How to Sell Real Estate

Much has been written about how to sell real estate and there are a few different schools of thought on what is the best method to use, what will work best for you is probably going to come down to your own preferences and the typical methods used in your local market place.

Here is a brief description of the more popular methods used typically throughout Australia.

First decision is do i employ a real estate agent to sell my property or do i attempt to do it my self privately

I know a lot of people want to try being a for sale by owner or selling privately without a real estate agent.

The facts are that somewhere between 80% to 90% of all properties are still sold by real estate agents.

Here are some tips if you are going to have a go at selling privately.

1. - For sale by owner - 2/3 weeks maximum

If you want to try to sell privately, go ahead and give it a go, but importantly do it with a plan and if you don't sell quickly be prepared to change your promotion quickly.

The maximum you should advertise real estate privately I believe is 2-3 weeks, no more; if you haven't sold it in the first 2 weeks chances are strong you won't sell it your self so at this point you are a lot better off employing a real estate agent.

Leaving it go on for any longer than that first 2 or 3 weeks and you have the possibility that the property will lose some of its appeal.

2. - For sale by owner - best buyers come early

The window of opportunity for selling real estate really does start to lessen over time and so does your negotiating position. As a seller your negotiating position weakens if your property has been on the market for too long.

One of the questions buyers love to ask is "how long has it been on the market" and if that is an extended period they have set up for the follow up question which is "why hasn't it sold".

3. - For sale by owner - less buyers as time goes on

The number of buyers for your home always gets lower as time goes on, the serious buyers make themselves aware of the new properties that are coming on to the market.

Be careful with the buyers you reject when your home is first placed for sale as they may be the buyers prepared to pay the best price.

4. - For sale by owner - consider all early offers carefully

Consider carefully the early offers you receive, the fact is in many instances these may be the best offers you will get.

If the early price enables you to achieve your goals, you should consider selling sooner rather than later.

How many times do you hear of sellers having their homes for sale for a long time and getting a higher price?

This almost never happens, the highest price comes when your home is fresh, not when it's stale and been on the market for too long.

5. - For sale by owner - don't play real estate agent for too long

With a maximum of three weeks as your limit you will have long enough to make sure if your next door neighbour is not interested or if somebody else who is living close by had any interest.

During this 3 weeks make your social network aware of your desire to sell, you never know some body who you have a connection with may be interested.

Seriously, this will be long enough for most people selling real estate privately, the novelty of playing real estate agent will have worn off and any serious buyers in your area will be aware of what you were promoting.

How to sell real estate with a real estate agent : Auction or Private treaty sale

A good rule of thumb for properties suitable auction are properties that are unique and hard to accurately assess for market value.

Or alternatively properties that there will be extremely high demand for and you are almost guaranteed there will be more than one party who would be interested in bidding for, may be suitable for auction.

Having said that in most cases an auction can increase the margin for error this is because it puts an extra amount of pressure and stress on everybody who is to be involved in the transaction.

This is because the decisions are expected to be made with a defined timeframe.

An auction will bring the marketing and advertising to an end day and will possibly deliver a result because of this deadline, but this is also what puts the pressure on the potential buyers, you the seller, and the agent and their agency.

I personally prefer to avoid pressure and stress where I can, I find I make better decisions when I am relaxed, how do you operate ?

If auctions are popular in your area it may make it more attractive for you but I recommend you consider seriously if an auction campaign is right for you.

Alternatively a Private treaty campaign is still a sale handled by the real estate agent but the property is advertised for a fixed price and the prospective buyers are invited to pay this price to buy the property or alternatively they can make an offer on the property.