Selling fees

hi folks

Lots of purchasing done over the year however now is the first time i have attempted to sell - time to tap out of Sydney apartment market!

Anyhow i have been quoted 2.2% inc GST plus 4k marketing fees from a very good friend of my wifes, is this realistic for the Inner west?

As a side note i know you get what you pay for and he does have a stellar reputation in the area to be fair.

Cheers
Paul

 

Tell him to sharpen the pencil for marketing - $4k is way too much. You don't need newspaper advertising in 2016 unless your market is LOL.

 

I agree, whats a realistic expectation for marketing?

Photos, vids, plans, websites etc...

Cheers

 

My wife's day job is a real estate photographer/videographer/floor plan drawer up in Newcastle. $4k is excessive unless your real estate agent is using Ken Duncan or something to get the photos done.

I would say that agent is making a tidy mark up on that rate.

 

Definately not mates rates that's for sure.
There are plenty of agencies that do fixed costs, or 1% + gst.

 

4k marketing seems slightly high but depends on what you are getting. If that extra money gets you 1,2,3,5 or 10 extra serious buyers it will be well worth it.

2.2% seems okay depends on price point of the unit.

You said the person gets the results so it up to you, it doesn't seem like 'mates rates' but it does seem like standard rates.

 

Nothing against your wife but the photographer is one of the cheapest parts of advertising but probably has the biggest bang for buck.

You have forgotten for sale board, brochures (printing), copywriting, home stylist but the biggest expenses is publishing (websites & newspapers). For websites there is top spot, priority spot, highlight and vanilla all with different costs and features.

Unsure of NSW legislation but in VIC an agent cannot profit from the marketing.

 

Ok cool, just dont want to be screwed. Im happy to pay market rates as he has a great reputation.

Thanks all

 

As always, you must understand what you are getting for your money. I suggest you ask for an itemised breakdown of costs rather than simply a total cost. For what?
Marg

 

I paid $4k for a generic marketing campaign in Melbourne. It was excessive. My biggest complaint was the advertising dollars were very poorly targeted.

^^^ this. Great photos will either attract people to your property or turn them off. I suggest sellers organise their own photographer and if they do a rubbish job they can send them back to the property. When I sold in Melbourne the photos were mediocre but it was difficult to have this rectified because the agent organised the photographer.

 

Nah I hadn't forgotten that stuff. But how does the $1,000 for photography/videography/floorplan then result in another $3,000 worth of stuff?

That's a large amount left over.

 

Here is the breakdown of a marketing package from an agent in Melbourne:-

1. Digital Color 6 x 4 sale board with text and photos
2. Copywriting and proofing
3. Professional photography
4. Detailed floor plan
5. 50 A4 Color brochures
6. Premier websites including highlight listing on realestate.com , raywhite.com, realestateview.com, Jawai.com, homely.com and homehound.com
7. "Just listed" Letterbox drops
8. Database buyer matching
9. Open for inspections
10. Weekly buyer feedback and report

Premium listings are going to chew up some of the $3k left over.

Here is an example of a package costing $4,322 in July 15.
Internet – listing on up to 10 sites $2,821.00

Internet Sites that your Property will be advertised on are
Realestate.com.au includes Highlight Property
Domain Premium Plus
Realestateview.com.au
Nelsonalexander.com.au
Property.com.au
Reviewproperty.com.au
Thehomepage.comm.au
Allhomes.com.au
Millionplus.com.au (if applicable)
www.juwai.com
Premiere listing - realestate.com.au​

1. 8 x 6 Auction Photoboard
2. 100 double sided colour brochures
3. Campaign, Administration & Production
4. Campaigntrack Media Placement
5. Floorplan for back of brochure
6. Auction Day Services
7. Copywriting
8. Internal & External digital photography (8 images)

Note: you should consider if Premium listings are warranted for your property. They are expensive and not always necessary.

 

4-5 years ago I was a REA and you would look at 3k for marketing which wouldn't include newspaper advertising, so with inflation and different market (I don't know Sydney marketing prices but high cost of living usually mean higher cost of services to!). I don't see 4k as out of the park it depends on what is included and we don't have this information so you cannot say 4k is to much.

With the 3k marketing 4-5 years ago it was twilight photos, brochures, copywriting, window display at 3 offices in the local area, floorplan (standard), internet with premium plus listing and highlighted, 90 sec video (not a photo video/flash video/slide show of photos), 8x6 photo board.

Then if you wanted paper advertising it was on top or if you should upgrade anything there was additional cost as well.

The cheapest advertising was 2.2k but it was missing a lot of stuff and was very basic (e.g. Stock for sale board not a photo board) so given it has been a couple of years 3k would likely be the 'cheapest' price but 4k is more standard.

Without knowing what is being included and the difference in cost between Melb vs Syd it is hard to know. I would however assume it is in legislation that the REA cannot profit from marketing.

 

This was comparable to the one I was referring to it was $2,970 but a couple years earlier.

Premium Twilight time internal/external photos (10 Images)
Brochures x 100 (2 Sided)
Copywriting
Window display (Including digital screens x 3 offices)
Floorplan (Standard 35sq home)
Internet 5 sites
Domain.com.au - 9 weeks as Premium Plus Listing
Realestate.com.au - 60 Days Highlight Property
90 Second Video Presentation
8 x 6 Photo Board
eBrochure sent after 10 days

There was some complimentary stuff as well -
Office Newsletters
Auction Invites to Buyer Database
Just listed & Auction Drop Cards

And services as well
Home Stylist - Yes it was free, however we used her for any staging work (if applicable)
Auctioneer (if applicable) - Had in house auctioneers (3-4 but 2 mainly), if the REA doesn't have one this is an additional cost vendors would have to pay
Open for inspections - Thurs & Sat - Doing our job you could argue
Contact potential buyers on database - Again doing our job
Editorial Submission - Submitting to the local paper - requires paper advertising to do this.

So 4 years earlier you would get a 90 sec video + some extra stuff would for $200 more than July 2015.

So you can see that cost have gone up but both packages are very similar in cost and you can also say similar in what you get.

Hence why the 4k doesn't seem unreasonable.

 

Yes, as long as the property warrants Premium listings across a number of real estate sites. Some properties do, some properties don't. If the property is one that does not need a Premium listing, $4k is a waste (IMO).

 

Agree but also depends on how much competition there is in the suburb. Even a crappy property can need premium listing if there is a number of listings for the suburb.

If the suburb has 10 listings it is doubtful but if there are 500 listings then you want to be as high as possible. Not going to explain how the listing priority work but without any premium paid you could be on page 3-20 on day one.

 

For the record marketing fees were less than 0.5% and ave in writing they not making any margin so happy with that.

Open house 14/01/17, thanks all.

 

Nice! I hope the sale goes well