Selling a farmhouse via FaceTime: the interview to the professionals of Rolling Hills

After the one of Riccardo Luculli and Nadia Aron, the persons in charge for the GE German market, the stage goes now to Alberto Zarro and Jacopo Menchicchi: their interview on the sale of “La Terrazza”, closed some days ago in cooperation with Italien Immobilien, the other GE Network partner agency.

Welcome, Jacopo and Alberto. About two weeks ago, you reached a very impressive goal: thanks to the cooperation with Italien Immobilien – another GE Network partner agency – you were able to sell a beautiful Tuscan farmhouse to some German clients who decided to purchase it right after a virtual visit to the property via FaceTime.

We are curious to discover all the details about this very unique negotiation… but let’s start with order.

• Alberto, would you like to give us some information about the vendors? When did you meet them? Where do they come from? When did they purchase the property?

Hello everybody. I met the vendors of “La Terrazza” in 2018: the managing director of a construction company with which I usually cooperate with introduced us to each other. In Rolling Hills, I am the person in charge of the sellers’ sector, while Jacopo deals with the buyers. I noticed this property on the market: once identified and verified it, I asked my contact if could introduce me to its owners (they were almost neighbors).

The owners of “La Terrazza” are a funny international couple: he is Irish, while she is English. They live in Rome for the majority of the year but come here in Tuscany for their holidays. They purchased this home in 1993.

• Was the property advertised with other agencies too? Which kind of assignment for sale did the clients sign with you? Was there any marketing plan?

The property was on the market with other agencies for about years already. The vendors signed a free assignment for sale with us, but without any marketing plan. This was also because, when we did it, we were not part of this amazing Network already, the same that offered us the opportunity to close this sale. Filippo Cori – a colleague of ours – was the first to enter this property on the GE website.

• In your opinion, which are the strengths of this farmhouse?

Surely its location: it is not too isolated, but boasts an incredible view. Moreover, even if it needs some renovation works, the property is in a really good state, while its size and layout are simply ideal: large rooms with direct access to the garden on the ground floor, while airy and beautiful bedrooms upstairs. Finally, the property has also different annexes, perfect to be used as a guesthouse.

• Let’s talk now about the most fascinating part of this experience. Jacopo, what can you tell us about this particular negotiation?

Surely, the most incredible aspect is having done the first (and unique) visit with clients to this farmhouse virtually, through a simple video call: I was at the home, the buyers in Germany, Nadia and Riccardo at their Umbrian office. Thanks to this video chat and the great skills of all the professionals involved, the buyers confirmed to us all their interest in the property and immediately signed a purchase offer. The vendors understood it easily and so accepted it. A really amazing teamwork!

• So, for this negotiation, the Great Estate Network – thanks to its advertisement – generated the contact with the buyers. Italien Immobilien managed and, through the GE CRM system, proposed them one of your properties. A really unique team spirit! Alberto, Jacopo, how did you create the right synergies to reach a so important goal?

The Great Estate Network includes a team of professionals that, thanks to their commitment and skills, are able to achieve remarkable results. For us, being part of this is a huge honor and – together with that – a duty: we always want to prove them to be in the same league. All the goals reached are simply the right end-point of a path started by Stefano Petri about twenty years ago. This path brought Great Estate to be a leader within the luxury real estate field in Italy, as well as to be famous in the whole world thanks to the many sales done to international clients coming from America, Europe, Russia, China, India, Australia, Middle East, and South Africa too. Once again, we want to thank the GE CEO to have given us the possibility of joying this amazing team! We are sure that the union of our synergies will bring all of us to important results.

• So, from everything you said, it has emerged the tale of an experience in which professionalism, commitment, and strong synergies were the main protagonists. Surely, it could be a great teaching for the whole Italian real estate sector. In your opinion, has the current Coronavirus emergency changed or is it changing the real estate agents’ work? If so, how?

J: Of course! I think that this sale represents a really unique experience, the first one of this kind for us. In the meantime, I am sure that, in the future, there will be many others like this: the world lockdown caused by Covid-19 will change the whole luxury real estate sector. The use of IT tools to “virtually visit” a property is now something “pushed”, but it will become normal for the potential buyers in order to do a first selection of properties. We will have less “first visits”, while the number of the “second ones” will be very higher: those visits will be focused on already-selected-properties, the same virtually visited and so already seen by the clients. It will be a great and very interesting change! I am and I will remain a supporter of this!

• In order to face these changes, do you think that the GE Network may already have had all the responses needed in terms of services, technologies, and working methodology?

J: Sure! The Great Estate Network was ready for this already! It just needed the right push, the one we had with this lockdown. The level has increased and we – as a Network – will be on the front line and ready to use these new methods and tools. Those will bring to huge clients’ loyalty and to many positive results, the same results that – until two months ago – were almost unthinkable. Thanks to our “future-oriented” vision – something that has always represented us – those goals will be just the normal and right consequence of a studied, structured, and realized working path.

Read also:

A winning video chat: Great Estate sells a farmhouse on Facetime