Seller FAQs |
Buyers FAQs |
Sellers FAQs
1. Why Sell privately?
2. My house sold how do I remove listing from website?
3. How Can I pay for listing?
4. I would like to buy a sign?
5. Can I update the details about my property?
6. What is the process to get my home listed on Owner For Sale?
7. When is payment due?
8. Why should I sell privately through Owner For Sale rather than through a real estate agent?
9. How fast are homes selling through Owner For Sale?
10. How do I know what to ask for my home? Does Owner For Sale offer valuations?
11. Is Owner For Sale an Australian Business?
12. How do I find out my property ID?
13. Can I include a link to my ad in a newspaper ad / email
14. Be aware of fraud
15. Can I see how many times my ad has been viewed?
16. How do I make my photos smaller?
17. Is it safe to pay by credit card on the internet?
18. Can I still use a real estate agent?
19. How long will my property be advertised for?
20. Is it safe to conduct viewings without an agent?
21. How much commission do you charge?
22. Will my email address be made available to buyers?
23. How will buyers contact me?
24. What services do you offer buyers?
Saving thousands of dollars in real estate agent commission is an obvious attraction for many owners looking to sell their own home. However, we believe that there are many other reasons to sell your own home. Better sale price. Faster sale. Less stress. Calculate what you think your house is worth, then ask yourself: Is it worth paying this much to have someone else show my property, act as a go-between to negotiate the sale.
|
Price |
3% agent commission (not including advertising costs) |
Savings |
|
$300,000 |
$9,000 |
$9,000 |
|
$400,000 |
$12,000 |
$12,000 |
|
$500,000 |
$15,000 |
$15,000 |
|
$750,000 |
$22,500 |
$22,500 |
|
$1,000,000 |
$30,000 |
$30,000 |
|
$2,000,000 |
$60,000 |
$60,000 |
You know your house best. The schools, the neighbourhood, what is special about the area and the home, as well as other details about the house. A well-maintained, fairly priced home can virtually sell itself; your role is to simply provide additional information.
Nobody is going to tell you what to sell for. You can advertise where and how you want to. Don't sit by in frustration because "they're not doing enough", schedule showings when it's convenient for you, talk directly with prospective home buyers at your leisure, even take your home off the market for awhile if you can't find the right buyer. Real-estate agents often give you specific terms 3 months, 6 months, 12 months, etc. With Owner For Sale you can choose your timing and are not obligated for any 3, 6 or 12 month contracts.
When selling a home by owner, you don't have to leave the house because a Real Estate Agent wants to show it, or clean it every morning before leaving "just in case". You know when potential home buyers are coming, and can therefore prepare accordingly. And when a home buyer makes an offer, there's not all that frustrating back-and-forth telephone tag between real estate agents to reach an agreement. It can be done in minutes, and end with a friendly handshake and smile between the buyer and seller.
Because you meet the prospective home buyers, you have a much better idea how interested people are, what they like about the house, how serious they are about buying and what their timeframe and situation is. The direct feedback is easier to live with than wondering how things are going, or worse, why no one has made an offer yet.
-
2. My house sold how do I remove listing from website?
Please login and de-activate your listing for it to stop showing on our site. -
3. How Can I pay for listing?
We accept payment by PayPal. If you want to pay using your credit card you will need to select payment by PayPal. We use PayPal which is a well established secure method of payment. You do not have to be a PayPal member to pay by credit card. You can securely pay using a credit card through PayPal 24 hours a day. Alternatively if you are a PayPal member you can pay with your PayPal balance. -
4. I would like to buy a sign?
Contact your local sign shop to purchase a sign to sell your home. Owner For Sale will have signs to purchase in the next few months that you can order via the website. -
5. Can I update the details about my property?
Yes. You can update your online property details and photographs as often as you like through your seller log in page. Once you have listed and activated your property, you can always login in later and modify your listing details. -
6. What is the process to get my home listed on Owner For Sale?
Join the website and pay the fee via PayPal you can then activate your listing immediately. -
7. When is payment due?
Payment is due upfront prior to uploading your listing. Your advertising is then good until your home sells, up to one year. But remember, any home that takes a year to sell is simply priced too high. -
8. Why should I sell privately through Owner For Sale rather than through a real estate agent?
In the past, it typically was difficult to market a home privately because there was no method of on-going exposure, so an agent was the popular choice. Selling your home privately has numerous advantages; the most obvious is that you do not have to pay the high cost of a commissioned real estate agent. -
9. How fast are homes selling through Owner For Sale?
This number changes depending on the time of year. In the busy months of spring and summer when more buyers usually look, this number of days a property is on the market is typically lower, while in the calmer winter months the average days on market may rise. But a home priced close to what the marketplace believes is fair value will always sell much faster than an over-priced home, which will never sell until it's no longer considered over-priced. -
10. How do I know what to ask for my home? Does Owner For Sale offer valuations?
Everyone has heard of agents offering free Market Appraisals. Agents may offer "free appraisals" as a secondary service for their primary business of securing a listing. Banks don't recognise an agent's "evaluation” but it can help you to set the price if you have had one done for your property.
