ellie10990

hi all

we are selling our house but its quite daunting as very different than the uk so advice please

How do we negotiate a good deal when selling that doesnt cost an arm and a leg?? for all those in the know

I have heard that its best to make sure no sale no fee is included in the contract but is htere any other tips??

and roughly how much did anyone pay percentage wise and were there any other costs too?

many thanks

AndyR1976

Some advice - try and find a 'fixed fee' agent in your area - they are not in many areas but there are a few around....

Talk to several agents to see who will do you the best deal - don't be a friad to go to another agent and say 'agent X said he'll reduce his commission to X amount - can you match it.

Be careful of advertising fees - many agents will charge you many thousands for advertising, when you eventually see the board out the front of your house, only 25% of it is actually advertising your property and the other 75% of the board is advertising the agent (often with agent photos and little blurbs) - so you are paying to advertise THEIR business.

At the minute, certainly in many coastal parts of NSW, propertiues are simply not selling - this means it may not be a good time to sell BUT it also means that agents are scrambling for work - they may be wiling to do better deals to get the extra listings .....

Many agents are real shonks, many don't know what they are doing and many give advice that is not only wrong, but in some cases bordering on professional incometance......I'm a town planner, and I spend my life dealing with property deals and developers - I also keep my ear to the ground in the property market accross the state (except for Sydney) - sometimes agents try t tell me stuff that i KNOW is COMPLETE CRAP - I usually don't tell them who I am who owho I represent until AFTER they have spun me a heap of lies.......

Advice, shop around, get the best deal, see who will do what YOU want, rather than wants in their best interest!

Perhaps consider advertising yourself, surely you can (as an individual) bput ads on Realestate.com.au (where moist buyers seem to be looking), have a sign made for the front of your house and pop it in the local paper - although perhaps a professional agent might get you a better price?!

AndyR1976

I forgot to say good luck ..

GOOD LUCK!

Nice Guy

Some agents will drop their fee at the drop of a hat............

Some caution with that approach, if they drop their fees will they also negotiate you the best price??

NG

gillysm

Whatever you do don't give them and "Exclusive Agency" listing, as if anyone else sells it they can still request their fees. Sole Agency is best as it gives them the best motivation to sell.

On negotiating fees, personally I would go for the agent who I felt was going to do the bst job and pay whatever fees they charge. IMHO agents who discount will do anything to get a deal and that can backfire on your sale price.

Nu-Shooz

I have my house up for sale now. $10,000 it will cost me to sell. It was negotiable..from $15,000 bloody rip off.
I will have to pay a maximum of $500 advertising if i take it off the market with them, so i won't
My rep is lovely though, she is English and agree's that thing done over here are somewhat very strange.

bridie

Our agent charges extra for certain types of advertising, e.g. bigger/bolder advert in the paper - but we didnt bother as I couldnt really see the point.

Get the price right, that is the most important thing - same the world over I guess.

We did a "from" price which seemed to work OK.

Good luck

ellie10990

some great advice

I have made a list for when the agent comes round later


thanks again

ellie10990

are you moving then too?

back to uk or interstate?

all the best

Nu-Shooz

Yes we are moving back to UK hopefully, if this damn house sell's. But if we come back to OZ it will be Gold Coast.

Nice Guy

Where are you at the moment??

ellie10990

who me or nu shooz?

Im in adelaide hoping to move to brissie

Jacque

This list might help- I've adapted it from listening and interviewing many real estate agents over a period of years now

Best of luck and hope you secure a good agent who gets you maximum price!

ulpul

Selling my apartment at the moment and can offer the following:

I sought quotes from Hocking Stuart (larger more widely known agent) and the smaller local one who specialises in my suburb. Had both agents round to value and asked them to produce written quotes with no hidden extras.

Hocking came back at 2% commission up to my agreed sale price then an incentive commission (above my sale price) of 20%.

Local one came back with 1.5-1.8% commission with 10% incentive.

You can negotiate any percentage and by meeting with at least 2 agents, you can assess who makes you more comfortable.

Advertising was about $1500 with the Local agent including a sign board, local publications and also their brochure. Hocking wanted minimum $4000 for theirs including advertising in the Age (newspaper) which seems a bit of overkill.

The way I see it, it is a $1500 punt in this slightly choppy market for apartments. If it doesnt sell, I am happy to stay in this place anyway.

Just remember also, the more you screw the agent down on price, the less inclined they are going to be to push your property against others on their list but by the same token, negotiate slightly. Plenty of sharks out there but some good guys too.

Timber Floor Au

Personally, I dont think negotiating the rates on your selling commision is adviseable.

Many agents, stick by the mandatory RE Institutes guidance caps.

When you negotiate down, then usually, theres a catch if the agent agrees, such as extended period of sole agency etc.

Also, the fixed rate, we will sell your gaff for $5990.00 etc, are nearly always web based, have perhaps 1 or maybe 2 piddly offices, and will demand sole agency.

A trick to try when BUYING tho !!! ... is see if the house is listed with a few agents, then speak to one or more of these agents, and indicate your offer, verbally... make sure this info gets back to the seller.. then when they try and upsell you, mention, that if they were to reduce their commission for the sale, then say who else its listed with.. then this could achieve a deal.

Complicated, but can work !! .. and you can save, 5-10k ( variable on your circumstances, your home is at risk if you leave the gas on )

We had a buyer, he was 3k away from my absolute bottom line...

Agents commision was at around 23+ gst , we said... okies, you reduce commision by 3k, buyer happy, your happy, im happy...

They pointed out, they were not happy.. and refused to do it. Sale fell thru, now one can argue that the sale would have or could have fell thru anyway.. however.. it may not of ! And why should an agent act like GOD, in circumstances like this? I think its tantamount to blackmail... we sacked the agent.. wont mention name.. and sold for 15k higher some 4 weeks later.

Ste