How Do I Sell Property In NSW?
Always talk to your agent about the best way to sell your property. Master Real Estate will recommend the best sales and listing method based on the type of property you are selling, its location, market conditions, time frame, personal preferences, and will support their recommendation with recent sales data.
Do I Need A Real Estate Agent To Help Sell My Property?
Unless you have comprehensive knowledge and experience of the real estate market, it’s advisable you use a licensed real estate agent to help you sell. These agents have studied to qualify themselves and constantly monitor the real estate market, so they’ll be able to help you sell as quickly as possible.
Many people think they can save on costs by selling their home themselves, but the benefits of using a real estate agent to help you sell your house or apartment justifies the cost in many ways. Qualified and experienced real estate agents can help you increase the potential profit on your sale because they have access to comprehensive resources and databases. Real estate agents are connected to potential buyers from the start. They also know how to market a property properly in order to gain the best possible selling price.
Using a real estate agent often results in the property being fewer days on the market, leading to quicker sales. Real estate agents deal with potential buyers, home inspectors and other professionals involved in the property sale, which is convenient and effective.
Selling a house or apartment is a complicated process that involves a lot of paperwork and many legal requirements. Making an error during any stage of the process may lead to legal repercussions and other frustrations for the seller. Real estate agents are familiar and up to date with all the legal requirements of selling a property.
An experienced real estate agent possesses excellent negotiation skills. They are objective partners who will look at your property realistically, and negotiate with potential buyers on your behalf, minimising the chance of any emotional decision about the asking price.
Real estate agents are seasoned professionals who have honed their skills over a period of time. They understand how to sell a property to the right people, at the right price, in the quickest time. This is not to say that you can’t try and sell your property on your own and that you couldn’t fetch a decent price selling your home yourself.
What Are The Different Ways I Can Sell My Property?
There are several ways to sell your home:
Private treaty - a standard residential property transaction is known as a Private Treaty sale. The homeowner sets a price for the property, and your real estate agent negotiates individually with prospective buyers to achieve a sale as close to this price as possible.
Auction - an auction is a public sale conducted by a licensed auctioneer and governed by strict rules. There’s a reserve price (essentially the minimum the home will sell for) and if bids surpass the reserve, the highest bidder at the close of proceedings has to sign the sale contract right there and then. Auctions make up to 40% of all sales.
Setting a reserve price at auction - setting a realistic reserve price is important, so find out how much similar properties in the area are selling for - talk to your agent about their estimated sales price, check websites and attend local auctions of similar properties. You can also get an independent land valuer to put a price on your property.
Tender - selling property by tender is a process where buyers submit single offers, usually with a 5-10 per cent deposit. You can then look over these offers with your agent and accept or reject each of them as you see fit.
How Much Is My Home Worth?
Calculating how much your property is actually worth depends on quite a few aspects, which include the suburb in which you’re selling (comparable properties can give a good indication in this regard), the state and age of the property, its features, and the housing market’s current conditions nationally, statewide and locally.
After inspecting the property, your real estate agent should be able to provide an estimate of what your property is worth, and advise you on what can be done to raise the asking price. Your emotional connection to your home may distort your opinion of what it’s worth, so it’s important to have someone objectively assess the value of the property based on factors that actually influence the real price of your home.
Research shows that if you set the asking price too high above market value, buyers won’t be interested. They simply won't believe it's worth the price. Your property can end up being longer on the market and other buyers will then wonder what's wrong with it.
There's usually a flurry of initial buyer activity and lots of inspection interest when a property's new to market. It's critical you have the right asking price at this time because it’s when you're most likely to see competition between buyers, which helps you get a higher sale price. If the asking price is too high at the start, you can miss out on serious offers.
What Is A Home Appraisal & Should I Get One Done?
A home appraisal is the inspection and assessment of your home by a real estate agent, performed with the objective of determining its correct sale price. Unless you’re familiar with market conditions and the pricing for similar properties in the marketplace, getting your home appraisal done for you by a professional is a good idea. The agent typically bases his pricing assessment on the most recent local sales to give you a clear picture of what buyers might be willing to pay.
