The Cost of Selling a Property
The cost of selling a property should take into consideration a number of factors and should include more than agent commissions and marketing costs.
Selling for too low or using excessive time to sell are also costs of selling, usually the result of agent mistakes and or misinformed property sellers. The costs associated with extended sale time periods and reduced sale prices can be enormous and while they vary from case to case, they can be a source of significant pain during and after the sales process.
For sellers with large mortgages the monthly interest expense would be considered a significant cost and should be calculated as reference of cash expense against time. If the property is a vacant rental investment you must also add the loss of rental income as a cost of selling.
If you take a close look at the sales history of a property you will often see a pattern of irregularity between the recent sales prices of individual but similar properties in the area, where the lowest sale price and highest sale price vary by the tens of thousands.
Once you study the factors above you realize the true cost of selling can be extremely high even before you begin to consider agent commissions and marketing fees.
In fact money is more regularly lost from property sales though loss of time, poor preparation and poor sale results than is saved by haggling over commission fees. Of course you must always make sure you're getting a fair and honest commission structure from your agent. However don't outweigh the significance of a $3,000 saving in commission when the sale of your apartment price might have a potential variation between $440,000 and 470,000.
The overly expensive and cumbersome nature of print media such as classified advertisements and glossy magazines is a cost that is more commonly considered an advantage to the agents own branding these days than the actual sale of the house.
Since the use of the Internet is now a recognized and prolific property search tool, particularly with city and metropolitan buyers, the costs of advertising online is an expense well advised and most preferable in use as the first point of reaching the market.
Given today's importance of presentation the use of Display Furniture hire, professional cleaning, painting and minor makeover services should also be considered as legitimate expenses of selling and all have a potentially very relevant impact on the sale price.
So if you want to successfully sell your property make sure you interview your short list of agents very thoroughly, no question is ever too silly to ask. Make sure you get the agents to commit to an accurate expected sale price, make sure they can offer you a reasonable time frame that they will sell within and ask them to back up all their promises in writing.
Ask the agent if they will pay the costs of all your advertising, marketing, presentation expenses and any out of pocket expenses you incur should they fail to deliver on their promises. Ask if their service offers interior design consultation and Display Furniture hire as part of the package. If not, ask why not?
If you are thinking of selling your property we would like you to consider Real Estate Angel's vendor advocate consulting services.
Getting an agent that risks their money before yours is one advantage of using Real Estate Angel, getting a good sleep at night is another.
