Confused about whether to use a real estate agent to sell your property or whether to perform a private real estate sale as a real estate for sale by owner? There are pros and cons from each method of real estate sale but what is important is whether as a real estate for sale by owner you have the time and motivation to perform a private real estate sale.

Here are the benefits of performing a private real estate sale as a real estate for sale by owner ( FSBO ):

Real Estate For Sale by Owner or FSBO receives enquiries directly - Interested property buyers will contact the real estate for sale by owner or FSBO directly cutting out the real estate agent meaning the process of the sale will be more efficient and information will be relayed faster.

Real Estate For Sale by Owner or FSBO knows their property better than anyone - A real estate for sale by owner or FSBO knows their property better than anyone else so instead of a real estate agent showing their property it makes perfect sense that the real estate for sale by owner or FSBO is the best person to market the property.

Real Estate For Sale by Owner or FSBO receives all offers - The real estate for sale by owner or FSBO knows exactly what offers have been submitted and who is interested in their property. The real estate for sale by owner or FSBO will not have the real estate agent talking up interested parties or parties who are about to make an offer. The real estate for sale by owner or FSBO can see this for themselves as they are a part of every piece of the sale.

Real Estate For Sale by Owner or FSBO only deals with serious buyers - Real estate agents have been known to show a property owner’s property to buyers they have for a different property. They do this so they can use the property they are showing as leverage for the property they want to sell to the buyer. Real estate for sale by owner or FSBO will know that if a interested property buyer inspects their property it is because the property buyer has a general interest in purchasing the property.

Real Estate For Sale by Owner or FSBO is in full control - The real estate for sale by owner or FSBO can decide what tasks involved with the sale and at what time things are done. The real estate for sale by owner or FSBO is not at the mercy of a real estate agent and does not have the added pressure which real estate agents usually apply.

Here are the negatives of performing a private real estate sale as a real estate for sale by owner ( FSBO ):

Real Estate For Sale by Owner or FSBO limited resources – A real estate for sale by owner or FSBO has limited resources compared to the resources a real estate agent has available. These include real estate market reports, extensive database of buyers, other real estate agents and franchise offices and marketing resources.

Real Estate For Sale by Owner or FSBO limited experience – A real estate for sale by owner or FSBO has only limited real estate sales experience where as a real estate agent can have up to 40 years experience. This real estate sales experience can be vital when it comes to negotiating with interested property buyers.

Real Estate For Sale by Owner or FSBO no access to online real estate advertising websites – A real estate for sale by owner or FSBO can’t list their property on certain real estate advertising websites including Realestate.com.au, Homehound.com.au and Myhome.com.au. These websites have frequent buyers who search them for real estate for sale and offer a large amount of internet exposure for a property owner.

A real estate for sale by owner is often performing a private real estate sale because they believe real estate agents do not offer any value to the sales process for real estate. A real estate for sale by owner often overlooks is that real estate agents always have a dynamic and current database of potential real estate and property buyers.

A real estate agent usually specialises in a particular geographic area and has a certain amount of real estate and house for sale in the suburbs around that area. How real estate agents build their database of property buyers is through the enquiries they receive for all the property they have listed and also through attendees at open house inspections they hold.

If a real estate agent has 20 property listed in an area, when they receive an enquiry for one property they will have another 5 property similar to that property which match the preference of the person making the enquiry. What I am getting at here, is that by using a real estate agent a property owner is getting access to the entire database of potential buyers which a real estate agent has and could prove to be quite fruitful in selling the property belonging to the property owner.

I am not saying a property owner should not perform a for sale by owner or private real estate sale but each property owner should at least contact their local real estate agent and ask them if they have any potential real estate buyers. If the agent doesn’t then the property owner should try and organise an agreement where if the real estate introduces the property owner to a buyer than the property owner will pay the real estate agent a fixed referral fee.

By the property owner entering into such an agreement with the real estate agent allows the property owner to sell privately through a private real estate sale or for sale by owner but still allows the property owner access to the real estate agents database.

