All Topics / Help Needed! / How much do you save by selling it privately?

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  • Profile photo of menteementee
    Participant
    @mentee
    Join Date: 2006
    Post Count: 44

    Hi, the title says everything doesn’t it?
    Appreciated it if some one can let me know what are the cost involved if you sell your property through an agent?
    1. advertising fees
    2. agent commission
    3. Auction fee (if req)
    say for a property worth $300K, Thanks guys

    Profile photo of TerrywTerryw
    Participant
    @terryw
    Join Date: 2001
    Post Count: 16,213

    You may save these fees by selling yourself, but an agent may be able to sell it for a higher price and quicker. This needs to be considered as well.

    I have found sales commissions to be around 2.5% of sale price. Some charge extra for advertising, others include it in the fee.

    Terryw
    Discover Home Loans
    Parramatta
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    Terryw | Structuring Lawyers Pty Ltd / Loan Structuring Pty Ltd
    http://www.Structuring.com.au
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    Lawyer, Mortgage Broker and Tax Advisor (Sydney based but advising Aust wide) http://www.Structuring.com.au

    Profile photo of d_robb21d_robb21
    Participant
    @d_robb21
    Join Date: 2006
    Post Count: 101

    I agree with Terry on this one, plus you should also factor in the costs on your time and the inconvenience. If you sell it yourself you’re going to have to find buyers, advertise, have open houses, make/return phone calls, draw up a contract, negotiate, etc etc.

    I usually stick with the rule of pay professionals to do what they do best, I don’t sell houses for a living so I leave it to the people that do, same as I don’t draw building plans so I leave it to the people that do.

    I think that the real estate agents fees seem quite reasonable if you compare this with the factors that Terry mentioned, plus your own time.

    Up to you though, if you already have some buyers on the line (i.e. people you know), may be a way to save a $ or 2.

    D.

    Profile photo of XeniaXenia
    Member
    @xenia
    Join Date: 2002
    Post Count: 1,231

    I also agree, a skilled real estate agent can certainly negotiate a better price, the trick is to find one. Below is a real scenario of a private sale we did a few years ago, a commercial property in Adelaide.

    Agent’s appraisal $800 to 850,000
    Agent’s commission $25,000
    Advertising $5000 (sign on top of the roof cost $1500)

    We had it with an agent for a few months and had an offer for $800,000, it fell through!!!!

    We asked where they get their signs made and they reluctantly told us [biggrin]. We went to the same sign company and put the same sign up on top saying For Private Sale, Please contact vendor…

    Cost of sign was $500!!!! (agent made a $1000 profit on advertising)

    Every agent in Adelaide called us in the first week after seeing the sign (it was on a high profile property on major street corner).

    First offer we got was $900,000, we told people we were looking at offers around the $1mil mark and had put together lots of proof to justify it (which the agents did not!!!). We got 3 offers using a private treaty method of sale.

    It was sold that month for $940,000!!!! [biggrin]

    To us, that was proof that we had better people skills and negotiation skills than most agents [aacool]

    It was easy for us to get into the industry and obtain a license to sell and rent real estate, there never was any real competition [biggrin]

    Investment Property Management
    http://www.adprop.com.au

    Profile photo of TerrywTerryw
    Participant
    @terryw
    Join Date: 2001
    Post Count: 16,213

    Very interesting Dr X.

    Funny about agents calling. A friend of mine sold his unit privately, he put an ad in the paper and specified “no agents”. For the next week he was called by no one but agents trying to get a listing.

    Terryw
    Discover Home Loans
    Parramatta
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    Terryw | Structuring Lawyers Pty Ltd / Loan Structuring Pty Ltd
    http://www.Structuring.com.au
    Email Me

    Lawyer, Mortgage Broker and Tax Advisor (Sydney based but advising Aust wide) http://www.Structuring.com.au

    Profile photo of XeniaXenia
    Member
    @xenia
    Join Date: 2002
    Post Count: 1,231

    Just goes to prove, YOU ALWAYS GET WHAT YOUR MIND IS FOCUSED ON which may not be exactly what you want [biggrin]

    Investment Property Management
    http://www.adprop.com.au

    Profile photo of Don NicolussiDon Nicolussi
    Participant
    @don
    Join Date: 2005
    Post Count: 1,086

    Great story Dr x _ it would be hard to find someone who believed in the product (your house) as much as you do! Perhaps this is why the results did not come through the agency.

    There was an article in the paper here on Sunday regarding the fact that 90% of those that start in Real estate don’t last longer than 12 months as a sales agent in the industry. Not sure if that is the same in OZ.

    The point of the artlcle was that there is a serious drought of experience in the industry and what we perceive as slackness and laziness is just plan lack of skill and experience – and hence lack of confidence in their own ability. Also a point in the article was that 30% of the agents make 70% of the sales and the average wage over here was only 34k (obviously skewed toward the 30% who are doing all the selling)

    cheers

    http://www.cashflowproperties.co.nz

    Don Nicolussi | Property Fan
    Email Me | Phone Me

    Learning, having fun and doing it!

    Profile photo of chpropdevchpropdev
    Participant
    @chpropdev
    Join Date: 2005
    Post Count: 39

    I have sold houses both through agents and privately.

    My advice is, if you are confident that you have the necessary copy writing, marketing and negotiation skills – plus the time – then why not have a go? On the other hand, if you know nothing of the contractual process, are prone to becoming too emotionally involved or are not a good communicator/seller then forget it.

    I normally sell privately at first. I’ll list the property on one of the FSBO sites, do a bit of local letter boxing, put up a visible sign and see what happens. If I get no bites at the price I want (which I calculate after getting three appraisals by different agents and using my local knowledge of comparitive sales), then I pass it straight back to an agent I know and trust. They can generally get wider exposure – particularly from interstate – but I reckon that most houses are bought by locals (it would be interesting to know if this is correct) who you can connect with as easily as an agent.

    One final point, I would avoid trying to sell something that was either unusual or at the upper end of the market. Seek out an experienced agent for that sort of thing. Anybody can change a tyre but few can rebuild an engine, if you get my drift.

    Best

    Almor

    Profile photo of XeniaXenia
    Member
    @xenia
    Join Date: 2002
    Post Count: 1,231

    Hi DLPP,

    The same high turnover and lack of performance by real estate agents is true here in OZ and that certainly is a limitation in the industry.

    My quote “You always get what your mind is focused on” is my interpretatation of the law of attraction described in things like the secret and other similar mindset/linguistic literature that I have come across (can’t remember names, I tend to read alot and go through things very quickly!!), but it all makes sense to me [biggrin]

    Investment Property Management
    http://www.adprop.com.au

    Profile photo of Don NicolussiDon Nicolussi
    Participant
    @don
    Join Date: 2005
    Post Count: 1,086

    will have to get through the secret this week – started that download a few times from the link on ss

    http://www.cashflowproperties.co.nz

    Don Nicolussi | Property Fan
    Email Me | Phone Me

    Learning, having fun and doing it!

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