How much you should sell for
While your agent should help you set a realistic price for your home, and provide reasons and evidence backing up this estimate, you shouldn’t rely totally on that figure.
Do some research. Lots of factors will influence the price of your property including the size, the location and if it’s been recently renovated.
Factors that will have a big impact on your sale are:
- The current economic climate including interest rates, employment levels and consumer confidence.
- The level of supply and demand for properties similar to yours in your area.
- Recent sales for similar properties in your area.
If, after considering these factors, you’re still not sure, you can also pay for an independent valuation. Or try one of the websites that offer free valuations. These online valuations usually come with input from an agent in your area, so be prepared to get a call from the agent wanting to follow up the valuation with a visit and a chat about why they’re the right person to manage the sales process for you.
Negotiating an offer
If you choose to sell your home by private treaty, buyers will submit offers to your agent. It’s your choice whether to accept, decline or negotiate an offer.
Your agent will act as a middle man between you and the interested buyer, informing the buyer of your decision or your counter offer.
In response to your counter offer, the buyer may withdraw the original offer, accept it, or counter with a different offer.
This process can continue indefinitely until both you and the buyer are happy with a price.
Even if you decide to sell via auction, you may encounter this process. Interested buyers will often make an offer before the auction.
Estimating how much you can spend on your next home
Don’t base the budget for your next home only on the expected selling price of your current one. You might not get the price you want.
You should also include the costs of selling when estimating how much you can spend on your next home. Apart from the agent’s commission, marketing and advertising expenses, conveyancing and legal expenses there’s also presentation costs and the cost of transferring or refinancing your mortgage.
If you’re selling an investment property you’ll also have to pay capital gains tax. Find out more about tax and an investment properties in the Investors’ Guide.
Continue to information about preparing your home for inspections.