However, a professional valuation by a licensed valuer is not coloured by the pressures of earning a commission. So, though Owner For Sale is not in the business of valuing property, we recognise the critical importance of your asking price to your success. Price is the only factor you control once your home is up for sale. You have no control over other key criteria such as the location, the number of bedrooms, etc. If your home is over-priced it will not sell, whether through an agent or privately.
Most of you already have a pretty good idea of what your home is worth, and comparable homes can be found on the range of real estate websites and your local paper. If you need further assistance email us at info@ownerforsale.com.au -
11. Is Owner For Sale an Australian Business?
We are an Australian owned and operated company with our head office here in Perth. Our website is hosted in Australia and we operate Australia-wide. -
12. How do I find out my property ID?
Simply login to view your listing the top bar with have the listing number eg. Your Suburb Home For Sale (8). The number in the brackets is the listing number. then click the "My Advertisement" link in the top bar. Your property ID is shown in the property details section.
You can use this ID to refer friends, colleagues and family back to your ad on ownerforsale.com.au -
13. Can I include a link to my ad in a newspaper ad / email
Yes! We absolutely recommend you email friends and family with a link to your ad. If advertising your property in the local paper, be sure to include your property ID to refer potential buyers to full details and photos on www.ownerforsale.com.au.
Link for your advertisement - http://ownerforsale.com.au/index.php?action=listingview&listingID=YourID number -
14. Be aware of fraud
Some people use the internet to try and scam home sellers. It is important to use commonsense when dealing with a potential buyer. Don’t agree to anything unethical or potential illegal. If unsure contact your conveyancer or solicitor who is handling the sale for you for advice. -
a. Cashier / Certified Cheque:
In most cases, someone disguising themselves as a potential buyer will send you an email (the majority are from overseas). They propose that they pay an amount that is higher than what you are asking for. They will then ask you to transfer the difference. Never transfer money in this situation. -
b. The Middleman:
This scam involves someone acting on behalf of a buyer. They propose that they collect the money on behalf of the buyer, then they wait until the buyer collects and approves the goods before sending the money to the seller. If you find yourself in this position, ensure that you check that the company is licensed and has good reputation. If you can’t verify this, then do not proceed with the sale. -
c. Investment scam:
An overseas buyer will claim that they want you to help them invest a large sum in real estate. This is a scam, get them to contact a local real estate agent if they would like to buy real estate. -
Just remember a genuine buyer would not need you to send any money and never supply personal information that could be used to steal your identity.
-
15. Can I see how many times my ad has been viewed?
Yes. Go to the home page and enter your property ID in the Property ID search area. Click through to your advert and at the bottom of the page will be details of how many times your advert has been viewed. -
16. How do I make my photos smaller?
We recommend using the excellent Picasa tool from Google. You can download it for free here
Alternatively, email your photos in jpeg format to info@ownerforsale.com.au and we will happily optimise them for you. We can also scan your prints for only $10. Please email us for details. -
17. Is it safe to pay by credit card on the internet?
Yes, ownerforsale.com.au process credit card payments through Paypal the most widely known 3rd party payment company in the world. If you are still unsure about paying by credit card we are happy to accept payment by cheque or EFT (internet banking). Please email info@ownerforsale.com.au for further details. -
18. Can I still use a real estate agent?
Yes, you can still list with a real estate agent and advertise your property on ownerforsale.com.au, it is important that you discuss this with the agent so they can prepare the correct agreement. You will need an agreement that does not charge sales commission if you sell the property yourself. If you don’t arrange this you may have to pay the commission even if you sell the property yourself. -
19. How long will my property be advertised for?
Your property remains on ownerforsale.com.au until sold. We may contact you to confirm that the property is still for sale if there has been no activity on your account for an extended period of time. -
20. Is it safe to conduct viewings without an agent?
The question of safety is often raised by real estate agents to try and frighten vendors into using their services and paying their commission. In reality real estate agents offer little additional protection for your property. Often agents allow unscreened “buyers’” to wander your home without supervision. -
21. How much commission do you charge?
There is no commission to pay with ownerforsale.com.au. The advertised price of the package is all you pay. -
22. Will my email address be made available to buyers?
No. An email address is required to set up an account to allow us to contact you this is not made available to buyers. Buyers will be able to contact you through our private online messaging system but will not see your email address. This is to prevent spam. You can choose to show your email address or phone number on your listing. -
23. How will buyers contact me?
You have the option to show a contact number in your advertisement. Giving buyers the opportunity to contact you by phone is purely optional. All accounts have a private online messaging service to allow buyers to contact you.
You can purchase a prepaid mobile to ensure that buyers can always contact you on a dedicated line if you wish and list the number on your property listing. -
24. What services do you offer buyers?
Whether or not you have a home to sell smartvendor.com.au can be of assistance. Buyers can sign up for a free account with a property shortlist, favourite search and private messaging system to contact owners. (These features are included in all of our sellers packages).
Buyers FAQs
1. How do I view a home listed with Owner For Sale?
2. How do I sign up for email notifications for all new Owner For Sale listings?
All homes for sale with Owner For Sale are private sales. So, to view a home, you must contact the owner directly at the via the ad this sends an email directly to the seller so they can contact you. Most home owners have an advertised Home Open time and this is probably the best time to visit a Owner For Sale home.
From the Owner For Sale homepage, conduct a search. You can then save the search and choose to have any new listings with the same criteria emailed to you when they are listed.
