27 July 2010

Selling a unit in Canberra?

| twodesiree
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Can i auction my own unit for sale in the ACT?

Does anyone know if there is a web site that allow me to auction my place, rather than paying the ridiculously high fees charged by agents?

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Beserk Keyboard Warrior4:04 pm 29 Nov 10

If I were to go with an agent, does anyone have any recommendations / warnings? It’s a one-beddy apartment in a new-ish complex in the city.

Clown Killer3:30 pm 29 Nov 10

Auctions can deliver a good result, but I doubt that a unit is the sort of property that will benefit from auction.

A good agent, will deliver on their commission, but not all agents are good, so it’s a lottery really.

Selling it yourself is ok, but you’re unlikely to get as good a price as if it was marketted by a professional – but then you’re not paying fees so theres a balance.

An issue with selling yourself, is that you deal face to face with prospective buyers there’s no buffer between you and the people doing their due dilligence so you’d want to be really careful about what representatations you make with regards to the place.

georgesgenitals2:20 pm 29 Nov 10

Work out a price, and stick it on allhomes yourself. Price a few thousand bucks below what you think it’s really worth, bearing in mind you won’t be out of pocket $15-20k using an agent. You and the buyer can share the benefit: they get a good deal, and you can demand (and obtain) whatever settlement terms (eg timing) you want. And you’ll still have more $$ in your pocket at the end.

A friend of mine sold his Civic apartment on allhomes, and it worked really well.

Oh, and forget auctions. Madness unless your property can’t be priced.

Beserk Keyboard Warrior1:47 pm 29 Nov 10

Hi Twodesiree, I want to sell my unit on the city and I was wondering how you went with it all? Any advice would be great.

What is this “by negotiation” crap that seems to be the new thing for real esate agents (grubs)? The sceptic in me says it is a way of playing prospective buyers off against each other; like an auction with zero transparency. If you have a look at Maria “no relation to Tom” Selleck, there isn’t a single listing which isn’t “by negotiation”. Makes it a bit hard to play the game when you can’t see the goalposts (**insert Jarrod Croker joke**).

georgesgenitals8:39 am 29 Jul 10

2604 said :

Jazz said :

That said, why would you want to do it yourself.. a good agent could sell up to 50 or more properties a year. Averages dictate that you’re likely to sell a house once every 7 years..

All that money you’re apparently saving could otherwise be paying for someone with vastly more experience, contacts and awareness of all the ins and outs of the real estate market & who more than likely will get you a better price with less stress.

I did it myself to save $15-20,000 in commissions, as well as money for newspaper advertising, professional photography, house styling and all the other rubbish that RE agents tell you you’ll need to sell your house. As good a reason as any, I would think!

With respect, I’m not sure how a real estate agent can magically make buyers reach into their pockets and add another $15-20k to what they’re willing to pay for the same property. Most of their so-called negotiating tactics are blatantly obvious, crude and unsophisticated. As for negotiating with purchasers, while I may only sell a house every seven years, most purchasers are also in the same boat, ie they don’t buy very often and are equally inexperienced in negotiation. Have faith in yourself!

All you need to do to sell yourself is get a good lawyer to prepare the contract, pay a valuer $300 to value your house, take some good photos and whack them onto allhomes, and prepare some flyers with photos and basic information for your prospective purchasers. Much better than paying some hack twenty grand to do the same thing.

The other benefit of doing this, is it gives you the option of pricing your property a fraction lower (eg by half the expected commission payment) while still ending up with more $$ in your pocket. Most real estate agents don’t work very hard in this town, mainly because they don’t need to.

Jazz said :

That said, why would you want to do it yourself.. a good agent could sell up to 50 or more properties a year. Averages dictate that you’re likely to sell a house once every 7 years..

All that money you’re apparently saving could otherwise be paying for someone with vastly more experience, contacts and awareness of all the ins and outs of the real estate market & who more than likely will get you a better price with less stress.

I did it myself to save $15-20,000 in commissions, as well as money for newspaper advertising, professional photography, house styling and all the other rubbish that RE agents tell you you’ll need to sell your house. As good a reason as any, I would think!

With respect, I’m not sure how a real estate agent can magically make buyers reach into their pockets and add another $15-20k to what they’re willing to pay for the same property. Most of their so-called negotiating tactics are blatantly obvious, crude and unsophisticated. As for negotiating with purchasers, while I may only sell a house every seven years, most purchasers are also in the same boat, ie they don’t buy very often and are equally inexperienced in negotiation. Have faith in yourself!

