Do you really need an estate agent to sell your home? Surely you can save on the commissions by selling it yourself, right? Well, private selling could be an option but it does come with its pros and cons. Here’s all you need to know about selling privately.

You Have Your Own Interests in Mind
When selling privately, you get to cut out the middleman. All the decisions you make are on you.
We’ve found that many vendors find it extremely hard to negotiate the sale when it comes down to the crunch. It does get ugly and very personal. Also, many deals fall over not because of the house but because of the negotiations got personal and someone took offence leading to the deal falling over. By comparison, agents don’t take offence as its not their property.

Agents Have the Experience
The commission you pay is for the experience and skills of the estate agent. This is a person who has sold homes before, and if you pick a great agent, you’ll have someone who has sold a very similar home as yours in the past.

The agent will know how to get buyers to say yes, and how to get them to offer more. They’ll know the signs of the market, and be able to play the negotiating game confidently and calmly. There’s no emotion. While emotion can help you sell, it can also lead to you losing a sale because you’re so invested in getting the higher price or selling to the perfect buyer that you let the negotiations crumble.

You Don’t Get Full Access to Advertising
The multi-listing sites are usually only available to those with multiple houses to list. If you’re selling privately and only have the one property, you won’t always get access. As these are the sites where buyers are going to be you want to make sure your house is going to be seen. Trademe.co.nz is about the only place or you can use or Homesell.co.nz. Most agents have access to Realestate.co.nz, which has the lion’s share of the market.

And yes, don’t forget the printed medium property press. Many agents still tell us buyers come around to open homes with these tucked under their arms.

Even if you do get onto the sites and in the newspaper, you’ll then have to deal with multiple phone calls and viewings a day. Do you really have time for that? And don’t forget the open homes too….
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Should you sell your home privately? Consider the pros and cons and make the best decision for your needs and preferences.

​If you are a home owner you most likely would have asked yourself this question at some point. If you are asking yourself this question, your answer will depend entirely on your circumstances. For example:

• Do you like your location?
• What is better for you financially?
• Can you handle going through the renovation process?

 
Let’s look at these questions in more detail.
 
Do you like your location?

If the answer is yes, this is something that won’t change if you decide to renovate. So, if your family enjoys the current location and neighbourhood you may wish to consider renovating. However, you need to think about the future needs of your family – will it still be an appropriate neighbourhood in five to ten years’ time?
 
Something to also think about is whether or not there are features of your home that you dislike that cannot be changed. If this is the case, you may be best to sell and relocate. 
 
What is better for you financially?

It is important to think about the costs of a renovation before you begin and compare this to the cost of upgrading to a new home. In the realm of renovations, overcapitalising is a common occurrence as people can spend more than originally budgeted.
 
A handy hint is to look at prices in your neighbourhood and what price you could likely get for your home if you had to sell it tomorrow in an emergency – would you recoup your costs?
 
In terms of selling, there are also costs to consider such as the cost to sell your home with real estate commission and advertising fees, legal fees, the cost of transporting your possessions to a new home and for most, refinancing costs. These expenses can all add up and should be compared to the likely cost of renovations.
 
Can you handle the renovation process?
The answer to this will depend upon your patience and the scale of renovations. Living in a potential construction zone can really wear on some people’s patience, especially if children are involved. However, we have heard of some people actually enjoying the renovation process and ensuring that milestones are met within predefined time by scheduling and project managing contractors. So, the answer to this question really depends upon your personality type and family situation.
 
Bearing all of these questions in mind, deciding to whether to sell or renovate is still an entirely personal decision. However, before you make your decision it is important to consult the experts so that you can more accurately weigh up the costs, pros and cons of both and make an informed decision. 

If you are thinking of renovating then look at REFRESH