In a bid to mark itself out from the sea of Sale Agreed and Sold signs out there, independent agent Bartholomew McElhatton has taken a novel approach to declaring a property off the market. By replacing the traditional term Sale Agreed with “Sorry Too Late” he’s hoping procrastinating house purchasers will be galvanised into immediate house-buying action.
It’s an urgent marketing style straight out of the “When they’re gone, they’re really gone” school. McElhatton explains that in the current market where there are more buyers than sellers, “buyers and renters need to make a decision to buy.”
As a small agent you have to think outside the box, McElhatton says. “We’re apologising to those home hunters. It makes our boards stand out from others.”
It’s a different approach, but we’re not convinced a potential buyer would be propelled into a buying frenzy on foot of it.
Surely in the current market prospective buyers are already all too well aware that properties are being snapped up left, right and centre, particularly in certain areas of the city.
The sign (above) appears outside Laurel Lodge on Torquay Road in Foxrock, Dublin 18, a seven-bedroom detached house that came to the market asking €1.5 million and in January 2013 had its price reduced to €1.35 million. Last month, the house went sale agreed close to the asking price.
