HOUSE FOR SALE

House Sales in New Zealand

If you have a house for sale in New Zealand, there are many ways you can sell your house.

While you will have to follow the legal requirements of house selling, you can make other choices about the method you use.

Some of this information will be applicable elsewhere in the world, but in general it is about the New Zealand house selling market.

Real Estate Companies

There are literally hundreds of real estate companies in New Zealand. From internationally known real estate agencies such as Century 21 and LJ Hooker, through to smaller owner operated, area specific real estate companies.

Which company you choose to deal with will depend on a number of factors, including:
- fees
- service
- location
- personal relationship / trust with the real estate agent
- agents' reputation for house selling success

A Real Estate Agent is essentially a salesperson who takes responsibility for advertising and marketing your house for sale to find a buyer - for a fee.

Benefits:
- you can hand the responsibility of selling your home to someone else
- they take care of the advertising etc saving you time
- they usually have a database of potential buyers they can easily call on
- they don't get paid until the house is sold

Disadvantages:
- you will have to pay some of the money from the sale of your home to the Agent
In New Zealand the usual fee charged when the agent sells your home (not before):

EXAMPLE OF FEE STRUCTURE
$500 fee, plus 4% of the sale price of your home
Example: Sale Price - $500,000
Agents Fee - $500 plus $20,000(4% of $500,000) = $20,500 fee
This will vary between agencies, and may be negotiable, but this is a good guide to consider.
- there is often pressure from the Agent for you to reduce your selling price so they can be guaranteed a sale (and their fee)

It can be helpful to better understand the Real Estate marketing tools Agents use. Real Estate Marketing Link provides information to help Agents provide a better service. This info may also be of help to you when buying a house.

House For Sale By Owner

While this is not a new concept, in recent years it has become more common for property owners to take care of the house selling process themselves, due largely to the availability of the internet.

The reason a person chooses to handle their house sale themselves will be many and varied. There can be obvious financial benefits, but there may also be sentimental factors.

Particularly if the property has been in a family for a long time, there can be a desire to ensure the house buyer is someone of a like-mind who will continue to appreciate the house.

However, this can be misguided, as there are many stories out there about family homes being sold to a new family - who are then offered the big bucks by a property developer. This can be a hard opportunity to turn down - as it is essentially a fantastic chance to get ahead financially.

Benefits:
- you don't have to pay anyone else a fee out of the money from selling your home.

Disadvantages:
- more time consuming as you have to do and organise everything yourself
- it can be hard to find potential buyers and useful contacts as you are not always working in the property industry

The Compromise

There are a number of companies around - HomeSell being the most well-known - that are a "mix" between a Real Estate Agency and "House For Sale By Owner".
These companies provide a framework of advice and advertising options, for a fee, to allow you to sell your home yourself.

Benefits:
- support and advice available to give you confidence to "do it yourself"
- while there are some costs, they are significantly less than what you would pay in fees to a Real Estate Agent.

Disadvantages:
- you pay the fees upfront, so if you don't sell your home you have still had to pay the money

Don't have a house for sale? Looking at buying a house?

Want to learn more about NZ Real Estate?