Home sellers turn to giveaways as buyers ghost agents

Home sellers in Finland are trying new incentives as the property market downturn drags on, while buyers increasingly fail to show up for agreed viewings. Yle reports that the behaviour has been compared in the industry to “Tinder shopping”, with buyers continuing to look for something better.

At a viewing in the town of Nokia in Pirkanmaa on Sunday, the first five visitors were promised a bucket as a prize. No prospective buyers came.

Real estate agent Minna Hyvärinen said the idea came from the owners after the previous two viewings had attracted no one. The free buckets were intended to try something unusual and appeal to a familiar Finnish association, she said.

The buckets are not the only new attraction being used to promote homes. Helsingin Sanomat reported that artist Kasmir had organised a pizza event at his home in Espoo to help advance a property sale.

Tuomas Viljamaa, chief executive of the Central Federation of Finnish Real Estate Agencies, described the use of giveaways as a new phenomenon but questioned how effective they are. A home that is well priced, has appealing and professionally produced photographs, and is attractively styled will draw more interest, he said.

Maria-Elena Ehrnrooth, chief executive of the Finnish Association of Real Estate Agents, said the industry is strictly regulated. Small prizes are not directly prohibited, provided they meet the requirements of good brokerage practice and consumer protection, she said.

The coronavirus pandemic also changed how viewings are arranged. Private viewings, which became more common for safety reasons, have remained the norm even after the pandemic ended. Public viewings open to everyone are now rare, Ehrnrooth said.

The increase in private viewings has brought a new problem: buyers agreeing to attend but not turning up or notifying the agent. Viljamaa said this is regrettably much more common than before. Ghosting is more common in rental properties than in sales of owner-occupied homes.

In a membership survey by the Finnish Association of Real Estate Agents, about 40 per cent of respondents said they had experienced at least once a prospective buyer failing to attend an agreed viewing of a holiday home without notifying anyone.

Ehrnrooth said the prolonged downturn in the property market has changed buyers’ behaviour. Some feel they have plenty of time to consider their options and do not need to hurry to a viewing because they assume the property will not be sold anyway. The industry has also observed buyers wanting to visit the same home several times.

Agents refer to this as “Tinder shopping”: always looking for something slightly better. Ehrnrooth said it may also reflect a broader cultural change in which keeping one’s word is not valued in the same way as before. Viewings may be cancelled at very short notice, she said.

Viljamaa urged prospective buyers to show empathy towards agents. Agents may drive long distances to show a property, he said, making it particularly frustrating when a visitor does not bother to say they will not come.

The weak property market is also reflected in the number of agents. Finland had more than 5,000 real estate agents in 2021, before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The number has now fallen to about 3,700.

Some agents have had to change careers or take on additional work, Ehrnrooth said. The slowdown in sales has created cash-flow problems for many small business owners in the sector.

There were 13.5 per cent fewer home sales in July than a year earlier. July was nevertheless the second-busiest month of the year by number of transactions.