The current methods for buying and selling homes in Australia are a bit like old cars. They've been used for donkeys' years and, eventually, it's time to trade them in for faster, more economic and efficient models.
We now live in a digital world that's opened doors and given homebuyers and sellers new choices and more control. We use apps to search for properties. We can view properties through virtual tours and gain access to every piece of information we need - all from the comfort of our own sofa. Yet we continue to use old-fashioned, costly methods to sell properties when everything we need is at our fingertips.
It doesn't have to be this hard for vendors
Most homebuyers do their homework online before they even begin to talk to a real estate agent. They're just sitting there, or lying even, sprawled out on their sofas scrolling the internet for properties - just a click away. Yet vendors continue to pay tens of thousands of dollars to real estate agents to find buyers. When you think about it, it doesn't add up. Especially when you consider the state of the Australian real estate market the past several years where homes have practically been selling themselves. Add to this the availability of online house-price data that enables vendors to value their own homes more accurately and the question begs to be asked - what, exactly, are we paying real estate agents such high commissions for?
Other countries have
maximised the benefits of the digital world in real estate for years
In the States, the option to sell your own home has already been common practice for over a decade through sites like ForSaleByOwner.com and Zillow. In the UK, the government altered their laws a few years back to make it easier for people to sell their own homes through private websites. It's only natural that Australia will follow suit and the practice of selling your own home will become more common.
Australians are conditioned to believe that hiring a real estate agent is the most effective way to sell a property. But the truth is, some of the sales tactics agents use are outdated, expensive and unnecessary.
Expensive print campaigns are no longer necessary to reach potential homebuyers
As Vendors, we waste thousands of dollars advertising our properties across billboards and print publications because agents tell us this an effective way to reach homebuyers. Yet 90% of buyers are now using the internet as one of their primary research sources (Source: The Digital House Hunt, a Joint Study from the National Association of Realtors). Here's the thing: print ads are an effective way of promoting the brand of real estate agencies, but they're an unnecessary expense when it comes to reaching potential homebuyers. The internet offers everything vendors need to run a successful advertising campaign:
- High reach
- Refined targeting
- Immediate response
Plus it's cheap!
There's a cheaper, more efficient alternative
Selling your own home isn't for everyone, but for those of you frustrated with the current system, it offers you the chance to take back control. To be in charge of your greatest asset and make sure every cent you spend goes towards a successful sale. After all, you are the person most invested in this transaction. You have the greatest passion and will to succeed. And you know the most about your property and its most saleable features. Really, it's no different to selling a camper trailer or car online - and Australians have been doing that for years. Real estate agents have little to no training and Australian homebuyers are already skeptical of them - many would feel more comfortable dealing directly with the vendor.
At Next Address, we bring the buyers directly to you. We have all the tools and advice to guide you so that you feel 100% comfortable with managing the sale of your property and if you follow our steps, we feel confident you can achieve a successful outcome without spending thousands on advertising and agent fees.
Selling your own home is the natural way forward in the digital world. As confidence grows, this practice will become more and more common throughout Australia and across the globe - because it makes sense with everything available to us.
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