9 March 2011

Real estate agent for selling house?

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We’re selling our house in the next few months.

I’ve done a search on the Riotact and have found posts and advice on renting and buying houses, but not selling.

Any suggestions for good agents to sell a property in the Northside/Belconnen area?

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Wouldn’t recommend L J Hooker Gungahlin they are extremely rude and unprofessional.

Holden Caulfield said :

alicewd said :

I honestly don’t think I have ever met anyone who has had a problem with Independent

I have. When would you like to meet?

I agree, HC. Although the dodgy agent who shafted us appears to have moved on, the company seems to encourage these unethical agents.

Kouvelis in Garran is very arrogant – unless you’re talking millions, he (and his offsider Max Coombe) will just ignore you. Cameron RE in Hughes is very much better.

Hi,
I would be interested in helping. I can maybe buy your house I have a property business where i buy houses. It may or may not suit you. email me at jreardon81@hotmail.com

VacToTheFuture1:55 pm 10 Mar 11

We found Andrew Lonsdale from Elders Belconnen fantastic to deal with. A really genuine and up front guy who gets great results. Mobile is 0428 486 692

I worked for the Ray White in Belconnen for a while and they’re great guys out there, not pushy at all and very in tune in what’s going on in the market. Give Scott, Ben or Sam a try out there and you won’t be disappointed.

far_northact7:13 pm 09 Mar 11

I used Adrian Southern (previously LJ Hooker, now LiveIn). He was really good, got more than the price, was polite, always positive and always in contact – which was awesome, given I was selling a house off due to marriage breakdown.

Don’t go Independent. when I was buying a place, I made an offer (to Gungahlin office), put the $1K down, and got ‘gazumped’ by another real estate agent, from Independent (from Ngnnawal office) who made someone put in a higher offer. Shonky – competitive between their agencies, only look out for themselves.

You need someone who is honest – which is hard to come by .. Adrian was perfect. At LEAST 6 people I know have used him and recommended him to me to sell my place. Word of mouth certainly means a lot in a place like Canberra.

I’d recommend Maree Van Arkle from Peter Blackshaw, we looked for over a year and ended up both buying from her and selling with her. (Had a terrible experience with Independent, found them very unprofessional).

georgesgenitals said :

Another vote for selling it yourself.

Get a lawyer to do your contract of sale, and put the property on allhomes. Work out a sensible price, and people will be calling you. Save yourself the commission.

Although I’ve never sold a property, I’ve bought privately advertised property, and without an agent it was an easy and positive experience.

I’ll +1 this comment

Plus you have an added bonus of not giving a real estate agent commission (which they shouldn’t be earning in the first place…but that’s another story).
You’ll end up with more money in your pocket at the end of the day at the cost of a few more hours of your time.

DeadlySchnauzer said :

Avoid Independent like the plague (they were just pure crap on so many levels).

Ditto – I once rented through Independent, and had nothing but hassles trying to get repairs done among other things. Based on that experience, I’d never use them as an agent. For what it’s worth, an LJ Hooker staff member once told me that the only reason Independent kept winning the ‘agency of the year award’ was due to some link with the body giving the award. Sorry, I can’t recall the specific details because it was years ago.

As for selling without an agent – a friend sold an entry level home recently, and got about 30K more than she expected. Advertising on allhomes was easy, but cost around $900 because they weren’t using an agent. Supplying their own photos saved costs too – no agent was required to hire a ‘pro’ photographer to get a few snaps.

It’d be interesting to know what the breakdown of costs is for the work an agent puts in…

Holden Caulfield4:19 pm 09 Mar 11

georgesgenitals said :

Honestly, it was the best property purchase experience I ever had. That said, if the seller was an idiot, or had unrealistic expectations, the process probably wouldn’t be so smooth.

Yes, but there are plenty of, erm, “trying” agents out there, so it sounds like you stumbled across someone who has got their head screwed on properly. Good to hear.

Holden Caulfield4:16 pm 09 Mar 11

alicewd said :

I honestly don’t think I have ever met anyone who has had a problem with Independent

I have. When would you like to meet?

georgesgenitals3:36 pm 09 Mar 11

Holden Caulfield said :

georgesgenitals said :

Another vote for selling it yourself.

