Page 16 - Selling your Home - The CommFREE guide to all you need to know

PRIVATE SALE vs USING AGENTS

To save on estate agency

commissions, some sellers
choose to conduct a private
sale of their property rather

than use an estate agency.

Although a private seller will save on agent fees, this could be a false
economy. Property buyers often take the absence of a commission into
account when they make an offer, and thus offer less for a private sale
property – the reduction in the offer price being equivalent to the
commission that would have been paid to an estate agent. The CommFREE
option gives the seller all the benefits of having a full estate agency service
and at the same time saving the seller thousands of Rand in commission.

WHO IS THE MOST PERSUASIVE IN SALE NEGOTIATIONS: A PRIVATE SELLER OR AN
ESTATE AGENT?

There is some debate about whether an estate agent or a private seller is better at getting a

buyer to put pen to paper. Top estate agents are trained sales professionals and are thus
invariably more skilled at handling buyer objections and at closing a sale. However,
owners know their house and area best and so buyers sometimes prefer being able to deal
directly with them in a private sale.

Some believe that buyers have to “fall in love with the house” in order to buy and that no
amount of sales talk by an estate agent will get a buyer that doesn’t like a property to
change their mind. However, as selling and buying a house is an emotional experience, it
can really help to have an experienced estate agent as the intermediary between the two

parties.

Ultimately the success of a private sale depends on the seller’s marketing skills as well as
their confidence and emotional maturity, because buyers can be very critical. When the
property market is poor and buyers are scarce and wary, a great estate agent is often

crucial to achieving a sale.

16 Title of the book
16
The CommFREE Guide to Selling your Home