SELLING A HOUSE PRIVATELY: WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
Real estate agents in South Africa typically charge a commission of around 6% of the sale value of a property. With sellers being responsible for this commission, this commission is often the most expensive part of selling your home and many homeowners might wonder whether selling their property privately is a viable option.
The first thing to know is that there is no legal reason that you would need to go through an agent to sell your home. The law doesn't require you to use an agent or broker so, from a legal perspective, you're free to do the sale yourself. But there are a few things that you should consider when making this decision.
Do you know how to price your property?
Knowing how to properly price a property is a big part of a real estate agents' job. There are so many factors that influence the value of the property and there is a real art and strategy to setting a sale price when advertising properties. As the homeowner, you might be subject to the Endowment Effect, which is when people value something that they already own more than if they were to buy it again. While you, obviously, love your home and know all the great things about it, a real estate agent will be able to give you a realistic sense of how much a property could sell for.
An easy way to get some of the benefit of an agents' expertise while still managing the sale yourself is to get someone to come and do a valuation for you. While this will get you an idea on the right selling price to list your property for, you'll still need to manage a lot of the strategy yourself. An agent will have a good idea of when to stick to the asking price, when it's time to bring it down and when potential buyers are negotiating fairly or if you could realistically expect a higher offer.
Can you do the advertising for the property?
Once you've settled on an asking price for the property, you'll need to manage advertising and letting people know the home is for sale. In today's digital world, that would seem easy enough but an ad on Facebook won't be enough to get you the best chance for a speedy sale. Good agents use several platforms - like Property24 - to advertise their properties and most potential buyers start their searches on well known sites like these.
Posting listings on these sites isn't free so be aware that you'll have to pay a fee upfront to get your house up for sale on one of these sites. Perhaps more importantly, though, it's not as simple as posting a few pictures and the number of bedrooms. Knowing how to take good photos, what to include in the property description and how to word your advert well are all vital parts to successful property advertising. Responding to questions, queries and comments also takes time and a quick response rate and professional manner are important for making a good first impression on a potential buyer. You'll also need to find the time to organise viewings and make sure that your home is staged nicely so that potential buyers see it at its very best when they come to have a look.
Do you understand the process well enough to manage the legal side?
There's a lot of legalities involved in selling a property and, even if you're selling your property yourself, you will need a conveyancing attorney to help with the transaction. A conveyancing attorney should be able to help you draw up an offer to purchase and help explain the details of the document, especially the conditions in which the sale might fall through. They will help to cancel the first bond on the house, register a new bond and transfer the deed from the seller to the buyer.
Conveyancing attorneys are usually paid for by the seller, so they don't add to your costs when selling your property yourself. However, selling your property is likely going to be one of the biggest financial decisions that you make in your lifetime and it's important that you find an attorney that you trust, and that you understand enough of the conveyancing process that you can follow along with what they're doing. Without an agent to play a mediating role, you don't have anyone else to explain things to you if you have any questions so it's important to do your research and make sure that you develop a good relationship with the attorneys handling the transfer.
Conclusion
While it's legally possible to sell your property yourself, you should give careful thought to all aspects of the process before you decide to go that route. While you save money by not needing to pay an agent commission, there are many ways that selling yourself may end up costing you more money. If you're confident that you can price your property accurately, manage the advertising and viewings, and understand and manage the legal process then selling yourself might be a viable option. However, a mistake in any one of these areas can end up costing you a lot more than the commission you would have paid to have an expert manage the process for you.
Source: Pierre E Rousseau Founder/Principal PropertyTime
https://pierrerousseau.co.za/selling-a-house-privately-what-you-need-to-know/
