The cost of privately selling your home

The urge to sell your home privately may be tempting, but any mistake you make could prove costly.

Chief Executive Officer of Professionals Western Australia, Shane Kempton, said with a major financial investment like property, obtaining professional assistance to market your home is a 'must'.

"Private sellers who assume that they can easily sell a home should take into account that only a very small number of people who undertake a professional real estate course are successful and stay in the real estate industry long term," Mr Kempton said.

Sellers who decide to privately market their home, rather than use the services of a licensed REIWA real estate agent, often choose to do so because they believe they can achieve their target selling price themselves, while saving on commission.

"Negotiation skills are a key factor in why private sellers have difficulty achieving the market price of their home.

"The market reality is that because it is a private sale, buyers will try to negotiate the price down further, believing the seller has a much larger margin of discount available.

"Because they are emotionally attached, they also tend to overprice their home which means the property stays on the market longer and becomes 'stale', with the end result being the seller may have to sell the property for lower than its original market value," Mr Kempton said.

Another drawback of private selling is the limited level of market exposure.

"A good real estate agent will have a data base of potential buyers and if they belong to a large real estate group, the home has the potential to be marketed nationwide as well as internationally through the internet," Mr Kempton said.

There is also a lot of paperwork involved with selling a home. REIWA real estate agents are skilled in this area, but private sellers run the risk of losing money if the contract is not completed properly.

"While only a small percentage of sellers - less than three percent - decide to sell their own home, they should be fully aware of the potential losses before considering this course of action.

"For most people their home is the biggest single investment in their life, so when they decide to sell it they should use a professional real estate agent," Mr Kempton said.

Read Shane Kempton's realestateconversation.com.au.blog.