TECHNOLOGICAL changes in agriculture have led to more efficiency and accuracy in almost all sectors, if not all.
One area of advancement that has seen little attention is real estate, particularly with marketing and selling properties.
Elders senior real estate executive - WA rural, Simon Cheetham, said the residential real estate industry was incredibly innovative, while the rural sector often adopted these changes more slowly, only after adjusting them to better suit the rural marketplace.
"Country people are very discerning, but are open to new ideas and technology once they are confident it will deliver results," Mr Cheetham said.
"Buying or selling a farm is a huge decision, so a fair degree of caution goes into that process."
He said there are several trends influencing their decisions now.
For example, technology has enabled buyers and sellers to become more sophisticated.
"Buyers are really hungry for data, especially for larger properties," Mr Cheetham said.
"The more information that we are able to compile and provide as agents, the more comfortable buyers are with their decisions and it will often lead to a better price and more competition," he said.
Mr Cheetham said sellers were often technologically minded and had access to huge amounts of useful data including historic production information and soil tests which could make for a more effective marketing campaign.
The coronavirus had made it more difficult for agents to conduct inspections in some instances, however he said being able to provide accurate and detailed property information and maps to assist buyers prior to an inspection has proven invaluable.
Nutrien Real Estate sales specialists Ben and Daniel Lloyd-Smith, Bunbury, said the rural property sector was beginning to see the emergence of new age rural property marketing and sales techniques.
"There is a bit of a misconception within agriculture - especially outsiders but also people in the industry - where people will say things like 'farmers aren't interested in that' or ' they don't understand technology'," they said.
"This is a is a huge underestimation of that clientele because they are and need to be right up with the technology, whether it is tracking with machinery or even spraying and planting with drones.
"We see farmers and their methods on the very cutting edge of technology and techniques and yet the rural property sales process has not followed suit."
Ben said he and Daniel see themselves as being innovators in rural property marketing and selling methods.
"As with all business practises, the world is moving at a fast rate and in our world as selling agents, we must bring the broadest spectrum of possible buyers to a property sale," Ben said.
"Our ultimate aim for all of our sellers is to achieve the highest possible price, and this can only be done if there are multiple buyers in play.
"The digital world offers the best platform to promote property across local, interstate and international buyer pools."
He emphasised that the content placed on these digital platforms must be of the very highest quality.
"Gone should be the days of multi-million dollar properties being listed with one photograph, this era demands professional photography and videography within a structured, targeted marking campaign," he said.
While COVID-19 prompted many rural property agents to look to online auction platforms, the Lloyd-Smith brothers expected this trend to occur regardless of the pandemic.
"We think this selling method will change the way farmers think, it's just the education around it that is required," Daniel said.
An example of one of their recent rural listings, Gurrady Farms at Yuna, has seen more than 300,000 targeted impressions digitally and generated interest from private and corporate buyers locally and from interstate and countries including the United States, Canada and Switzerland.
Ben said the role of a 21st century real estate agent is to be expert marketers, "because without that skillset you are limited to very regionalised sales".
"But of course, we absolutely still utilise the amazing networks Nutrien (previously Landmark) has built over the past 150 years," he said.
"The combining of new age methods with great old-fashioned service is what's necessary, they are equally important spokes in the wheel."
Online auctions are a rather new selling method in rural real estate and Elders' Simon Cheetham said they can work well for corporate buyers, investors and local family farm buyers alike.
"Some corporate buyers and investors find live auctions difficult, due to logistics and privacy concerns," Mr Cheetham said.
"There is also a lot of emotion and pressure at a live auction, which can be a great thing and some people enjoy, but others can find it overwhelming.
"Elders recognised the importance of providing alternatives that overcome these issues (as well as those associated with covid-19) and are now not only able to facilitate auctions online, but also 'tenders', 'offers to purchase' and 'expressions of interest' sales through our new online platform.
"As much as traditional methods of sale will still be utilised, technology can provide increased levels of efficiency, flexibility and transparency during the sales process which buyers and sellers really appreciate."
The pandemic has also prompted video meetings to be conducted more often, and although they can be a good, convenient alternative, Mr Cheetham said nothing beats face-to-face interaction.
