Now that we have entered tougher times for selling, is the Jenman System fading away? My view is yes. The rise of the Jenman System advocating that marketing a property (amongst other ideologies) actually brings down the value of a property is fast fading.
It set its footing in the boom times (more willing buyers than sellers) but has fallen out of favour with many of the agencies now advertising online.
Put simply, when you need to reach out to buyers, you need to advertise.
Neil Jenman has made his mark and has been popular amongst media outlets as an alternative view. His views reach into the minds of many people who have been left disenchanted with the practices of the few.
Neil Jenman will not be affected, his star has risen and will more than likely stay that way. Every industry needs a Jenman (or has one).
My problem is the agencies across Australia that have marketed his system. Neil Jenman has penned forewords for books advocating vendors selling themselves and bypass agents altogether. This would not be popular amongst his members and is more self serving than anything else.
He can almost always be seen sprouting popular beliefs and will more than likely derive much of his income from these stances from speaking engagements in the future.
I will say this, he does bring an argument that some will say is fresh and needed in the industry, however I beleive it is more self serving than anything else.
The fact remains that just about anything you need to sell in any economy and across any industry – needs to be marketed effectively.
Without marketing, Nike, Coca Cola, Virgin, IBM and just about any other brand would hardly ever have been heard of.
So today I track around 100 Jenman agents and I have noticed one thing, many of them are now advertising listings on their websites. Some openly and some you need to register your contact details.(yeah that will work!)
The idea that the more you advertise the more you drive down the property just does not add up in my figures.
Looking over recent Auction/Sales results and looking into what the seller was asking for and what they are getting are almost within the 2% range.
My company would have no success and nor my agents without clever marketing.
So I think we will see a large shift over the coming months/years to see more Jenman agents or the Jenman system refined to change with the economic climate.