There are a lot of different reasons why your property needs to go on the market. A common one at the moment is combating rising interest rates that might have you toeing the line on your income and expenses.
Other reasons for selling a property are:
- Selling a deceased estate
- Upsizing
- Downsizing moving for work or family reasons
- Wanting a better location
- Looking for a different lifestyle
No matter the reason for the sale you want to make sure you are getting a great price for your property.
It’s important to consider outgoing expenses too. Just as buying a property has upfront expenses, so does selling. The costs can add up so you want your price to cover your initial purchase, any upgrades or modifications you have made that add value, your loan interest as well as these possible upfront expenses.
- Bank/loan exit fees
- Real estate fee (usually 2-3% of the sale)
- Real estate marketing costs
- Property repairs and preparation
- Any staging costs
- Discharge of mortgage
- Any outstanding rates or tax
- Conveyancing fees
- Moving fees
Every property and loan will be different depending on how long you've had the property for, what your loan conditions were and how much the land value has increased during your ownership. It’s important to talk to your bank and get advice from a reliable and experienced real estate agent. Your conveyancer will be handling the legal side of the sale so they will be your go-to for any questions about your title and terms of sale that you might need to take into account to avoid any damage from Cinderella buyers.
What are the top five things to consider when selling property?
Selling your property is a big deal. This is not a small transaction as your land alone holds real value you need to be aware of. It’s normal to have doubts and feel overwhelmed during the process. To combat the new territory you’ll be facing it’s important to take the right steps in making your property sale as smooth and effeienct as possible. We’ll go into the five things to consider when selling your property here in more detail.
Here’s what we’ll cover in this blog
- Finding the right agent
- Selling your property independently
- Keeping a finger on the pulse at all times
- Your Section 32 and Sale Contracts
- Full Disclosure
#1 Finding the Right Agent
The agent is going to be selling the property for you and I can promise that who they are and how they perform will make every bit of difference, especially for how long the property stays on the market. It’s essential to pick a real estate agent who knows what they are doing, is friendly and approachable and has great communication skills.
What to look for in a property agent:
You’ll need to take the time to sit and talk to a few real estate agents to find the right match for your home, and even your personality. You need someone who communicates on your level and has a process set up that you feel confident with. Feel free to ask as many questions as you need to feel comfortable with letting an agent represent your home. Here are a few things to look out for in your discussions...
Someone who is honest
If it sounds like you are getting a pushy sales pitch, trust your gut and see what other agents say. You might like to get an independent evaluation done on the property value to give you an unbiased estimate and a solid ground base for starting your real estate enquiries.
Agents who fuel you up on big evaluations and promises of top dollar may not have your best interest at heart.
While an honest agent might not provide the exact figure you were hoping for, their honesty can save you an amazing amount of time and stress. If your property is priced too high, you risk it being overlooked in the first few weeks of sale. These are your most dedicated buyers and your best shot at getting competitive offers, so losing this crowd to an overinflated price may see your property sit on the market for far longer, and give your home a bad reputation as having a fault.
You will usually then need to reprice and try to regain some interest and establish trust with a new audience.
That doesn't mean taking the lowest estimate. Selling too low means your home might be snapped up quickly, but you’ll be out of pocket and miss out on the funds you need to complete your mortgage or buy your next property. A middle-of-the-road estimate may work best.
Do your own research to know how the market is currently performing and take the time to talk to experts in the field (such as real estate agents) who can give you pointers on realistic expectations to help sell your property quickly.
Includes a great marketing package
Marketing costs can be high, especially if you want high exposure for your property - which means more eyes and more interest that will help drive up prices. Make sure you have a detailed understanding of:
- What marketing packages are on offer
- What your marketing will look like (see current examples of other homes they are selling)
- What coverage is included and what has additional costs
- When you need to pay
- What the costs are if the house doesn’t sell (this could be because you change your mind or you are not happy with the offers that come in).
Some real estate agents offer packages where there are no marketing costs if there is no sale, which can seem like a great safety net; however, you want the property to sell, so if you are committed to getting a great price with your conditions met (settlement times, selling time frames, etc.), then the best line of approach is to pay for your marketing and back your property. If an agent feels you might back down, it’s possible they won’t put in the advertising punch needed to make your property really stand out - after all, they don't want to be left out of pocket at the end of the day.
Stick with one really great agent rather than multi-listing agents, as it cuts down on confusion and gives your property a focused and direct point of contact. Expect your time on the market to be 45 days maximum.
Quality marketing features include:
- Online listing that is descriptive, accurate and provides maps and information about the surrounding area
- High-quality professional photos (6-10 listed as part of your online listing as a minimum)
- For Sale sign out the front with information shown or provided with instant SMS
- Presence in the local real estate magazine - these are weekly and are high gloss colours.
- Sales knowledge- do they see the best parts of your home and know how to highlight the features you might not have even known were there?
Relevant Market Knowledge
As well as choosing a real estate agent that has plenty of experience, you want someone who handles your property type. Most real estate offices employ a number of different agents who represent different aspects of property portfolios, which might be different price brackets, different buyers (i.e., family homes versus apartments), or different locations. Make sure the agent you are talking with knows your local area, your price bracket and your property type. If you have character charm, you want them to be able to see these valuable aspects of your home and draw attention to them during opens.
Q. Do I drop the price if my property has been on the market for a while?
Ever-changing property markets can make it hard on vendors who have their hearts set on a certain price for their home. Unfortunately, the longer you have your property on the market, the more likely you are going to have to face a price reduction. This might come from pressure from buyers, or from your real estate agent, who will come to you and say the market has dropped.
