Western Australia's rural property sellers are increasingly using expressions of interest (EOI) campaigns to market their landholdings.
But is this selling them short in a rising and consolidating market?
In the Eastern States, there has been a marked recent trend for properties that have failed to sell by EOI in 2023 coming back on to the market in 2024 with a price tag attached.
This is being affected by an eroding of market confidence along the eastern seaboard.
Elders State manager WA Drew Cary said at times WA farming properties that initially had an EOI on them but did not sell came back to market with a fixed price, but this situation was not as prevalent as it had been recently in the east.
He said an EOI campaign was largely driven by the seller's requirements and offered flexibility for both seller and buyer.
"A fixed price is fine if you know roughly what the market will pay," Mr Cary said.
"It is a good system if the market is stable and there is good local sales liquidity.
"But it can sell the seller short or create a situation where the property hangs around on the market for too long."
Mr Cary said there was a fair degree of risk with a fixed price in that it was based on what the market had been doing over time and there was enough prior sales evidence to support a seller's price point.
But he said it didn't take into account local factors that could have changed since the last sale.
"It is the middle ground between having an auction and offering a property by EOI," he said.
"It is more transparent than an EOI, but not as transparent as an auction."
Mr Cary said an auction was a great selling system for farmland because it offered full transparency.
"Everyone gets to have a look at the property and have a go at buying it," he said.
"It solves a lot of transparency issues."
But Mr Cary said the downside was that auctions set a timeframe and certain conditions, creating less flexibility for buyers.
"These conditions could be that the seller wants to settle on a particular date or has certain requirements around the way parcels of land are sold," he said.
"They are able to take these conditions to auction, affecting the way their property appeals to the market.
"The downside of this is, it could restrain buyers to only those that can meet and are happy with the conditions laid down in the auction process and may limit the number of bidders on the day which - in turn - can affect the price.
"There are pros and cons."
Mr Cary said EOI campaigns were by far the most popular selling method for WA farms, as these provided the highest level of control to the seller, while still giving buyers room to negotiate.
He said it was good to use EOI when market conditions were uncertain, when sellers could be flexible and when there was a clear idea of the players operating in the market.
"So, the flexibility is there, but the major downside is there is no transparency," he said.
"Buyers can get puzzled when they find out what price was paid knowing their offer was a higher price.
"In a small town, that can lead to bad mouthing agents and sellers, which is not an ideal result."
Mr Cary said many agents preferred to use auctions over EOI and fixed prices as this gave the seller the most control with optimum flexibility.
"It is the tidiest process and has a guaranteed outcome that meets the seller's terms," he said.
"In saying that, there is no one-size-fits-all best selling process.
"Each system has a degree of compromise.
"Our role as agents is to talk about the options available and let sellers decide what they want and need."
Nutrien Harcourts WA real estate manager-west, Jon Bahen said most of its agricultural properties that were offered as EOI were sold through this process and did not tend to come back to market with a fixed price.
He said there was some push-back from buyers when it came to EOI campaigns.
"Buyers would prefer to see a fixed price in most cases," Mr Bahen said.
"The problem is that, in a market that is moving quite fluidly, it is difficult to determine a market price.
"Properties are all quite different, so it's difficult to compare sales in many instances."
Mr Bahen said the main advantage of an EOI process was the sellers and buyers could both negotiate terms and conditions.
"For example, we have negotiated EOI sales with payment over one or two years," he said.
"It is the most flexible system and allows the seller to explore proposals from all potential buyers out in the market.
"Price is obviously hugely important, but there are other factors in the decision to buy or sell."
Mr Bahen said EOI was popular in WA because the market was moving rapidly and if sellers were only basing current prices on historic prices they could potentially be undervaluing the property.
Hugh Ness, Ray White Rural WA, said EOI properties were coming back to the market with prices attached in the east, but not so much in WA.
He agreed that EOI selling offered the most flexibility for sellers and buyers.
"It is useful when the market is rising or stabilising - or even falling in some areas - as a method to try to determine what the buyer expects," Mr Ness said.
"EOI is about pitching a property more than pitching a price.
"It has been very useful in recent years when the market has been hot and buyers very keen.
"You put it back in the hands of the buyers to make their best offer first."
Mr Ness said EOI campaigns worked better for corporate and fund manager purchases, as these groups usually had conditions that needed to be met, such as approval from the Foreign Investment Review Board.
"Their conditions are easier to meet through an EOI process than through an auction process," he said.
"With the market increasing in recent months, local agents have been pushing EOI as a 'safer' option.
"We are seeing few new listings with a fixed price on them.
"With a fixed price, it is incumbent on the agent to do thorough research to put the right price on the property."
