Pros and Cons For Real Estate Agent or Private sale.

[vintage52]

Hi there.

Long time property investor here - 13 years and only one property actually.

But the time has come to move it on and I'm not too sure which would be the best experience.

What recommendations can anyone make when it comes to the sale of the property? Agents or private?

Look forward to any advice.

Oh....it's in Ascot Park in Porirua and is a 2 bedroom house.

Cheers all.

Bill

[Eugene]

Hi Bill, if it is similar to other houses around and you know what you should get for it, you could sell it privately. For a property that differs from those around it there is always the chance of getting a premium price, and then an agent can help. When I sold a unit, similar to those around it so I knew its worth, I still found it difficult negotiating with purchasers. An agent can be nice to both parties and always use the excuse they are bound to do as they are told.

[vintage52]

Thanks Eugene. Appreciate the time and advice.

[Tan]

Even when I was an agent I used an agent. It is amazingly stressful generally, so unless you are a buddist or similar, it is worth the extra cost, to perhaps get a better price or quicker sale. If you do decide to use an agent, make your next question 'who?' as they vary hugely.

[NomoneyNotalk]

hi, I think that depends on you. I have seen some private sellers who speak like agents and have expertise like agents. So if you are that, then you better sell it privately to save cost.

[vintage52]

Even when I was an agent I used an agent. It is amazingly stressful generally, so unless you are a buddist or similar, it is worth the extra cost, to perhaps get a better price or quicker sale. If you do decide to use an agent, make your next question 'who?' as they vary hugely.

Hmmm.....Buddhist....no. lol nice though.

[donthatetheplayer]

Hmmm.....Buddhist....no. lol nice though.

Hi all. If considering private sale vs agent in current Auckland market what do people think? Agent "should" get a premium price. But, is it worth listing a property for a few weeks at your desired price?

Last place I bought, vendor told me I was 2nd person to view it. If they'd listed on TM they would have got the same price from me with no agent fee. Admittedly I thought that agent did a terrible job for the vendor, priced it wrong etc. I bought it 4 days after listing... say no more!

The price I would list at is top end already so it's 99% certain the agent wouldn't be able to achieve this price plus their fee. All comments highly valued.

[Eugene]

Hi all. If considering private sale vs agent in current Auckland market what do people think? Agent "should" get a premium price. But, is it worth listing a property for a few weeks at your desired price?

Last place I bought, vendor told me I was 2nd person to view it. If they'd listed on TM they would have got the same price from me with no agent fee. Admittedly I thought that agent did a terrible job for the vendor, priced it wrong etc. I bought it 4 days after listing... say no more!

The price I would list at is top end already so it's 99% certain the agent wouldn't be able to achieve this price plus their fee. All comments highly valued.

Makes sense.
How do you know what the top price is though?
How would you know that an agent with some sort of no price stated advertising might not achieve more than your top price?

[Don't believe the Hype]

Hi there.

Long time property investor here - 13 years and only one property actually.

But the time has come to move it on and I'm not too sure which would be the best experience.

What recommendations can anyone make when it comes to the sale of the property? Agents or private?

Look forward to any advice.

Oh....it's in Ascot Park in Porirua and is a 2 bedroom house.

Cheers all.

Bill

Hi Bill - shoot me a PM with the price you're looking for - I'm in the market for a new purchase in that part of town. Might be able to get it done over Property Talk.

[donthatetheplayer]

Makes sense.
How do you know what the top price is though?
How would you know that an agent with some sort of no price stated advertising might not achieve more than your top price?

That's the argument from the agent. It works both ways though. I'd be going off recent sales. As mentioned I'd be asking top dollar and I know the market well.

[GeordieKiwi]

I've only tried to sell a place myself once in 14, 2 bed unit in Mt Wellington. Started off fine a few calls on the weekend. Then mid week kicked off massively phone was non-stop whilst I was at work became too much of a distraction in the end so listed it with ray white as offers over 525k after 2 months not a bite. Needed 500k so would have been negotiable. Then a colleague who is with Big Ron suggested their prefered agent at Barfoots. He came round made some suggestions and 4 weeks later it sold for $577k.

If you have the patience and lifestyle I'd say try it yourself but if you have anything else going on I really wouldn't recommend it. I'd just been promoted and was about to get married so really didn't need the distraction at that stage. And made a great contact at Barfoots who ive sold 2 properties since

[Jamus]

I sold a place about ten years ago privately in Berhampore in Wellington and found it pretty easy.
I paid a friend $1500 and she ran two open homes over two weekends which were open from
from 1 pm until 5 pm each day.Had to give the tenants a small incentive to head out for an afternoon (mini golf and McDonalds for the arfo)
People could call ahead and she said come at certain times so each group had a lot of time to
look around without it all being a big scrum.
We had a heap of people through the property, had ten offers over the two weekends and sold for around 65 K over what we would have been happy to accept.
Our friend did the go between buyer / seller as well so we didn't have to hear the negative comments from prospective buyers.
It worked so bloody great and was money well spent to save a lot!
Surprised ourselves!

[donthatetheplayer]

Thanks Jamus. That sounds like a good approach. My main concern is whether it would be awkward for people looking at the property with the owner (me) there. I'm happy to hear negative comments. It doesn't phase me. I'd also like the experience of doing it to be fair.

Your story is exactly why I'm thinking to do it myself. How did you manage the ten offers coming in? Did you set a date for all offers to be tabled or what?

[Jamus]

From memory we set a date for all offers to be tabled of two weeks from the first open home.
We had 4 unconditional offers and the others all had various conditions.We then negotiated with the top two unconditional(my friend who ran the open homes did the back and forth) and had a sale two weeks after being on the market.Was very stress free and suprisingly easy.I would certainly do again and would be comfortable being the go between now (back then I was still a little fresh!!!)\
Go for it I say Dont hate the player!

[donthatetheplayer]

From memory we set a date for all offers to be tabled of two weeks from the first open home.
We had 4 unconditional offers and the others all had various conditions.We then negotiated with the top two unconditional(my friend who ran the open homes did the back and forth) and had a sale two weeks after being on the market.Was very stress free and suprisingly easy.I would certainly do again and would be comfortable being the go between now (back then I was still a little fresh!!!)\
Go for it I say Dont hate the player!

Thanks again Jamus. Sounds like a good approach. So it ran like a tender? Did you negotiate with any buyers after their offers were tabled? I.e. did you go back to the under-bidders so to speak and give them the chance to increase their offers? Or did you just assess the offers and accept one?