Just something to consider as a property owner in the future before you choose to write off a real estate agent.

Technology in the real estate sector now means it is possible to purchase a property over the internet without physically inspecting it and with no agents sale or commission. Real estate industry technology has evolved at an incredible pace, that it is now possible to place bids on real estate in a live property auction from a computer anywhere in the world.

There are many private real estate sale advertising websites available now days, with many of them allowing real estate agents and property owner to list their properties at no costs. This is great for a property owner and private house sales as it means their property will reach interested property buyers both in Australia and across the world. Over 70% of property buyers are using the internet to search for property meaning conventional print real estate advertising no longer has a place in any real estate sales campaign.

All of these private real estate sale advertising websites come equipped with Google Maps, Google Street Views, usually around 30 property photos, floor plans, virtual tours, videos and a commentated tour of the property. A property owner needs to make sure they take advantage of these features allowing property seekers to perform property inspections through their computer.

Once an online property inspection has been performed the property seeker can contact the property owner for further information about the property. Many of these private real estate sale websites now have the ability for the property seeker to submit an offer for the property, regardless of whether the property is for sale by auction or private treaty. Once an offer has been accepted the Contract can be signed, faxed through to either party and a deposit can be paid.

The virtual sale of real estate is now possible and will pick up popularity as more and more technological innovations appear in the real estate industry.

Does this mean real estate agents will make way for private real estate sale advertising websites?

A for sale by owner (FSBO) who is conducting a private real estate sale has many benefits from not using a real estate agent. However, there is one huge drawback from selling privately and that is a for sale by owner can’t get their property listed on www.realestate.com.au.

An agent friend of mine passed on these statistics for REA for September 2008.

- In September 2008, realestate.com.au delivered more than 4.2 million visitors from both Australia and overseas.
- In NSW, realestate.com.au delivered a daily average of 60% MORE property seekers than domain.com.au*

Sept 2007       Sept 2008       12 month change
No. of emails leads sent to agents       383,215         634,229         +66%
TOTAL No. of Unique Browsers             3,813,031      4,236,115      +11%
No. of property searches undertaken   48.5 Million    78.9 Million    +63%
No. of properties viewed in detail        52.2 Million    85.8 Million    +64%

There are a few points worth noting about these statistics, in particular that realestate.com.au delivered a daily average of 60% more property seekers than Domain. What is worth noting here is that Domain strongest are is NSW (particularly around Sydney) and they are quite insignificant in all other places across Australia.

The results that REA achieve are unbelievable, over 4 million unique browsers per month and 80 million property searchers. They certainly have every right to spruik about how good their service is!

It is such a shame they do not let private sellers list on their website as this type of exposure would do wonders for any marketing campaign for a property. I guess this is card that real estate agents hold in their pockets, forcing property owners to list through them to get the greatest online exposure!

It is still possible for a real estate owner to perform a private real estate sale as a for sale by owner and engage the services of real estate agent. This is what is known as an agent assisted real estate sale and involves the for sale by owner and real estate agent sharing in the duties of a property sale.

Not many traditional real estate agents use this method as it results in less commission for the real estate agent because the for sale by owner performs most of the tasks involved with the sale of the property. However, some real estate agents are embracing this trend and are offering reduced commission in return for the for sale by owner performing tasks associated with the sale.

One such real estate agent which offers an agent assisted service in conjunction with its full agent service is Vode Property who perform all the services a traditional real estate agent would but allows the property owner to show interested parties their property and perform negotiations with interested parties.

I think more and more real estate agents like Vode Property will appear allowing a combination of for sale by owner and real estate agent assisted sales.

All property owner believe real estate agents charge too much in commission and that variable real estate commission is no longer justified in the real estate industry. This dissatisfaction with the fees and commissions real estate agents charge has led to an increase in property owner who are choosing to sell real estate privately with no real estate agents and no commission.

I am under the belief that real estate agents should be paid a commission but the commission should not be variable but rather fixed. The same can be said for paying waiters in a restaurant a tip which is based on the percentage on the cost of the meal.

