Private Sale tips & tricks?

[PatMat]

Hi

I'm going to try a private sale for the first time and am looking for any and all tips and tricks on how to successfully run it. It's a renovated West Auckland property in a good area.

I sort of know the administrative side, S&P, etc. Will advertise it on Trademe and expect people to come to the open home. But what's next? How do I convince them that this house is the one they really really want? Sounds like "Sales 101" question

Do you have any experience?

[Momo]

Price right at the firs time and spend some money to promote you property by using features. Prepare yourself for the questions that buyers might ask, school zone, sales history around the areas, age of the house, CV,ect.. Negotiate via e mail or fax if you are not comfortable of face-face negotiation. Hope it helps. Good luck

[Shane D]

PatMat

- Put a price on the advert. None of the "price by negotiation" crap.
- Get someone to write some decent advert content that highlights the property's features and is not full of the typical annoying RE Agent clique phrases.
- In your advert content don't overlook important things like shopping and transport i.e what distance in kms to train station or motorway on ramp etc.
- Get some designed/printed sign boards and stick them out the front of the property (don't make hand scribbled rubbish).

Shane

[TheLiberalLeft]

"Honey for the money" is a personal favourite.

[jimO]

"Honey for the money" is a personal favourite.

nest or invest

[Simmo]

-GOOD PHOTO'S. I'm far from a photographer, yet I can tell 99.9% of agents arent either. Emaphasize the best aspects of the property, take 3 or four photos of EACH angle, and then decide on the best one once they're blown up on the computer screen.

-Get a registered valuation. That way you won't sell yourself short, and at the other end of the spectrum, waste your time. If you cant recall every sale price in your area in the last 12 months from the top of your head it's a small price to pay IMO.

[PatMat]

Thanks for all the input. I have heard different opinions regarding the "professional appearance" that Shane D mentioned. Some people swear on profi-looking street signs while others prefer handwritten cardboards. They reason that the buyers then believe the vendor doesn't know what he's doing and they can grab a bargain. Don't know. Will probably take the better-looking approach.

Get a registered valuation.

I quite know the area and am happy to sell at around the CV. However I also heard that with a private sale the bank usually requires a RV - is that still true? Even if selling for the CV?

[Hec]

What Shane D has said is pretty much it.
You do not need to be sales person. If the lookers want your house they will buy it. At the open homes just answer the questions in a simple fashion then shut up.
People are not dumb, they know what they are looking at. How ever if they are knocking this and that then politely let them them know it is probably not the house for them, thankyou have a nice day.
On you sign also "enquiries welcome" does not hurt. It also brings the agents in who within 2 minutes of meeting tell you they have a buyer.... (a good lesson in body language right there with their pork pies) Politely let them know that would be great and that if their buyer pays the right price you will be happy to pay them the commission, - however - you will sign them up to that buyer only, if and when the offer is presented.
Apart from that - Tidy Gardens - Lawns always mowed and trimmed. Spotlessly clean inside , windows cleaned including all that dust and mold that gathers in the tight corners.
Get the nice smelling coffee on the go for the punters at the open home.

[Hec]

Yes, currently all banks require an RV if private sale, Regardless of CV which at present can be somewhat distorted here and there anyway.

[Maccachic]

I saw a sign yesterday "text offers to..." was wondering if the boy racers have upgraded their signs from their cars to where they live.

[WaterfrontNZ]

Clean it. Make sure the place is spotless. Don't have nic nacks floating around, make everything smart and uniformed. Does it have a lawn? Mow it. Pretty much have it so when someone walks in they don't subconsciously think "Ugh, I am going to have to mow, and clean, and sort that crap out". If it is done, they will just notice how it all looks. Don't let them think anything negative.

[Stickman]

If anyone here has had some significant success with selling privately...let's here your tips! I am getting tired of paying $15k - $30k every time I sell a house....

[ladyagent]

And, Good Luck!

[Maccachic]

I brought privately and one thing is you have to be careful how you load your house onto Trademe. The place I brought never came up under any of my searches and we had been looking for a while. The house had been on there for about a year (eldery lady).

The only way i found it was because I was trying to find another house on the same street so did a serach for the street name.

Not sure if they had listed under the wrong region but my search was pretty general more on the area and under a certain price.

[mortgage broker]

bake a cake, or spray some of that baking smell deodrant