You have a number of options available to you at this time:
- Change real estate agents - if you feel your property has not been well presented
- Drop the price to a reasonable amount - this can be at the agents suggestion, through research or through an independent property evaluation
- Take the property off the market and renovate, update or repair to get rid of nagging issues that are dragging the interest down (get some feedback from the agent on what patterns they are noticing)
Before you make your decision on which direction to take, put yourself in the buyer's shoes and browse your listing as if you were looking to purchase (it might help to cast your mind back to what really grabbed your attention when you initially purchased the property).
- Is the online presence appealing compared to other listings?
- Does it show your property in an amazing and genuine way?
- Are other similar houses being snapped up or are they stagnant too?
Make sure your agent is communicating every offer made, even ones that are well under your price range - this will give you an indication of who is interested and what they are fishing for.
Also, ask for your open numbers to get an idea of how many visitors you are getting and when in the day they are most likely to come.
You might also like to consider changing what type of selling method you choose. You’ll need to work closely with your real estate agent to understand the pros and cons of selling property via auction or online. Not every property or every area is suitable for auction, but in some cases, switch might put more pressure on buyers and get bids started.
#2 Sell Your Property Independently
When you do the research and see how much you’ll be spending on a real estate agent to represent you, it might cause you to wonder if you can do it yourself and pocket the commision.
On paper, that seems like a logical choice, however you need to keep in mind that property sales are stressful and emotional. Both of these can cause you to make mistakes, and they can wear you down.
There are plenty of apps and advertising opportunities available now, with online property listings being favoured over traditional newspaper marketing, however, it’s important to know what to expect and what you are getting yourself into.
At the very least, you’ll need to employ the best conveyancing team available to help you navigate the legal side of things, so you won’t have a real estate agent beside you showing you the way through. It’s essential that you protect yourself and your property from legal oversights or negotiations on the buyer’s side that might really hurt.
An agent works with property sales every day, and you might only do this once a decade, so it's important to have a professional look over your Contract of Sale (particularly the Section 32 Statement) and make sure you have all the required information included and that you have signed in the right places. An experienced and qualified conveyancer will have allowed room for this in your overall package price and will be able to make time to sit with you and go over everything in detail.
If you are planning on selling your property yourself, it's essential that you have the right conveyancer on board to assist with the legalities and step you through the paperwork.
Selling your home independently isn’t suited to everyone. In a dream scenario, you list online, have an open and let the offers roll in. Reality can serve up a very different dish so you need to be ready to handle marketing, phone calls, negotiations, flip-flop interest and meeting prospective buyers' demands - as the absolute minimum.
You also need to be ready to swallow some harsh criticism of your loved and valued home, something most vendors can escape by leaving the open to a real estate agent and getting out of the way.
If you are committed and willing to go all-out and feel confident with pricing your home correctly and standing your ground, it is possible to save some money, through an owner sale, but before you decide consider the cost of your time and energy as well as the possibility you won’t have as wide a reach as if you used a professional.
#3 Keep a Finger on the Pulse at all Times
There is no downtime when selling your property. From the moment you decide you are serious about selling to the moment settlement goes through, you need a finger on the pulse to make sure everything is tracking smoothly.
Do you need a new home? You’ll also be looking for properties, walking through your favourite listings as well as handling the paperwork, loan applications and conveyancing to buy and sell simultaneously.
Just some of the things to keep you busy include:
Deciding to sell:
- Research on current market strength/property sales
- Repairs, maintenance and time spent beautifying your home and garden
- Working with your conveyancer to complete all the documents and decide on your terms and conditions of sale
- Talking to your lender about exit fees and mortgage discharge timeframes
During sale:
- Staging some of your property rooms
- Keeping property constantly maintained and beautiful
- Making time/space for open inspections
- Discussing offers and negotiating prices
After sale:
- Mortgage discharge
- Working with the bank around finalising the loan
- Working with conveyancer around settlement completion
- Working with agent/buyer around terms, signing off and anything needed to shift to unconditional sale
- Moving out
Keep in mind there is even more to do and take into account legally if you are selling an investment property that is currently tenanted.
We make sure we are working with you from start to finish so that we are ahead of whatever steps you, your buyer, or your bank is taking. That way, we can head off any issues and smooth out any errors before you get to settlement day.
When settlement is done using PEXA - the online conveyancing system - every step of the journey is charted, and you can keep up with our app that shows you your current meta, no matter the time of day. This means that if something is missing, all parties know about it days in advance, so there is no excuse for getting caught off guard.
#4 Your Section 32 and Sale Contracts
You need to start looking into your Section 32 as soon as possible. This is a complex document that needs to be prepared carefully. Lots of different aspects and historical data need to be taken into account, which you are responsible for providing.
Your Section 32 documents need to be legally binding. This takes time to research and prepare.
The contract of sale is usually very straightforward, but you do need to consider your settlement timeframes and any conditions you want to place. This will also involve some careful conversations with your bank around mortgage discharge times. While some mortgage discharges can be done in a week or so once the sale is unconditional, others can take as long as six weeks.
It’s essential that the sale contract can cover you if something goes wrong.
As well as making sure you are covered, you also need to make sure your documents can’t be tampered with.
If you do have multiple offers, then knowing your terms and conditions and what you need can help you find the right buyer match that can secure the timeframes or security you want from the sale.
#5 Full Disclosure
What you need to disclose and how to answer questions that might be off-putting to a buyer or bring down the value of your property can be hard to face. It’s important that you understand your legal obligations, which differ between states and territories.
Your conveyancer and real estate agent can help clarify any grey areas and offer advice on what direction is best to take to cover you legally.
Selling your property pays off when you take the time to do it right. Make sure you work with industry professionals who can help keep your sale moving forward so you get the best possible result for the current market.
Contact the best Conveyancer in Albury today so we can help you sell your home with confidence!