All you need to do to sell yourself is get a good lawyer to prepare the contract, pay a valuer $300 to value your house, take some good photos and whack them onto allhomes, and prepare some flyers with photos and basic information for your prospective purchasers. Much better than paying some hack twenty grand to do the same thing.

colourful sydney racing identity3:36 pm 28 Jul 10

Jazz said :

just becuase people havent commented previously colourful, doesnt make those comments less important than yours. For now, newbie just meas new commenters, not new to riot.

Sorry, where did I suggest that anyones comment is less important than mine? I certainly don’t believe that is the case and don’t believe I have ever indicated that is my point of view. I am, however, deeply sceptical when “new commentors” spruik a business, as everyone should be.

How come this uberesate.com doesn’t have any properties listed? How on earth is anyone going to buy from there?

just becuase people havent commented previously colourful, doesnt make those comments less important than yours. For now, newbie just meas new commenters, not new to riot.

colourful sydney racing identity12:50 pm 28 Jul 10

*meh* you say cynical, I say experienced.

If you hang around this site long enough you will view posts from newbies extolling the wonders of this service or that service with the same sceptical eye.

Particularly when a couple pop up at the same time with the same suffix to their username, seemingly promoting similar industries.

BTW – would you like to declare your invovlement with the Christmas Island tourism board?

colourful sydney racing identity said :

hmmmn, stupid quotes – that should read

emilybob123 said:

Btw, twodesiree, I know a great real estate agency with tons of killer auctioneers in it, You would definately get your money’s worth if you go with them

Really – who is it? Don’t tell me…it’s coming to me…is it…*gasp* Uberestate??????

It must be so sad to live in your cynical world. Actually no, its LJ Hooker in the City, and no, I don’t work for them.

And addressing the fact that I only have a few posts on here… I only just discovered this site, but that does not mean that my opinions are as invalid as you make them out to be. Maybe I should just go and wait on Christmas Island until you are ready for me.

colourful sydney racing identity10:11 am 28 Jul 10

hmmmn, stupid quotes – that should read

emilybob123 said:

Btw, twodesiree, I know a great real estate agency with tons of killer auctioneers in it, You would definately get your money’s worth if you go with them

Really – who is it? Don’t tell me…it’s coming to me…is it…*gasp* Uberestate??????

colourful sydney racing identity10:10 am 28 Jul 10

djk said :

Btw, twodesiree, I know a great real estate agency with tons of killer auctioneers in it, You would definately get your money’s worth if you go with them

Really – who is it? Don’t tell me…it’s coming to me…is it…*gasp* Uberestate??????

djk said :

LOL, emilybob123’s 2 posts on here are singing the praises of Uberestate, and bumping a week old thread to sing the praises of a “great little cupcake shop” which is unsurprisingly quite close to the Waldorf apartments.

Are you serious? If you think about it, everything is quite close to the Waldorf apartments, and by your logic just because I work in the Canberra Centre I could, by endorsing the cupcake place, be endorsing the Canberra Centre just because they are “unsuprisingly close”.

Btw, twodesiree, I know a great real estate agency with tons of killer auctioneers in it, You would definately get your money’s worth if you go with them

Yes you need to hold a real estate license to auction your own property. Those that do auctions are better at it than their colleagues usually by virtue of undertaking extra training and lots of practice.

No you dont need a license to sell by private sale (fixed price, private treaty or price range). However you ARE still bound by the real estate agents act when doing so.

That said, why would you want to do it yourself.. a good agent could sell up to 50 or more properties a year. Averages dictate that you’re likely to sell a house once every 7 years..

All that money you’re apparently saving could otherwise be paying for someone with vastly more experience, contacts and awareness of all the ins and outs of the real estate market & who more than likely will get you a better price with less stress.

I have no financial or personal connection to anyone who operates either of those sites on any level Hank.

I don’t think it’s at all odd to be directed to either of them when asked about buying or selling homes in Canberra. 😛

colourful sydney racing identity said :

I think you need to be licenced to auction a property. A better bet would be to sell ‘by negotiation’.

Or have the price as “$XXX-plus”, where XXX is the minimum price you’d be prepared to accept. Let prospective buyers know that you’re looking for offers over XXX and that you’ll accept the highest offer you receive by a certain date – which is effectively a silent auction.

