What about first-home-sellers? Let this be your guide to success!

So much is said about the first-home buying process, with online courses, advertised incentives, government guides, coaching from professionals as well as mentoring by friends and families to ensure that first-home-buyers make a great decision when jumping on the property ladder. It is a tough time and a period bursting with nerves and anxiety. Especially in Perth’s real estate market today. The research shows that in 2024 there is a very low percentage of buyers that secure the first property that they make an offer on. It usually takes 2 - 4 written offers on different properties to successfully secure their home. The competition when buying is fierce, and getting one-upped by an experienced cash buyer or an East Coast investor with deep pockets and sky-high confidence is a reality.

But what about the first-home-seller? There is no second or third attempt for them as they only have one property to sell. Their sale is a time-sensitive decision based on a genuine need to move or liquidate. There are very few resources to guide the first-time seller on how they will execute their goal effectively and with supreme confidence. So let this be your guide, my first-home-seller friends!

As an active Perth inner city selling principal, many of our clients fit into this category. And let's face it, the first time is always the hardest, and rarely do you stay in the first property you ever purchase. It is an important stepping stone to securing your financial success and future lifestyle. So getting your first sale right is paramount. It requires guidance, care, and research, as well as guts. You will need to build up the courage to trust your gut instinct when selling your first home.

The first decision many first-time sellers come across (upgraders for example), is whether to keep their current home or to sell it to fund their next purchase. I recommend that you explore this with 2 - 3 professionals, and afterward discuss this with a more experienced homeowner that you know and trust. Your accountant and/or financial planner will help you gain insight into your medium and long-term goals. Your mortgage broker or bank lending office will assess your borrowing power based on your current position, income, and medium-term goals. Your choice of 2 - 3 real estate agents will best prepare you with an accurate sales appraisal, a plan to maximize your sales price, and the likely timing to secure an offer and complete settlement. The timing to secure an offer and the turnaround time for settlement may be just as important as maximizing every dollar you receive for your property, especially if you plan on making an offer subject to sale in this hotter-than-average market.

So you have decided to sell! Tens of questions will now flood your mind, and you want to make the best choices. Achieving the finest sales result is a cumulative process, with many parts making up the whole. Here goes:

• How much money should I spend on marketing my home, if any? To ensure you have wide exposure locally, interstate, and internationally (yes we are selling to many foreign buyers again), every seller should invest $2,500+ for their professional photos, video tour, floorplan, websites, and social media exposure.
• What is a fair and reasonable commission in today’s market? In the first home seller price range, say from $200,000 - $700,000, a fair commission is 2.00% - 3.00%. More importantly, you should choose the agent that represents the best value for money, not the cheapest cost to you. More about this later.
• How much should I fix my home before going to market? It is a given that all of your plumbing, gas, and electrical appliances will need to be in working order. I also recommend that you invest between 1 – 3% of your property value on upgrading your home's presentation, including painting, gardening, lighting upgrades, floor coverings, window treatments, and professional cleaning. Want to save money? Put on a BBQ with friends and family and carry out much of this as a weekend do-it-yourself team project.
• Is furniture staging worth it? Absolutely! And there are ways that you can stage your home for a lower cost than anticipated. You can ask for a full staging package, partial staging package, or staging consultation, where the designer will give you a prescription for you to stage your property as a do-it-yourself task. Remember to get 3 quotes from reputable staging companies, check out their google and social media pages, and ask for a colour/textiles palette specific to your home.
• ·?How do I choose which real estate agent to go with? This comes down to choosing the best value agent for you, based on your research and your gut instinct. I recommend choosing the agent that:

- Aligns best with your communication and personality – Don’t choose the top-selling agent in the suburb if you don’t get along with them!

- Marketing style - Check out their current listings to see if you like how they advertise properties for sale.

- Provides a comprehensive and flexible approach to the marketing plan – Every agent has their preferred marketing plan, but this needs to be adjustable to meet your needs.

- Accurately prices your home based on examples of recent sales - They also need to be optimistic about the sales result that you can achieve.

- Offers several tried-and-tested pricing strategies, and backs their recommended pricing approach – Offers Above, End Date Sale, Expressions of Interest and Auctions are my favourite approaches in 2024.

- Provides additional hand-holding services such as coordination of repairs and furniture styling quotes.

- Is providing a competitive commission rate - Beware of the agent that provides a dirt-cheap commission rate as well as the agent that provides a high initial commission rate but slashes their wage to win your business!

- Has good ratings and reviews – Check out reiwa.com.au, realestate.com.au, ratemyagent.com.au, google and social media.

- Has a winning attitude – Positive minds bring positive results!

- Feels right to you in your gut instinct. Period.

Remember that trusted mentor that I mentioned earlier? After you have done your research, met with several agents, and have a decision in mind about what you are going to do to best present your home, the pricing strategy, your marketing plan, and your preferred agent, it is time to present your case to this trusted mentor. This person will respect the effort that you have gone to and nine times out of ten will reaffirm the decision that you have already made. Then once you are on your way, check in regularly with your agent (once or twice a week is plenty), to ensure that the feedback you need to hear is being delivered promptly. You also need to support your agent with the presentation of your property, easy access for viewings, and your thoughts regarding prospective offers or improvements to boost your selling experience. You and your agent are a team with mutual goals and professional respect for each other.

Two big questions will come up when much of the work has been done but a crucial decision is to be made. It is offer time! The questions are:

• How do I know that the offer I have received is the best? If you have done all of the above and left no stone unturned, you and your agent will know. Trust your agent in their recommendations as we must work in your best interests. Trust your gut instinct as well.
• Should I accept the first offer? Your first offer will either be a very good offer or someone trying to steal it! You and your agent will know if it is the first or the latter by reviewing the feedback provided by buyers who have viewed your home, assessing the recent sales achieved in your market, and tracking the number of buyers who have viewed your home. If you have had 20+ buyers view your home but only one offer, you may wish to seriously consider the offer you have. Remember that you can negotiate the offer you have, not simply accept or reject it. This is when your agent will truly shine.

In today’s market buyer demand is outstripping supply. You will do well when selling in 2024, but you still need to choose well and invest properly in your sales campaign to achieve the best result. Best of luck out there first-home-sellers!

Brendon Habak - Selling Principal