Choosing the right real estate agent?

[Winston001]

So if it's only worth half that to rent, I should sell it for $250,000? Jesus, even I'd buy it for that!

Yeah those figures are pretty startling. No, I don't think you should sell at anything like that. The calculations are national averages.

Forget for a moment you are selling a house - the secret of sales is to sell the sizzle. So ideally your home needs to stand out from the others. Borrow a Ferrari for the garage. Brew coffee in the house. Do something to make it go "zing" in a buyers mind.

But your agent should be way ahead on this anyway. Change agents or branch out and try a private sale.

[HenryDorsetCase]

I'm not aware of any 1% agents in this town. What's the deal with enlisting an agent but also having the right to sell it privately and doing what Shafty mentioned?

none at all. Its generally a thing that developers do, but there is no reason you can't do it yourself. Agents will (OMG STF??? SRSLY?) argue against it because from their perspective a sole agency works best for them. You just want the thing gone, so its up to you to set the rules of the game.

The key is putting it in your listing contract. Also make sure you read and understand the terms of that. Typically they provide that any sale to any party introduced to the property during the term of the agency will result in a commission being payable. Even if they come back some time after the agency has ended.

Or do two agents from different agencies, winner take all: Death Match style.

[sidecar bob]

I'm not aware of any 1% agents in this town.

Try looking in the mirror. You are she, straight shooting & on top of your topic.
Switch all the lights on, put the heater on & put some wet stale bread in the oven (try it, it smells like you are baking bread) & go to it.

[MotoGirl]

Try looking in the mirror. You are she, straight shooting & on top of your topic.
Switch all the lights on, put the heater on & put some wet stale bread in the oven (try it, it smells like you are baking bread) & go to it.

Now there's a trick I didn't know! Cheers

[Goblin]

So how's it going? Did you ever find the right estate agent or did you sell the house yourself?

[Forest]

Ok, if you want to know what your house is worth, here are a couple of baseline methods:

1. Calculate the investment return. In NZ the long-term average for residential property is 7.7% (sounds a bit low to me).

On $500,000 that requires a rental of $740 per week. Would you get that? If so, the price is fair.

I'm currently renting a nice place out in Opheke.

The landlord is grossing 4.5%

[Winston001]

I'm currently renting a nice place out in Opheke.

The landlord is grossing 4.5%

Woah! That is one bad investment. Many people buy rental houses and ignore the rate of return, hoping the property value will rise. When times are good this can work. But if the owner loses their job whatever, having a property you have to pour money into just to meet the mortgage is highly risky.

Which has been happening to a lot of people over the past 18 months.

[Molly]

We sold our house by running open homes at the same time as our neighbours and piggy-backing off their advertising bringing potential buyers into our area. We spent $50 having a nice sign made and also had a TradeMe listing. We'd previously tried an agent (Diane Astle's company) who was f'kin' USELESS and a total waste of money.

Anyway, my advice is to sell it yourself.