By Gold Coast Bulletin Realestate columnist and host of Lifestyle Channel's Selling Houses Australia Andrew Winter
IN recent months I have been involved with a few houses that just would not sell.
Nothing unusual there, of course, in this market.
However, there has been a common factor that has stood in the way -- admittedly, it is nothing new but I don't think it hurts to let you in on this if you are about to sell.
The house-selling misdemeanor is to not choose a local agent.
Now before you start emailing terse responses to this article saying you used a non-local agent and sold in three days for many millions, I do always say there are exceptions to every real estate rule.
However, as a general rule of thumb, deciding to use a local agent is an easy way to avoid error.
So what constitutes a local agent?
"Local", by definition, has evolved in recent years.
It used to mean their office needed to be local -- a smart space on the main street with lots of windows featuring masses of homes.
But now that may not be the case. By local, I mean it should be an agent with a strong sales record in your area -- even better if it is homes in a similar price banding and type to yours.
As a guide, a local agent in urban and suburban built-up areas can fairly be considered to be someone who is active in your actual suburb and its immediate surrounds.
Look for an agent with sale records of properties similar to yours in the same area type.
The geographical area becomes broader with certain property types where buyers tend to be less suburb specific. This can mean acreage, ocean-frontage or holiday-type housing too or general lifestyle properties.
So if you are selling in these categories look at agents selling in your area first and then work outwards to find someone who has expertise in selling the property type similar to your own.
In the recent cases I was involved with we saw perfectly good agents struggling and not getting a sale, simply because they too had to do a lot more legwork and research than someone who had local expertise.
You should choose a local agent because those who have had recent sales in your area will have an active database for your property, before it even goes to market.
A good local agent will really know your area and how to sell it and be able to reference other sales and market history without even turning on his or her iPad.
Such an agent is likely to be able to best upsell your home because they will know how to compare it in the marketplace and encourage buyers with a confident and honest sales pitch.
Remember real estate agents are there to represent you as the seller and your property, so why would you compromise this in any way by going out of area?
One more final tip.
Rather than going with that top-performing local agent everyone uses, try their No. 2 competitor.
He or she will be hungry for a top result and every sale will count in their pursuit of achieving the accolade of being the area's top-selling agent.
Remember it is not about where an agent puts his office any more. The new local is about the agent with the best local sales record.
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