Get a lawyer to do your contract of sale, and put the property on allhomes. Work out a sensible price, and people will be calling you. Save yourself the commission.

Although I’ve never sold a property, I’ve bought privately advertised property, and without an agent it was an easy and positive experience.

That’s interesting feedback and good to hear. I have thought about the private approach for selling, and leveraging off the market penetration offered in Canberra by allhomes. However, I’ve often wondered how buyers would react.

When I bought privately I found the place on allhomes, and spoke with the owner. She arranged with the tenants (it was a rental) for me to have a look though. I called her back, and we agreed a price over the phone. Lawyers did their thing. Tenants stayed on (and are still there). I never physically met the owner.

Honestly, it was the best property purchase experience I ever had. That said, if the seller was an idiot, or had unrealistic expectations, the process probably wouldn’t be so smooth.

Long time reader, first time poster – LJ Hooker Dickson (Stephen Bunday) or First National Gungahlin (Stuart James or Ross Hincksman).

I personally wouldn’t use Independent.

The comment about real estate agents scaring people off rings true for me. I was sniffing around a few months back, and two (Qbn based) totally put me off with their attitude. One mob I swear is not interested in selling anything, had to chase them for 2 weeks just to look at the properties they have listed. Asked to see the contract for one place with a problematical land set up (some of the land is leased) and they never got back to me. That place is still on the market. I WAS a serious buyer at that point.

If I was selling in the ACT, I’d use the folk at LJ Hooker in Manuka, they are excellent and professional and ethical.

Holden Caulfield3:22 pm 09 Mar 11

georgesgenitals said :

Another vote for selling it yourself.

Get a lawyer to do your contract of sale, and put the property on allhomes. Work out a sensible price, and people will be calling you. Save yourself the commission.

Although I’ve never sold a property, I’ve bought privately advertised property, and without an agent it was an easy and positive experience.

That’s interesting feedback and good to hear. I have thought about the private approach for selling, and leveraging off the market penetration offered in Canberra by allhomes. However, I’ve often wondered how buyers would react.

** apologies for the appalling spelling in that last post!

One of our clients was purchasing through Sam Buchanan from Independent in Belconnen and he did all the lawn care for the vendor to get the sale over the line, and went above and beyond what they expected of him.

I honestly don’t think I have ever met anyone who has had a problem with Independent, and they have won the ACT Real Estate Agency of the Year award fourteen out of the past fifteen years… but everyone has different experiences I guess. I don’t work for them, but I did used to work for a mortgage broking company and we always had good experiences with them.

You definietly shouldn’t chose an agent based on how low their commission is. You should ask to see statistics like how much they have sold properties for in comparison to similar neighbouring properties, and read their testimonails. It’s like picking a lawyer – would you choose the cut price “dennis denuto” style lawyer from The Castle just because he is the cheapest?

georgesgenitals1:42 pm 09 Mar 11

Another vote for selling it yourself.

Get a lawyer to do your contract of sale, and put the property on allhomes. Work out a sensible price, and people will be calling you. Save yourself the commission.

Although I’ve never sold a property, I’ve bought privately advertised property, and without an agent it was an easy and positive experience.

Have you purchased a house recently? Most RE agents are clods who can’t negotiate to save themselves and who turn off buyers.

Sell it yourself. We did, got a fantastic price ($95k more than the previous sale of a same-sized apartment in our apartment complex, nine months previously) and saved about $15 grand. It only took about 20 hours of our time, as well.

Ross Hincksman from First National Gungahlin is a nice bloke and has a good reputation on the northside.

Peter Walker from Peter Blackshaw – Belconnen has been in the business for many years and sells many homes in Belconnen. Ph: 6251 9111

DeadlySchnauzer9:49 am 09 Mar 11

Avoid Independent like the plague (they were just pure crap on so many levels). Other than that I think any of the big 3 (LJ, Peter blackshaw, richard luton) are much of a muchness.

An important thing is to shop around for commission, because really once you have a reasonable agent this is going to make the biggest difference to the money in your pocket at the end of the day. Commision is highly negotiable and you will see quite a big range from different agents.

Here is an older link that you might find useful: http://the-riotact.com/beta/10858/10858

I would still recommend Michael and Jenny McReynolds from Richard Luton in Dickson

One of my clients Edge Real Estate has been getting some good results other agents didn’t achieve in selling.

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