we have been told by our agent that our place that's been on the market for 2 weeks that it may be best to offer house without the three year lease, as it could be narrowing the market with the lease, I do think it should be desirable to an invester as the lease is long and we have put new kitchen and painted internally.
the tenant would accept the lease been broken though they are keen to keep going, so theres our quandry !!!how do we advertise the selling of our IP in bathurst
Has the tenant put in writing that they would vacate the house if you had to give vacant possession on settlement? Would the tenant expect you to contribute to their removal costs?
MB, the house has been on the market only 2 weeks! This is a regional property, your exit strategy (and expectations) should be different to that of a property in the major capitals.
If having a tenant was an issue, the agent should have told you before taking on the role to sell (and have been a consideration in what they would expect the property to fetch). Why have they waited until now to raise this as an issue? Has the agent advised (now) that the property will fetch a better price without a tenant? Why? If the market is narrowed as the property is tenanted, why isn't the agent addressing the investors more in his marketing campaign? (Yes I have seen the webvert – however there are plenty of properties priced both above and below this one). Do you have a negative agent? – request the principal have another salesperson work on the property.
They most likely have the standard 3-4 month agency agreement, make them work for the money, don't drop your expectations straight away if the agent has given you a bum steer. The agent is looking for the easiest/quickest way to make the sale, not necessarily in your best interests. The agent is obliged to bring all offers to you (unless you have agreed otherwise).
The next thing that they will come back with is that the house is over-priced – you can retort that it was the agent who has recommended the selling range, they did the research and presented the most comparable sales to you and that is what you expect them to achieve. Ask them to provide a list of more recent sales of similar properties (ie 4 bedroom houses, similar location & quality) to justify their lack of judgement (after all, there has been one reduction in interest rates last month with another expected in October which should be spurring investors' interest). This is the agent's way of wearing you down.
Find out what their strategy is to sell the property – what ways have they agreed to market the house? The more marketing they do, the less net commission that they make upon the sale. Are they targetting the investors who are on their contact lists? Are they using only their shop window? Internet? Multi-list? Local paper? Regional (Lithgow/Orange) papers? Sydney Morning Herald (country/interstate)? The Land? etc. Has the agent looked at any further development potential (eg granny flat/subdivision that may be permitted)?
Presentation – the photos that the agent has taken do very little to show off your property (hint, there is a coke bottle on the floor in the lounge room, a shoe in the book case, power leads/extension cords in view, a tiny shot of the kitchen (unless the kitchen is cramped they should show how much space there is eg pantry/cupboards/dishwasher etc), no shot of the yard/garage, gardens are looking a little sad (it is spring, put a bit of colour into the garden eg pigfaces or kangaroo paw etc) – poor presentation shows that the agent is trying to demote the property not promote it (tenants look like they may be a concern to potential purchasers due to the way they keep the house/lack of powerpoints/garden).
Features – there is only one bathroom/toilet (a drawback in most markets for a 4 bedroom house) however this looks to be the norm in the current listings (adding a 2nd toilet at the very least will go a long way to reducing congestion at busy times).
WIth regards to selling the property yourself, you most likely have signed an exclusive agency agreement ie regardless of whether the agent or you find a buyer, you are liable to pay the agent's commission.
Motivation for selling: If you are not under extreme pressure to sell, why divest in a slow market? After all, your return is 5.7% gross.
Excuses are a sign of a poor agent or one who is only after the easy sales, they don't work with the vendor they work for themselves taking advantage of your insecurities to push you into a position where you will take the easy option (low offer, vacant possession etc) in order to make their life easier and to get their commission without having to do much work.
(Rant off). – Hope that helps.
Thanks to both replies , The lease is a 3yr standard lease and the tenant agreement to cease the lease is only verbal I could perhaps get a written one only if it is needed though I was hoping the premises to be sold as an investment property.
Thanks, Scott No Mates you have given many valid points IE; Photos, extra toilet, garden and more photos of kitchen etc. I intend to take these up with the agent and I am always sceptical as to an agents intentions and actions, I was also told in the last two weeks most of their lower priced homes have sold though I haven't re-searched this comment yet, if its true then why hasn't anyone been through yet during the supposed buying frenzy.
we are not under any pressure to sell, we have other ideas and selling this property is part of what we plan to do, though I understand if we don't sell that holding long term is beneficial if you haven't any other plansI am going through a sale at the moment of a unit in Sydney, although I had in writing that the tenant would agree to vacate, and we would pay him$1500 toward removalist and for relocating, once we had a contract, he dug his heels in and refused to relocate, due to shortage of housing/ rentals of the same quality. It has taken me 8 months to get the tenant out, he went to the tribunal and pleaded he had always been a good tenant, paid rent on time, and due to shortage of rentals and properties avail to rent, he could not find anything in the area/ zone he wished. Therefore I had a very difficult situation, agent could not remove him, court granted tenant a 90 day extension of stay due to housing crises.
I have been lucky that the buyers have been very patient and supportive of the issues here and have kept them updated with all paperwork.
I even offered the tenant an extra $1200 cash to go, and to put toward rent if he has to pay more.Tenant even refused to allow inspections
He loved the unit and did not wish to move, he was very clean, always 1 month in advance, I did everything correct in writing and through the agency, but we could not shift him.
So I recommend if you really want to sell, and want the option to sell to an owner occupier, then make an agreement legally in writing, get the solicitor to approve it, offer an incentive for them to go, and hope for the best that they do not dig their heels in.
Bye
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