THE AMOUNT OF WORK & TIME INVOLVED
If you decide to manage your own property transactions, you should be aware of all the elements
that go into the sales and marketing mix and how long they take to put together in a cohesive
manner.
- Firstly, there’s the process of gaining a reliable valuation that you agree with and are happy
to receive. Trying to value your property yourself is fraught with traps that could cost you
much more than the commission you would pay an agent. - Staging your property ahead of open houses is a huge amount of work, and the chances are
you don’t have the eye for detail that property stylists have – not to mention the knowledge
of trends, ways to style and access to staging furniture and accessories that assist in selling
your property. - Then, when you find a buyer, there is the negotiation process, which is eminently stressful if
you’re not a pro. - Finally, if you agree to a sale, there are the multitude of contracts and paperwork that are at
best confusing and at worst an all consuming nightmare when there are non-compliance
issues with legislation.
LACK OF A RELIABLE NETWORK
A large part of what agents do is work on cultivating relationships. The first thing people seeking to
buy property do is look online, the second is contacting an agent who specialises in the area they
wish to buy in.
Because of this, agents often have numerous contacts that could well be interested in your property,
and if you’re attempting to sell yourself you could be missing out on countless potential buyers.
In addition to a network of buyers, agents also have access to a network of reliable, affordable
professionals who they engage regularly for things like cleaning, maintenance, repairs and
marketing. The chances are, sourcing these services on your own is going to cost a lot more than
you’d pay if an agent organised them.
ATTRACTING A LOWER SELLING PRICE
Probably one of the biggest drawbacks to selling your home privately is that you are unlikely to be
able to get the same price that an agent would. In fact, stats from the US indicate that private sales,
on average, achieve a 5.5% lower sale price. So, for example, where an agent might get $1.2million,
a private sale would attract $1.134million ($66,000 less).
Compare those figures to selling with an agent. In Australia, agent commissions average 2.4%. That
means on the same $1.2million property, you are only down $28,800.
Agents are also able to able to drive prices by playing interested buyers off against each other – not
a tactic most people will be able to pull off on their own.
FINAL WORD
With the market becoming more and more competitive, shopping around for an agent with a lower
commission rate could put you much further ahead than if you decide to scale the mountain on your
own.