How to sell property.
Whether you’re upgrading, downsizing, or releasing capital; choosing to sell your property is an important and difficult decision to make.
You need to monitor the market for the ideal time to sell based on your personal situation and what you’re trying to achieve. Inevitably, there’s some stress and emotion involved.
Once you’ve decided to sell there’s a lot of work involved – preparation work, meetings to be had, contracts to be signed, and lots of decisions to be made.
If you’re considering selling, but don’t know where to start, here’s our quick guide on how to sell property.
What’s the process?
Broadly speaking, there are ten steps to selling property:
- Setting your strategy and plan: Your strategy and plan – involves ideas and ways in which will you will maximise the price you achieve.
- Preparing your property for sale: You need to present your property in its best light – this could involve doing some work or hiring furniture.
- Selecting an agent: Your agent will manage the sales process for you and their skills will help you achieve the best price, so you need to choose carefully. Click here for more information on what to look for when selecting an agent.
- Choosing the sales method: There are three main ways to sell a property – at auction, by expression of interest (fixed date), or private sale (asking price).
- Setting your price: While you want to get as much as possible, setting the price too high will scare off buyers.
- Signing the paperwork: You will need to formalise your agreement with your agent – you will receive a consumer guide to assist with understanding the paperwork.
- Advertising: Listing and showing your property will help you to find prospective buyers and give them a chance to view the property and – hopefully – decide it’s right for them.
- Selling: Interested buyers will make an offer to purchase the property. The price and terms will be negotiated and, once agreed, the successful buyer will sign a contract and pay a deposit. Exactly how this is done will depend on your sales method.
- Contracts exchanged: This is when both the buyer and you agree on everything and lawyers finalise details of the contract.
- Settlement: Once all the legal and financial obligations are met, you will hand over the keys and receive the money from the sale.
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How to sell property privately
Many vendors are interested in finding out how to sell property without an agent. While it’s possible to sell your property yourself, and the potential to save on commission might be tempting, selling privately is a lot more work. The cost saving may also be fairly minimal, and your sale price may not be as high.
If you choose to use an agent, they will be responsible for ensuring you meet all the necessary legal requirements. They will also advise you on how to sell your house online, and manage all advertising (which is usually cheaper, as an agent) and inspections. Importantly, they will also be able to use their expert negotiation skills to get you the best price possible.
How to sell my property online
Over 90% of all real estate sales now start with an online search so, if your property isn’t visible on the major property sites (like realestate.com.au and domain.com.au), you’re likely to miss a lot of potential buyers.
While all agents know the importance of online advertising, some choose not to advertise on some websites, to help keep their costs down. As such, when selecting your agent, it’s important to clarify the advertising.
Most buyers look at two main things when they search online – the location and the photos – so high-quality images are important. Cleaning and staging, using additional lighting, and focusing on the property’s best features will help make sure your place looks its best. You should also consider using a professional photographer, as they can offer objective advice on the best styling and framing.