I am about to put my PPOR on the market. I have decided to have a crack at selling it myself so I would love to hear people’s ideas and opinions.
In particular right now I am unsure if I should use an exact price when advertising, or a price range, or “offers above $…” etc. What do you think?
Also your ideas on showing the house and negotiating with buyers. eg. what should I say if they ask “Are you willing to negotiate??”
Any other comments also appreciated
Thanks[evo]He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose. – Jim Elliot
I suppose you have to ask yourself can you get the best price for the house? If an agent can get you an extra $10k then that may cover their fees and therefore a job best left to the expert
If you do go ahead and sell yourself I’d be doing research on the area and what they tend to put on advertisements and then the final selling price. Target some now and follow up when sold you know how they went.
Depending on who your target market is there are lots of creative options availableThanks for the reply cbellesini
I have had quite a few agents look at the house, and if I do use an agent I have a pretty good idea which one it will be. But I decided I would really like to try and sell it myself at least once in my life – so why not now?
If I have no interest after a month or two then I will certainly give an agent the chance to show me how its done.
As far as the advertised price goes I know that if I see a house advertised at $200,000+ for example, or $200-$230,000, then my reaction is that I will offer $200K at the most.
Do other people think this way? Or is my psychology just totaly twisted?
I know that some agents say it’s good to advertise a bit lower than you want so that you get more interest. But I only want one buyer who will pay the right price, not fifty buyers who want to low ball.
But I have never sold a property before, so this is all new to me. I have bought a couple but that is a different kettle of fish.He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose. – Jim Elliot
Hi
I am actually an agent myself. So of course I am biased,BUT, I have also had several experiences of mishaps on private sales in a chain for example.
The first thing to remember is that an agent is a professional in their field. Selling a house can get very complicated, its not just a matter of putting an ad in and getting someone to agree to purchase.
An agent will negotiate the best price for u, a good agent has many contacts and can sift out the dreamers.
They will have full insurance to cover any deliberate or innocent misrepresentation, imagine in this present society if there was a disagreement or misunderstanding regarding the property, would u like to land up in court?
To most people their home is their biggest asset, dont risk underselling or giving yourself lots of unnecessary stress.
Dont be tempted to choose an agent based on the lowest commission. If they are desperate enough to cut their commission, they will want to put less effort in and probably pressure u int accepting a low price. Talk to locals and pick an agent with a good reputation and an office in a good location.
I presume u wouldnt choose a dentist or a doctor on price alone?
However its your call, I dont know what area u are in, but depending on the market, u have several options on how to price the property. Personally I find that a price range causes confusion to purchasers. Here in WA we are in a hot market and a lot of our properties are priced from $400,000 e.g. This ensures that we dont undersell.
What will u do if somebody wants to make an offer subject to sale do u understand how to word a 48 hr clause and how to activate it?
Well good luck, whichever way u decide to go
I have sold both commercial and residential properties PRIVATELY!
Both with great results! With the commercial property, we achieved $90,000 above an agent’s appraisal and saved a ridiculous $25,000 commission! They were also going to charge us $2000 for signs, we went to the same sign company and they charged us $500 for the same sign.
In SA, a sale agency agreement allows agents to make money from advertising, they charge their clients more than they spend on advertising and pocket the difference (on top of their commission!).Doug, sounds like you need some experience in selling (not necessarily an agent!). You are not likely to get experience from a forum, every property is different. But it is not that difficult.
When you find a purchaser, take a letter of offer to your conveyancor or solicitor and they do ALL THE WORK!
I would establish a market value based on comparative sales in the area (within the last 6 months), then use it as a negotiation tool for low ballers! “It’s worth this because others of its type sold for this” If you can back up your price, people are not likely to negotiate down! (they can’t argue with you).
Regarding agents being insured, yes it’s true they have indemnity insurance that will cover missrepresentations (unless they can pass the blame to the vendor!). But check in your state, in SA, insurance is not needed for selling privately. It’s buyer beware! so you are covered!
I think give it a go, it really is not rocket science! But that’s only my experience!
Xenia Ioannou-Mena
Property Manager
Cash Flow Solution specialist
E: [email protected]
M. 0412 437 582To most people their home is their biggest asset,……We’ll all be in financial trouble if we thought this way!
Then again, that’s probably why most peaple ARE! [confused2]
Xenia Ioannou-Mena
Property Manager
Cash Flow Solution specialist
E: [email protected]
M. 0412 437 582Thanks cjm for your thoughts. I will definitely be using a good solicitor to advise me and handle all legal aspects, so this should deal with most of the legal risk in selling. If I have no interest myself and I decide to try an agent I will certainly not choose based on price. I will probly even offer some sort of incentive commision to try to get everyone at the agency doing their best for me.
Dr X, great to have your opinion. I agree that I probably need some experience in selling.
Last year we bought a house in the middle of nowwhere in NT. There was no agent in the town and the seller had done nothing to prepare for the sale, nor did he want to do any work. So it was up to us to write the offer, get a solicitor, make sure the vendor had a solicitor, make sure he got the contract ready, make sure he….. Then the solicitor turned out to be pretty slack in our opinion so we had to call them every couple of days to keep them moving. In the end the sale almost fell through because of the loan offer expiring, but we managed to get it all over the line in time.
My wife and I figured if we can organize the vendor and the solicitors and ourselves, and do most of it from interstate, then selling our own home might also be worth trying.He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose. – Jim Elliot
its obvous that this is what you want to do, i think that like you said, you need to prepare yourself. Just go for it and see what happens. I get the feeling your going to surprise yourself [biggrin]
Good Luck and i hope you get the best possible price !
“It’s not how much money you make, It’s how you spend it that matters.”
Aspiring property developer
Giulio Taranto
Thanks PropertyPassion for the reply. I still have some more research to do before I go ahead. This forum is part of the research. I have certainly been learning a lot so far by preparing to DIY that I would not have learnt by “leaving to the experts”. Learning is one of the goals, getting a good price is the other. Hopefully both will happen.
He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose. – Jim Elliot
You could advertise your property asking for expressions of interest. In other words, you ask prospective buyers what they are willing to offer.
You are not obliged to accept their offers, and you could keep a database of interested people.
Once you determine the price range (based on what people are willing to pay), you could use it to advertise it (again) with a realistic price.
Jeff
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