Amanda Hugankis5:31 pm 27 Jul 10

Mmmmmmmm – cupcakes.

LOL, emilybob123’s 2 posts on here are singing the praises of Uberestate, and bumping a week old thread to sing the praises of a “great little cupcake shop” which is unsurprisingly quite close to the Waldorf apartments.

colourful sydney racing identity2:55 pm 27 Jul 10

roflcopter @ newbies marketing uber estate. I am so grateful that you have hapenned upon this site and have generously given us the benefit of your unbiased views on this business.

You guys should get together with MP 123. Unless you already have.

Hk0reduck you have previously commented about AllHomes and AllClassifieds… ‘For a bit of counter-guerilla’ing’ I ask what your evolvement with AllHomes is?

What about everyone elses’ comments? :(((( I feel neglected after all the effort I went to and you simply respond to the first comment 🙁

For a bit of counter-guerilla’ing – Uber Estate is operated by someone named Mark Higgins who is also the General Manager of the Waldorf Apartments in Civic.

TwoDesiree’s post on a recent post titled Waldorf Wankers(http://the-riotact.com/?p=23302&cpage=1#comment-270927) –

“The fact is or the facts are?? who cares:

The Waldorf loving known as the Dorf – was there before (Toast & Transit Bar) this is a fact – FACT
Please don’t get the truth in front of a good story. But at least have the smarts to get the story right and correct – no matter how painful it is for the numb nuts out there to gob off and get it wrong – I live there and I am happy to stand by what I mumble
Love the real deal”

colourful sydney racing identity said :

I think you need to be licenced to auction a property. A better bet would be to sell ‘by negotiation’.

You are correct, you need to be a licensed real estate agent with an auctioneers licence to properly auction your house. The only option is to sell it privately ‘by negotiation’.

thanks “itsallme” the web site looks good, it says its only $295 to list – pretty good, and i only pay extra once i sell
thats pretty fair

colourful sydney racing identity12:32 pm 27 Jul 10

I think you need to be licenced to auction a property. A better bet would be to sell ‘by negotiation’.

Just checked out http://uberestate.com and it looks pretty easy – and cheap! You wouldn’t lose much by giving it a try.

Housing auctions are all about greed:
* Greedy agents wanting to charge high fees and do as little work as possible
* Greedy vendors wanting to get a higher price by pitting buyers against each other
* Greedy buyers wanting to pick up a bargain

Someone always loses out on the deal and it’s never the agent.

Auctioning your own property can be as simple as adding the word ‘negotiable’ after the price in the ad and negotiate with genuine buyers to get the best price you can. Just make sure to list the price at the upper end of what you want for it.

troll-sniffer12:18 pm 27 Jul 10

Ah yes the old agents fees are so high chestnut rearing its head again (how a chestnut can rear its head is beyond me but the metaphor sounds good so it’s staying).

The fact is that good agents generally pay for themselves and more when selling a property.

However there’s nothing to stop you relying on your own abilities to get a better outcome. If you know the achievable value of your property through months of scrutiny and research, you can nominate your price and put it up on Allhomes for around $800 I believe.

You will then more than likely be approached by a swag of buyers who will assess that you have a few thousand you’re able to knock off your price, what with you not paying agent’s fees, and it will be hard to convince them otherwise.

But if your property is highly desirable, immaculate and in an area or complex that is sought after, you could do well to try marketing it yourself. But unless you’re extremely savvy and confident you’ve assessed the market perfectly you might not do as well as with a clever agent.

And no I don’t work for an agent and I might well try and sell privately when the time comes but only because I now have 10+ years watching prices in my complex and I know more than most agents now.

itsallme said :

Talk to a conveyancing solicitor – a good one, then check out http://uberestate.com/, only online property auction site running in ACT I think.

So this Uberestate is basically eBay for houses? Buying and selling online that’s different.

Auctions: not the right thing for the canberra market.

Are you sure you want to auction it? As a private seller it might be easier for you to try and find a buyer through private treaty.

Pretty much everyone around here uses AllHomes so you might as well list there!
http://www.allhomes.com.au/ah/act/research/listing-private-sales/view

Talk to a conveyancing solicitor – a good one, then check out http://uberestate.com/, only online property auction site running in ACT I think.

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