How Can A Real Estate Agent Help Get The Best Price For My Property?
Master Real Estate will always give you honest advice on pricing your home at fair market value. You'll get lots of interested buyers from our high quality marketing campaign customised to your property, and our experienced agents will emotionally connect buyers to your home and create competition between them, so you get a premium sale price.
How Do I Market My Property?
Advertising your property is especially important in NSW. With a high population and such a crowded market, you and your agent have to work to make the home stand out. Maximising your exposure to the market is key.
Print advertising - while the internet is a dominant force, newspapers still have Monday to Friday print readerships of more than 650,000 people. Using state and local newspapers to market your NSW property is an excellent way to reach these people in a dedicated property section - where committed buyers look.
Online advertising - there are many websites advertising property for sale in NSW, such as realestate.com.au and domain.com.au and of course masterrealestate.com.au. We use professional photographers to take great photos of your property as it makes a huge difference to the quality of the advertisements.
How Would You Market My Property?
Master Real Estate will market your property via online and offline methods.
Most buyers do their research on the internet. It's a convenient tool that can be used anytime, anywhere. Buyers want plenty of good photos and detailed information about your property available immediately, so that's what we give them. We use lots of high quality professional photos and a floor plan to visually attract buyers, so they can start to imagine themselves and their furniture in your property. We accompany the images with detailed text to highlight the great features of your property.
Master Real Estate will also promote your property in other places buyers look:
- A weekly email alert to our extensive buyer database
- Advertising in selected real estate publications
- A letterbox drop to make sure buyers in your local area hear about your property
- A marketing campaign to attract lots of interested buyers at your inspections
How Long Will It Take To Sell My Home?
It’s difficult to say for certain how long it will take to sell any given home. Experienced and knowledgeable real estate agents know the average days on market for the areas and suburbs they operate in, but this doesn’t guarantee how long it takes them to sell your home.
An ‘average’ can be calculated by using recently sold listings. The number of days each listing was on the market for are added up and divided by the number of listings to determine the average days on market for any given period. In a buyer’s market, the number of days on market will be more, because property typically takes a bit longer to sell, as opposed to a seller’s market, where the number of days on market will be fewer.
Even if your agent gives you an estimate, how long your house stays on the market depends on an additional variety of factors, including what the seller’s market is like for your town, city or suburb, and how long comparable properties are on the market.
Another factor is the property’s condition. If a house doesn’t need repairs or renovations, it tends to sell more quickly, whereas dilapidated homes and fixer-uppers take longer to sell because the market for these property types is smaller. Getting your house in order can influence everything from reaching the asking price to selling more quickly. Doing the repairs a property needs will help ensure your home doesn’t stay on the market for a very long time. Your real estate agent can advise you on what repairs are absolutely necessary.
Ultimately, it’s difficult to predict how long it will take to sell your house, but an experienced real estate agent can give you statistics about your area, and a good estimate. Whatever the market conditions are like, patience and keeping your expectations realistic are key factors when selling. If you’re in a hurry to sell, feel free to ask your real estate agent what they recommend you do to help speed along the process.
What Repairs Should Be Done Before Putting A House On The Market
Master Real Estate agents will advise you regarding repairs that pertain specifically to your property, but certain improvements have the ability to considerably affect the price a home fetches. These include damaged and dilapidated roofs, plumbing, ceilings and electrical faults. A fresh paint job would help too. Plumbing and electrical repairs left to the buyer may discourage some people from buying your property, which makes the buyer's pool smaller. Some of these repairs may be costly, but will almost definitely affect the sale.
A shabby-looking property will take longer to sell, but some very basic alterations, enhancements and repairs will go a long way to help with its appeal and the first impression potential buyers have of your house or unit.
Do I Need To Stage My Home For The Sale?
Staging the home is a tactic that uses minor renovations, accessories, rental furniture and styling to improve the home’s presentation. This encourages potential buyers to see themselves in the space. Home staging includes things like clearing clutter and putting away sentimental items and family photos.
