SELLING a home can be a stressful process, even for real estate agents.
Abel McGrath Claremont property consultant Sam Bevan recently made an offer on a new home and needed to sell her Innaloo home quickly.
“I bought my Innaloo home nine years ago and it was absolutely perfect for two of us – three bedrooms on a low maintenance 228sq m block,” she said.
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READ NOW“I love this house, however, now there are five of us, including our dog Kevin, we have simply outgrown the space and decided to upgrade to a four-bedroom home on a 754sq m block.”
She found a new house on a Thursday, put in an offer on Friday and it was accepted on Saturday.
“We made our offer subject to the sale of our Innaloo home within 30 days,” Mrs Bevan said.
“In a market where the average selling days is 70 (according to REIWA), that was a really high pressure situation to put ourselves under.
“And knowing that the property we bought was still open to offers by other buyers put us under more pressure.
“We had 30 days to get an unconditional offer on the sale of our home, at any time the seller of the other house could give us 48 hours notice to go unconditional or lose the home.”
While Mrs Bevan decided to sell her home herself, she sought advice from another agent.
“It is very difficult to be objective with your own property, but I figured the house would be worth around $545,000,” she said.
“I asked a colleague to give me an unbiased appraisal – he came in at $490,000-$520,000 and that was really tough to swallow, but we took his advice and listed at $519,000.”
Mrs Bevan sold her Innaloo home within 16 days, receiving a cash offer.
She offered the following advice for people facing a similar situation.
– Do not be greedy. We listed our home at a price that would get the job done, not a cent more. We did not hold out for a few extra dollars, this is not the market to do that in.
– Listen to your agent. If they tell you your property is worth less than you think it is, pay attention, and work with that information.
– Get busy. I opened the home Wednesday night, Saturdays and Sundays and had groups through at every inspection.
– Spend money on marketing. We had beautiful professional photos and a floor plan drawn up, spent extra to promote the property in property websites, dropped invitations and flyers around the neighbourhood, and I paid to boost the listing on my professional facebook page.
– Use an agent who will explore all avenues. I hit the phones hard, and the buyer of our Innaloo home ultimately was someone who came from my database, not from any marketing.
– Prepare to be stressed. An offer subject to sale is extremely flimsy. Although the seller and buyer have agreed on a purchase price and conditions, the property is still being marketed to other buyers, and there is a 48-hour clause which allows the seller to give you two days’ notice to come up with the cash or lose the home.