Melissa Schembri

THE RISE OF REAL ESTATE with Melissa Schembri

The happiest property agent on the Sunshine Coast shares her wealth of real estate knowledge and how she gets her clients the highest bid. Every time.

Remember when three-bedroom brick and fibro houses lined the waterways and esplanades of the Sunshine Coast? And how ‘grand’ any house built above one storey seemed? What about the ruffle amongst the neighbours as those first floor-to-ceiling windows were installed to capture the magnificent view? Times have changed here in our little piece of paradise, with a bevy of beautiful and premium properties beginning to appear from Noosa to Caloundra and out into the Hinterland. In tandem, our real estate market has galloped ahead to become one of the Nation’s fastest moving and people are clamouring to live here by the water, something the delightful Melissa Schembri of Next Property Group knows all too well. As the Sunshine Coast’s premium and waterfront property specialist, Melissa has been at the forefront of high-end real estate for years, involved in over $2.4 billion worth of property settlements both as a sales agent and former property lawyer, including the current highest waterfront sale in the region at $7.3 million. To say she’s got experience in the Coast’s property arena is a bit of an understatement, but even she admits, “This current market is like nothing I’ve ever seen.” Which, she hastens to add, is great news for anyone who owns their own property here on the Coast.

“Empty nesters in the large home they’ve had for decades, people who bought small low-set brick houses even five years ago and absolutely anyone looking to downsize, they’re all in a fabulous position to get a huge return on that asset.” With her head constantly in the market, she is always surprised at just how astounded her clients are once she’s conducted her free evaluation and appraisal of their property. Revealing that projected number is a wonderful aspect of her role, with Melissa adamant that, “So many of my clients are absolutely amazed when I show them just how much their property is worth in the current market. It makes my day!” There’s a catch, however. Obtaining a price tag worthy of a luxury waterfront property or lifestyle in proximity to our fabulous beaches is more than just being in the right place at the right time. “There’s a lot of behind the scenes work and strategy involved in presenting a property to its greatest potential. We give buyers the opportunity to fall in love and secure their dream home, while ensuring the seller feels comfortable they’ve obtained the best result,” she says. Applying her three P’s for success to every property Melissa lists is at the foundation of her continual real estate triumph: Presentation, Pricing and Promotion.

PRESENTATION: A property presented at its finest (within the means you have at the time) is crucial to obtaining the best price for the seller and have buyers clamouring at the front door. Melissa knows this wholeheartedly, so much so she offers her clients a FREE one-hour consultation with the Sunshine Coast’s best property stylist to ensure the property is dressed to sell. PRICING: People underestimate the power of a great pricing strategy and what that means to achieving the best result. The strategy must meet the market and with the current state of affairs on the Coast, getting an expert in is imperative to hitting that sweet spot between overpriced and undervalued. Finding out how much that three-bedder sold for down the street is not enough: thorough research and a deep understanding of the market are necessary to create the most effective pricing strategy for a property, something Melissa loves working on with her sellers.

PROMOTION: Melissa has learnt that there are markets within markets and, importantly, the audiences within each respond to very different channels, methods and periods of advertisement. Buyers looking to purchase a modest family home are not going to look in the property section of The Australian, however the Mansions Magazine could be just the place to snag a billionaire wanting a wildly unique trophy home. How, when and where a property is promoted can make all the difference to connecting happy buyers and sellers.

Having an expert professional like Melissa on side to help present, price and promote your property for maximum results makes a huge difference in the number of days a property is on the market and the dollars that property sells for. Examples of those in her client portfolio who followed her advice and experienced overwhelming success are plentiful. One client was astounded when Melissa helped her downsize from her large family home to a luxury two-bedroom apartment, with money leftover not only to furnish her new apartment, but retire on! Melissa helped another client make a whopping $1 million in just nine months on a property: “I knew he had purchased well and could make a huge profit on the property. He followed my advice and five weeks later achieved the goal. That’s a mind-blowing profit of $3,703 per day of ownership.” Whilst Melissa takes great joy in getting the best price for her clients regardless of their street address, she has shown real flair in the sale of luxury and prestige property. “High end property takes a lot of sophistication to deal with,” Melissa says. Something she is displaying currently with her Malumba Estate listing, one of the Coast’s most prestigious properties and priced accordingly at $21 million. “You can’t just throw these kinds of amazing properties on realestate.com and think they’re going to sell themselves. It takes finesse, strategy, sound market knowledge and an eye for detail to connect sellers and buyers at that level.” For Melissa, the greatest thrill of being a high-end property specialist is not in the sale itself, but in negotiating a process which is not only smooth and calm, but joyful for both the buyer and the seller. Her delightful personality bubbles over an eye for detail and a knack for negotiation; skills she has honed as a property lawyer, life coach and real estate agent.

“I love helping people, and selling or buying a property shouldn’t be stressful: it should be a joy!” she says.

With an amazing sales record of doing just that, Melissa is on track to become ‘The Prestige Property Agent on the Sunshine Coast’.

Want more from this outstanding expert? Melissa is offering a FREE, INSTANT auto valuation of your property. Simply text your name, address, phone number and email address to 0403 327 792 and Melissa will send back a free ‘AutoValuation/Property Report’ from CoreLogic within two hours. Scan the code with your camera to watch a video about ‘Secrets to Selling with Melissa Schembri’.

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