Hi Chockadoo,
Learning to effectively sell such a high value asset could be an excellent skill for you to acquire. It'll give you confidence when it comes to selling and buying other high value items like a car or another investment. Selling a property is not to be underestimated though, it's a huge undertaking with many pitfalls.
The thing you really need to weigh up is how much do you know about selling real estate now, and how much effort is required to get you up to the skill of an agent who you can pay to sell it for you.
Some of the questions that spring to my mind are:
Are you able to accurately price your property?
Do you have a team around you such as a conveyancer?
Are you able to get the buyer you're looking for by advertising on Buy My Place that has a tiny % of internet traffic when compared to Domain, RealEstate and REView?
Are you available to hold all of the open inspections and private viewings within working hours?
If you find a buyer that has the money you're looking for do you have the skills to negotiate them up to the price you want; are you able to control your emotions?
Do you think that the result will justify all of the time, effort, outlay you'll put into selling the property?
If you're unsure about any of these don't worry, you can learn the skills as long as you're determined enough. The reward of-course will be the extra profit by saving the fees associated with professional help...
Here's how, in my opinion, you should weigh it all up and get started:
1. Set a goal and make it specific. Use the
SMART method (specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and timely).
In this case it may be "I would like to sell my property by X date, for $Y solely by myself"
2. Identify and list all of the sub-goals you need to complete to achieve the main goal. An easy way to come up with these subs is by turning your goal into a question... "How do I sell my property by X for $Y?" and then writing at least 25 answers to the question. You must write at least 25; it's not easy but if you can't think of that many you're not trying hard enough.
Sub goals may be "take professional looking photos" or "negotiate a potential buyer up by 10% of his/her initial offer". Make these sub goals a little out of reach so you can achieve them but will have to work/learn towards them.
3. Once you've created your list, order them by sequence and priority. A good method is to use the
A,B,C + 1,2,3 Method. Often priority (the tasks that give you the most bang for time/buck) is different to sequence.
4. Now that you have everything you need to do and learn written down and their respective priorities, set aside the time required for each activity (such as "mid week open inspection 45minutes @ 2pm on Wednesday") and execute each in their pre-determined order.
5. Move steadily towards your goal, if you don't meet your deadlines don't worry just assign a new deadline, after all they're guestimates. You can't fail as long as you stick to the plan. Along the way you'll have to read information, watch instructional videos and talk to professionals to obtain what you need in the fastest manner possible.
If you think the reward of the extra $$ and the skills/knowledge learnt will be greater than the time saved and result (minus expenses) that you've achieved through an agent then you should definitely sell your own home.
If you do choose to do this I'd also recommend some books to read before you get started:
a) The First 20 hours - Josh Kaufman
b) No Excuses - Brian Tracy
There are also some good reads on selling RE I'm happy to suggest when you're there.
Cheers!
I have a property that I'm considering selling and wondering if I should sell it myself. With Agent I could potentially make a small gross profit but without the expense of the real estate I could increase that a lot ? I realise an agent could get a better price (potentially) but I have no urgency to sell just looking at an opportunity to move a negatively geared property into a profit opportunity allowing me to invest in something more profitable.
Has anyone sold their own property before - how did you get around RE.com not allowing private buyers to advertise? How did you advertise?
All thoughts, concerns and ideas appreciated.
