When to go with an agent

[sdt2]

Hi there,
My partner and I have just done our first do-up, and have listed it privately. I have done my intro-to-real estate course so I have the S & P agreement ready to go and we have our advertising pretty sorted... except.. I know I am about to ask some ignorant questions:

We have had our house listed since Wednesday 7th Feb, as in we put it on Trademe (item no. 8729807, put it in the Waikato Times and in the Hamilton Press Wednesday and Saturday, and put a big homemade sign outside our house. We have decided not to have any more open homes as they were not too useful.

The first week was pretty hectic with heaps of interest but now we have only had about 4 enquiries this week, and we have had no real bites - the people that are looking are either people with kids or looking for a rental, which are not the right people for our house. Of course I have also had agents ringing a'plenty offering help which is starting to wear down my confidence a bit.... so what I would like to know is... how long before you think about going with an agent? Is there some other advertising medium that we haven't thought of? I would love to hear some opinions as I have no experience to go by.

Oh I forgot to mention - I also rang the people that have been through and asked for honest feedback about the price of the house and they all said that they thought it was a very reasonable price but it just didn't suit their needs, in fact one couple said they thought it was underpriced (a few people have mentioned that) but we are happy with our price.

So I would LOVE some advice!

Thanks for reading this,
Sarah.

[Josko]

Hi Sarah,

I get Performance Bikes 3 mags-1998 under that Auction number (8729807), how about pasting in the link, would like to have a look for myslef.

Cheers,

[rueben]

Can you give us an idea what is your target market? If not families or a rental are you looking at professional couples with no kids? (or someone else)

[sdt2]

Oops! Sorry its item no. 87298078, I must have somehow put in an icon instead of a number. Also the link is http://www.trademe.co.nz/MyTradeMe/S...source=sidebar

I guess our target market probably professional couples with no kids, or someone who loves character homes with one young child.... something like that. We are looking at a pretty narrow market which will be a large contributer to our quiet times I think.

[Josko]

Nope that wont do sdt2, go to your Auction page and copy the link in the address bar, if you don't mind.

Ta,

[cube]

I suspect its This one?

[cube]

Average time to sell is around 3 weeks, so have you passed that yet.

You could try some of the Private Seller networks like 'Homesell'.

cube

[sdt2]

Hi cube, yes you are right, that is the one.

The link is http://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/List...px?id=87298078

I kind of thought that if people are looking to buy through alternative means like Homesell then they would be looking in places like Trademe anyway. Am I assuming wrong? It costs $99 to list on Trademe and about $1500 for a basic package with Homesell.

[SuperDad]

If agents are ringing you, then fight fire with fire. Go around open homes in your neighbourhood in the weekend, and drop flyers for your property under the wipers of cars at the open home.

Those people are obviously looking in the area, so you have nothing to lose (and a lot to gain) by selectively targetting them.

Don't panic - you've only had it on for 9 days! The average time to sell in Hamilton was somewhere around 30 days last time I looked.

[Josko]

Thanks cube, that looks like it.

Sarah, nice job. Hang in there!

[Dean@Massiveaction]

Tried to find a way to dump the report here minus names but it is too hard.
Anyway looking at all sales within 500 metres of teh house in the last 12 months, they virtually all start with a 2 and many are on over 600 sqm.
So whilst i don;t know the area my initial thoughts are that the price might be high??

[Lynda]

Wow Superdad! That's a great idea. I'm gonna remember that one for when it's my turn.

[Dean@Massiveaction]

And it is a great way to alienate large amounts of agents quickly!!

[sdt2]

Yes you are right the property sales have been lower, but none of them have been rennovated to this extent or even near. Also we were a little worried about the price for the same reason which is why I rang the people that had already been through and they all said they thought it was perfectly reasonable and that we should be proud of ourselves because it was such a nice house.

[Dean@Massiveaction]

Not meaning to sound pedantic but generally speaking houses only don't sell for 2 reasons. Bad marketing and too higher price.
Given that you've had plenty of people through it makes sense that it is the latter. People lie remember.

I'm not trying to suggest you should drop the price. i'm just saying the sales evidence and your experience both scream "house too expensive" to me. But hey I don't know your area like you do!!