Home staging is not essential when selling your property, but creating a beautiful space in which potential buyers can envision themselves is very important. Home staging can also make the photos featured in advertising campaigns more effective marketing tools. Home staging is more than making a property look pretty, it wants to appeal to the buyer’s emotions and evoke a feeling from them. An experienced real estate agent at Master Real Estate will be able to advise you on how to stage your home to create maximum buyer appeal.
How Do Inspections Work - Open House vs Private?
Master Real Estate offers both private inspections and open houses to provide maximum flexibility to buyers. We want as many people to see your property as possible, and treat everyone who walks through your door as the one who’ll buy your property. We’ll record everybody’s details so we can follow up on them.
A Master Real Estate agent will always be present during inspections, and we're extremely conscious of all security aspects, like closing windows and ensuring your property is locked up afterwards. We'll also make sure people take their shoes off and return your home to you in the same condition you left it.
Master Real Estate will organise inspections at a time that suits you, and report back to you the inspection results and what to do next.
What Does A Sale Contract Contain?
One of the first things you need to do when selling real estate in NSW is draw up a contract of sale - your home can’t be marketed until this document is established. It includes:
- Terms and conditions of your sale
- Title documents and current Zoning Certificate
- Compliance certificates for items like pools
- Relevant documents for strata title
- Drainage diagrams
- Any property exclusions
- A statement of the buyer’s cooling off rights.
The use of a solicitor or conveyancer for this part of the process is highly recommended. For more details, Fair Trading NSW outlines all the specifics of this document, and the Law Society outlines strata-specific details.
What Happens Once A Buyer Indicates Their Intent To Buy?
The seller and buyer will sign two copies of the contract of sale and exchange them - this can be done in person, via email or even a third party. At this point, the buyer must place a 0.25% or more deposit, which would be held in a trust account arranged through Master Real Estate. Keep in mind that the seller and buyer aren’t legally bound until all copies of the contract have been signed and exchanged.
What Is A Buyer’s Cooling Off Period?
The cooling-off period starts once the buyer has been given a signed copy of the contract. In NSW, the cooling-off period is five business days (can be more). The buyer can cancel the sale during this time, but will have to forfeit their deposit. The seller will need to refund any other deposits made, or return any difference between the indicated deposits. The buyer can waive the cooling-off period by signing a 66W certificate, called an ‘unconditional exchange’.
What Happens After The Cooling Off Period Expires?
After the cooling-off period has ended, the buyer will need to pay the remainder of the deposit - 10% of the purchase price. For example, if they’ve paid the 0.25% deposit initially, they’ll need to deposit another 9.75% of the purchase price.
Does The Seller Have A Cooling Off Period?
It’s important to remember cooling-off periods in NSW only apply to the buyer. Once you’ve exchanged contracts, the seller can’t simply cancel the sale.
What Happens When An Exchange Of Contracts Is Made?
The sale itself is actually very simple - all you do is sign the agreed upon contract with the associated settlement dates and conditions. It’s recommended that your conveyancer or solicitor manages all the legal elements.
What Is A Settlement?
Settlement is the legal completion of the process and happens when the buyer completes any remaining payment. This normally takes place six weeks after the contracts are exchanged. Settlement is commonly six weeks after exchange, but this can be varied if both parties agree. The buyer ‘settles’ the purchase by paying the full price, less any deposit.
Can A Buyer Carry Out A Pre-Settlement Inspection?
A pre-settlement inspection is quite a normal practice in home sale deals. Right before the sale deed is signed, the buyer simply wants to make sure the home is in the same condition as it was during his initial visit(s). Allowing the buyer to do this builds confidence in you and their decision to buy your property.
What If My Property Has Tenants In It?
If you're looking to sell a property that’s already tenanted, the buyer will check the following:
- A lease should be included with the Contract of Sale. The lease will confirm how long the tenants have been in the property and what was the starting rent. It will also confirm that the current tenants match the names on the lease.
- A Condition Report is a document that describes how the current tenant should return the property when they leave. Ideally it will be very detailed and not hand written with a description against each item. If there is no description it makes it difficult to hold the tenant to account when they leave.
