Lots questions comes to mind when you decide to sell your property. Is it possible to sell my house myself? How much would I save if I sell the property myself?

Selling a house require a few steps done right so that you can get expected price for your property. Usually people buy houses to live in our to rent out which requires the house to be in great condition. You also need to do proper marketing to get more interest in your property so that there will be a healthy competion between the prospective buyers which raises the price of the property to optimal level.

You would also need a convayencer to check the property documents to make sure the property can be sold as is. The convayencer also makes sure the buyer has enough funds to make the purchase. They will help you transfer the property during the purchase process.

If the process of selling your property yourself is a bit overwhelming, you could always hire an agent who does the sales process for you.

The following steps will guide you through a great property sales experience.

1. Prepare Your Property

Before listing your house, ensure it's in top shape. Clean, declutter, and consider minor repairs or touch-ups to enhance its appeal. Do this before the photo shoot of your property so that the property looks fantastic and appealing to prospective home buyers.

Once you start cleaning up, you might find a lot of small things to do that can increase the appeal and it could be too much for one or two people to do. It is a good idea to get help from your friends and family.

There are pre-sales cleaning services which can add a sparkle to your property. This increase the sales value of the property as well as reduces the time on market. Also you don't have to buy any cleaning items which you have to dispose off.

You can search and find a pre-sales cleaning service near you with our vendor search page. It is an easy way to find and hire cleaning services and prep your property for sales.

2. Set the Right Price

Researching the market to determine a competitive price is very important since the price of the property is a decision making factor for the buyers. Look at recent sales of similar properties in your area. Also look at the market trend in your area if the property price is raising or falling. This will determine if you should wait to achieve a price of if you should sell your property as soon as possible.

Setting the price too high will deter buyers and setting the price too low will only attract buyers with lesser funds. The published price is usually only an indicative and there should be room for negotiations. If there is enough competition in your area, you can go for an auction instead of a private sale.

3. Market Your Property

For creating a compelling listing, high-quality photos and detailed description are required so that the potential buys can find your property easily. Every detail like the correct address, photos of all rooms and exterior, floor plan of the building, transportation options and near by facilities are all very important to buyers.

All the details you provide about your property will help the buyers understand what they are getting for their money which will make it very easy for the buyers to reach a decision.

Please note, before you publish your property, you need to prepare the contract of sales which contains the copy of the title, drainage diagram and current zone certificate issued by the local councle. Also it is very important to note that concealing any material fact about your property while listing or in the contract of sales is an offence and is punishable by fine and/or imprisonment.

4. Arrange Inspections

Once you have published the listing of your property, buyers will start finding your property online and possibly contact you for enquires. Answering the enquires on time is very important since buyers tend to buy from more responsive and friendly property owners.

Schedule open houses or private inspections to showcase your property to potential buyers. Ensure it's clean and well-presented during the open house. Make yourself available for answering any qeries the potential buyers may have. Prepare yourself with answers to generic questions like concil charges, land area and year in which the house was built which are some common questions buyers ask during inspection.

Buyers might ask for a copy of the contract of sales which is required for the convayencer of the buyers to check details about your property. Keep a digital copy of the contact of sales handy so that you could share it with the potential buyers via email.

5. Negotiate Offers

After or during house inspection, the potential buyers will start putting in their offers. Along with offers the buyers might place some conditions like settlement period. Negotiating and fixing a price with conditions which are acceptable for both parties is the next step.

It is common to do more than one open house inspections to attract more buyers and get more offers which will give you an upper hand in the negotiations.

6. Complete Legal Requirements

Once you reach an agreement on the price and other conditions of sales with a potential buyer, you can ask your convayencer to initiate the property transfer. Your conveyencer will be able to do all the required documentation and ensure the money transfer via bank account. Conveyencer will also provide you with the sales document and transfer of utilities from your name to the buyers name.

7. Finalize the Sale

On the day of the settlement, upon confirmation from your conveyencer, you should hand over the keys to the property to the buyer. The property must meet the conditions agreed by you and the buyer during negotiations. Also handover all the keys to gates, doors, windows and garage along with security codes to the electronic security system, if any.

8. Costs Associated With Selling Your Own Property

• Marketing Costs: $500 to over $10,000 (e.g., staging, photography, signboard, ads) — higher in metro areas like Sydney/Melbourne.

• Conveyancing / Legal Fees: Typically $600–$2,200 depending on the state.

• Auctioneer Fees: $400–$1,000, if selling via auction.

• Property Cleaning / Styling / Preparation: Can range from a few hundred dollars up to tens of thousands, depending on the property's value and condition.

We got you covered on the online listing of your house. You can list your property for just $100 with us.

9. Benefits of Selling Your House Yourself

On an average, the agent commission for selling a house ranges from 2% to 2.5% of the value of the property with Tasmania having the heightest rate of commission, 2.9%.

If your property is valued at $700,000, for example. The agent commission would be from $14,000 to $17,500 or even more.

10. Where Agents Can Help

Selling your house yourself needs your time and attention for a few things that might be new to you. Arranging inspections, printing marketing material, setting up the signboard, taking photos and videos of your house and preparing the floorplan can be time consuming and need a level of expertise in that area. If you do not have time and patience, it is a good idea to get professional help.

In some markets, finding a buyer can be challenging. Most real estate agent will have list of buyers and their preferences who are in the market looking to buy a property. Real estate agents can certainly help speed up the sales process.

Additional Resources

There are differences in the process and rules in different states for buying and selling residential property. Please refer to the property selling guide provided by your state govenment before starting the process of selling your property.