For example, if you order a cheap bottle of wine and a $10 steak and chips in a restaurant for say $30 and pay a $3 tip why then if you order an expensive bottle of wine and a sirloin piece of steak which costs $100 should you have to pay a $10 tip. The waiter or waitress has performed exactly the same amount of effort to bring you your meals and wine yet they are demanding a greater tip.

This is absolute nonsense and is exactly what happens in the real estate industry, is there any difference in selling a $500,000 property or a $1,000,000 property? Of course not.

Agents like waiters should have a list of services they perform for a fixed fee. The property owner should be able to decide what they want the agent to perform. This way the property owner knows exactly how much tips, fees or commissions they will need to pay and can measure the value the agent is providing.

Please let us know whether you have used any of these website and if you have whether you received many enquiries. If I forgot to include a website you are aware of please let me know.

For Sale by Owner and Private Selling websites in Australia include:

www.diysell.com.au
www.noagentproperty.com.au (free)
www.owner.com.au (free)
www.zeroagents.com.au
www.propertynow.com.au
www.ozhomes4you.com.au (free)
www.sellmyhouseonline.com.au
www.ozprivatesale.com.au (free)
www.buyitprivately.com.au (free)
www.ppl4sale.com
www.home-sale.com.au
www.myhousesale.com.au
www.propertysalesdirect.com.au (free)
www.hotproperties.com.au
www.propertyeasy.com.au

The following websites are not specifically for private sellers but allow private sellers to list properties with them:

www.ebay.com.au
www.graigslist.com (free)
www.gumtree.com.au (free)
www.OzCastles.com.au (free)
www.onthehouse.com.au
www.domain.com.au

Not only did the agent pay half the market value of the property but he broke industry laws buy purchasing a property his agency was commissioned to sell. At the time the agent and his wife owned a Ray White Franchise in Doncaster Melbourne. Shortly after the allegations arose, Ray White cancelled his franchise. Since then the agent, his wife and daughter have run another major real estate agency franchise in Doncaster East.

Consumer advocate Neil Jenman said the incidence of real estate agents buying undervalued properties was rife in the residential market and more agents should be prosecuted by the justice system, rather than face industry fines.

It is great to see authorities catch up with these rogue agents, lets hope this sets a benchmark for what is unacceptable in the industry.

Source SMH 22/8

It is already suggested through out the property management sector that rental auctions unofficially take place. Property managers make will offer a property to the tenants who offer the most attractive rental terms. There are three rentals terms, these include weekly rent (price), lease term (length) and lease commencement date (start). Tenants who offer the best combination of these three terms are usually offered the property.

This raises a few questions as whether this is clouding the due diligence of reference checks for tenants. Will tenants with the best combination of rental terms secure a property in front of tenants who have a better track record of being a model tenant? Are reference checks even taking place anymore?

There is also the consideration that if an official rental auction was going to take place then you would need to make sure you used an auctioneer and followed the rules and regulations of the Office of Fair Trading. This sounds like an awfully lot of work to rent a property!

I don’t think rental auctions are good for the industry as it will increase the cost of renting and further inhibit renters saving for a deposit to purchase a property.

The quality of each of these websites varies substantially, not only in website functionality and design but also in the quality and variety of listings each has to offer.

Have a look at each of the websites highlighted in the list below and let us know which website you use or would use to search for property. If you could change something about your favourite website what would it be?

The major Australian real estate portals include:

Realestate.com.au
Domain.com.au
Homehound.com.au
Justlisted.com.au
Myhome.com.au
Realestateview.com.au
Realestateguide.com.au
Propertypoint.com.au
Househunter.com.au
Suburbview.com
Realestateworld.com.au
Open4inspection.com.au
Open2view.com.au
Dwelling.com.au
OntheHouse.com.au
HotProperties.com.au
OzCastles.com.au

The major Australian classified websites include:

Ebay.com.au
Oztion.com.au
Cracker.com.au
Gumtree.com.au
OzFreeOnline.com
ForSalebyOwner.com.au
Craigslist.org