out that uncountable words like trust, honesty, commitment, passion, connection and quality are a fine thing to focus on.