- A Rental Ledger will show how the rent has changed over time and also show if the tenant pays their rent on time.
What If A Buyer Wants To Move The Tenants Out So They Can Live There?
This needs to be negotiated if the sale is made during a lease agreement term. Usually tenants are provided compensation to break the lease, with the compensation decided on by the seller and buyer. For example, the buyer and seller may agree to pay the current tenants 1-4 weeks rent to persuade them to move before the lease term expires. They must also be given notice to give them ample time to find another place to live.
What Costs Are Involved In Selling A Property?
As the sale process begins, keep an eye on all the costs you will incur - from agent fees to inspection costs.
- Agent fees should be outlined in your agency agreement
- Legal fees are usually between $1500 and $3000 depending on the complexity of your contracts and the solicitor or conveyancer you work with
- Conducting a pest or building inspection to give your home a clean bill of health before sale will cost up to $400
- A professional valuation can cost up to $500
- You are also still responsible for existing strata fees, land tax and council rates that apply until settlement is completed - these will vary depending on your location, but allow for at least $1000 to cover them
- If selling at auction, the auctioneer's fee may not be included in the agency agreement and can cost about $1000
- Solicitors and conveyancers can cost up to $2000. Ensure you’re getting an accurate quote and not just an estimate of fees
- Mortgage fees can reach the $1000 mark, especially if you’re switching to a new home loan when you move. You may also have to pay off the existing balance of your mortgage, which could vary depending on whether your home has grown or fallen in value
- Cosmetic repairs to your home ahead of advertising may only be a few hundred dollars, while a full plumbing renovation can cost $15,000
- Moving costs can surprise home sellers and can be anywhere between $500 and $3500
What If I Want To Settle On A Sales Price?
If your agent gathers significant interest and you start receiving offers in your desired price range, you might be willing to settle and close off the transaction.
Private treaty - your agent passes on to you all offers made for your home as quickly as possible, and you can accept or reject any of these. Your agent can also negotiate on your behalf until a price is reached that you are both happy with. Once you accept an offer, the buyer usually has five days in which they can back out of the transaction. A 10 per cent deposit is paid to you upon exchange of contracts.
Auction - auctions are a strictly regulated process, with the reserve price nominated by you or your agent. The auctioneer registers bidders and takes their offers until the close of proceedings. You can make a vendor bid for your own home to stimulate more bidding, but it must be outlined in the Bidders Record (visible to all parties) and clearly identified as your own bid. Once the highest bidder is determined and reserve is reached, the buyer cannot back out of the process and will pay a 10 per cent deposit right there and then. Interested buyers can also make an offer in writing before the auction which your agent will present to you. You can decide to accept or reject the offer and proceed to auction.
What Is An Agent’s Commission?
This depends on the real estate agency you use to help you sell. Australia’s deregulated market means the commission percentage on any given home will differ between agencies. Commission structures in Australia will either be fixed or tiered:
- A fixed commission structure means your real estate agent will receive a fixed amount of commission upon completion of the property sale, regardless of the selling price your home ultimately fetches.
- A tiered commission structure means the commission a real estate agent earns escalates according to the eventual selling price of the property, based on a sliding scale that is negotiated and decided upon prior to using the services of an agent. This motivates agents to get the highest possible price for your property.
What Is The Real Estate Market Like At The Moment?
This is a valid question, whether you’re a buyer or seller, as the property market is always changing, and what was applicable a few months ago may not be applicable now.
The property market is often described in terms of being a buyer’s market or a seller’s market at any given time. A buyer’s market is characterised by houses that sit on the market for a longer period of time, and typically fetch prices that are a bit lower when they do sell. A seller’s market is characterised by shorter selling times and higher prices.
A real estate agent who has the proper training and experience with selling property in your area will give you detailed statistics on the state of the current real estate market.
What If I Don’t Fully Understand Everything About Selling My Property?
This is actually quite common among sellers as the requirements, laws and regulations can be very confusing. But don’t worry, Master Real Estate will be with you every step of the way and make sure everything runs smoothly, from the initial listing and marketing of your house or apartment to you receiving the money from your property sale.