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No More Estate Agent Fees
Follow a few simple guidelines, and marketing your own home
can be easy. And it will save you thousands.
By Glenn Murray *
The recent property boom has a lot of people thinking of
selling. Unfortunately, the costs of selling can really eat
into your profit. There's nothing we can do about stamp
duty, but one cost we can avoid is real estate agent fees.
By selling your house yourself rather than paying a real
estate agent, you can save you around $20,000 on a $500,000
sale.
So what's involved in a do-it-yourself sale? The two main
ingredients are time and advertising. A quality ad and a
couple of hours each week fielding phone calls and managing
inspections can mean the difference between a healthy profit
and disappointment.
Many people are intimidated by the marketing aspect of
selling their home. But there's really not that much to it.
You just need to write a description of your property,
organise photography, and place an ad. Simple!
Perhaps the most important thing to remember when organising
your own sale is you're not selling a building - you're
selling a home and a lifestyle. Here are 10 Tricks of the
trade to get you startedą
1) Jot down your favourite spots in the house and what you
like to do in them.
2) List your favourite local restaurants, cafes, and beaches
ū especially those in walking distance.
3) Note any pleasant fragrances ū plants like jasmine and
gardenia, or evening sea breezes.
4) Mention your favourite spot for a morning coffee, an
afternoon snooze, or an evening wine.
5) Write about 150 words.
6) Don't include cars, garbage bins, or the road in your
photos.
7) Tidy your house and remove any clutter before taking
inside shots.
8) Capture colour both inside and out, but keep it simple.
9) Take digital photos and save to CD so you won't need a
bureau for scanning and production.
10) Invest in a prominent newspaper ad and make use of the
Internet.
Even if you don't feel up to the challenge of creating a
masterpiece ad, you can employ the services of a
professional for far less than the cost of a real estate
agent. A professional copywriter will write an engaging
description for as little as $250. Professional
photographers do real estate all the time. Neville Prosser
can give you all the captivating photos you need for just
$330. You can get a glossy 1/8 page ad in the Central Coast
Express Advocate for $628 or a ¢ page ad $2514. And to
advertise online at Domain.com.au will only cost you $165
for a full month.
Whether you do all the creative work yourself or employ a
professional, you'll still save thousands. What's more, with
great advertising, you'll interest more potential buyers and
maybe even sell your house for more.
The most important thing to remember at every step along the
way isą Average advertising conveys a building. Quality
advertising conveys a home.
* Glenn Murray heads copywriting studio Divine Write. He can
be contacted on Sydney +612 4334 6222 or at
glenn@.... Visit www.divinewrite.com for further
details.
