In an exclusive sit-down, Tom Panos revealed how he sealed the winning deal on The Block finale and left a couple of Sydney friends with a $1.6 million bonanza.
Tom Panos, auctioneer, real estate coach and trainer, and founder of Real Estate Gym.
Momentum Media director Phil Tarrant caught up with auctioneer Tom Panos after the final episode of The Block 2022 in a Facebook Live session titled The Block – The Real Story to get the scoop on what really went on behind the scenes when Mr Panos achieved a show record sale of just over $5.6 million for Western Sydney friends Omar and Oz.
Momentum Media was the first to speak to Mr Panos following the finale, who revealed what it was really like in the room during the bidding frenzy.
The auctioneer was responsible for the sale of a 10-acre, five-bedroom, and three-bathroom property in Victoria’s Gisborne.
As a result, Omar and Oz netted around $1.6 million for their 12-week effort.
Mr Panos also shared strategies and tactics that he employed on the day to achieve the record result and imparted valuable advice.
Why did the property break show records?
In the Facebook Live session – which has garnered over 50,000 views – Mr Panos said that despite a downturn in the property market and rising interest rates, some properties “get astonishing money”.
“Not only are they getting what they used to get, they’re getting more. We’re seeing more and more of it,” Mr Panos told Momentum Media.
Mr Panos attributed Omar and Oz’s results to two reasons.
The first one was the property itself.
“It was a better property, no question about it,” he asserted.
Secondly, there were two people who engaged in a bidding frenzy – and wanted to be on television, he said.
“The reason is that these two people wanted it badly – it wasn't just for them to live in, no. They wanted it because they knew everyone was watching,” Mr Panos said.
“They are not your typical two buyers that are buying a home on a Saturday in a street in Sydney or Melbourne that has no TV. Both these people knew that everyone is watching… prime time TV.”
Mr Panos continued: “You need to remember that this is highly edited on TV, there's a lot of edits. There was a lot of tension there.
“Did you know that Danny held my auction up by 40 minutes – he wasn’t there. The producers kept saying, ‘just wait, just wait.’ You are talking about sensationalism on TV – a guy making a late entrance with his entourage and his dogs.
“You’ve got another guy that’s pulled up in a Lamborghini, and what you’ve got is a narrative. The guy from The Block and the new man with the new money. The changing of a guard.”
Why pre-auction meetings are a game-changer
As contestants clamoured for airtime on prime time television, Mr Panos focused on his strategies for victory, including holding pre-auction buyer meetings, necessitated by changing market conditions.
“I've been doing [pre-auction meetings] since the market's changed. If I’m not doing it, the agents have got to be doing it,” Mr Panos said.
He appealed to agents to “get close to the buyers… have a hammer blow, knock ‘em out”.
“Everyone has pre-auction reserve meetings. I tell people to have a pre-auction buyer meeting with their best buyers prior to auction, and say 'hey, this is what's going to happen on the day, I’m letting you know this is the best way that you're going to be able to secure real estate; go hard, go fast, go early’.
“Tell everyone that you're there to do business, intimidate everyone, make it look like they're not going to stop. That's your biggest chance of buying the property.”
Maintaining momentum is also essential in an auction, Mr Panos insisted, because the energy is “suffocated” when there is a pause and the auction loses the flow.
“There is nothing worse than waiting there for five minutes and there's a pause,” Mr Panos stressed.
“Sometimes, auctioneers can get in the way of momentum. You've got to get out of it, which is a bit weird. Normally [you] think of an auctioneer [as someone who does] all of the talking.”
He concluded: “You've got to get out of it and facilitate a bid. You don't call the bid… let them happen, let it flow.”
To view the full Facebook Live broadcast of The Block – The Real Story with Tom Panos, click here.