When to sell .. Sydney

Hi guys,

I have somewhat decided to sell my PPOR which was going to be turned into and IP when I bought my new house.

I'm in Sydney and I think this unit has done its dash with growth.

My question is when do you think is a good time to put it on the market ?

Start of year ? Close to tax time ?
End of year a bad time and too close to January?

I'll be keeping a watch on my local market as there is about 4 for sale right now of the same caliber so I don't want to throw it up now with so much competition out there.

I'd be happy with the price I would get now but don't want to rush around Christmas time with no real exit plan.

Is there anything I should look out for ? This is my first property sale.

What should I budget for the selling fee ? I have been told about 15k is this close to the mark?

This is my PPOR so there's no capital gains tax right?

Thanks for any help.

 

Which suburb? There are some that I would say "never sell". Like my colleague who sold out of Redfern.

 

Selling fee depends. Some agents offer a flat fee, others want a percentage. The agent I'm currently dealing with is 2% +gst.

PPOR doesn't have capital gains tax provided you haven't rented any portion of it, or used any portion for business purposes etc.

 

Spring? ie now! Don't wait too long as you'll miss the prexmas settlement.

 

Strongly consider staging the sale with a stylist bringing in furniture, etc to make the property look its best.

Declutter, declutter, declutter.

What condition is the property in? A lick of paint and new carpet could do wonders for resale value. See what else a stager/stylist recommends.

 

We've just sold a unit in Manly ( two weeks ago ) . Think it was a good time as very little comparable on the market .

It's very hard to pick time to sell as you never know what's around the corner . We've seen consistently good sales toward the end of Winter , but the other time that's gets consistent recommendations re timing from RE agents we've talked to is Feb, just after everyone get back from holidays .

It's not a time you'd typically put a house on the market , as you normally get things ready in the month or so before hand and most people are relaxing on holidays , However Christmas IS a time for reflection so people may well decide to move and start looking for a house when they come back from holidays .

We seriously thought of holding our sale back till Feb, however the lease finished in Mid July so we could go in , do a quick reno and have it on the market for an end of winter sale . We were watching the market very closely and there was very little on the market so we went then and got a price that was above our optimistic and informed expectations . We knew we'd get a good price , and because of the uncertainty of not knowing what's just around the corner we went .

Cliff

 

Agree, though it depends on your strategy, buy an hold, or Growth/split/develop/flip.....

Id wait a bit over a month, get organised and list when the weather is just a little better

Everyone says Declutter, and peoples opinions vary.
So get some outside help, spending a few dollars can really be worth it.

Good Luck

 

I have a property on the Lower North Shore that I tried to sell this year in February-March with a tenant in it. It didn't look its best but it's a great unit surrounded by $2million dollar houses no others within 100m, <10m walk to St Leonards station, national park 50m away. I got two offers under my $730K expectations. 2 brm, 60s blonde brick block, great kitchen, spotted gum wide floorboards with 60s/70s bathroom and all gas. Rented for $570 per week. I won billboard advertising from ANZ bank and got Gore Freeway advertising and motor cycles trailing with billboards around the LNS. No sale.

Went on the market again this month, no tenant, presented beautifully, have had 3 offers, and 4+ keen buyers going to auction this weekend. Agree with @See Change - it's v stressful. If I don't sell it won't worry me as its positively geared but I want to upgrade my PPOR to a bigger unit. Hopefully this will be me on Sat arvo

 

Good luck Cia . The market seems to be quite strong at the moment . We've had two houses sell within 50 yards of our house in the last couple of weeks ( both of which will be knocked down and have " another meadowbank " built on them ) . We paid 1.15 under three years ago and these both sold for over 1.9 ( the one with the north facing block but crappier house sold for more ).

Some friends sold their nice character house closer to the station for just over 2 mill about a year ago when they thought the market was at it's peak .

Just seems to be going from strength to strength .

Having the unit tenant free and very nicely presented is the key IMHO .

Cliff

 

I would not waste any time if you have decided to sell.

 

is me. @dabbler @See Change 7 registered bidders. 818K result. I was hoping for over 800K but thought perhaps $775-800. The auction started at 650K and was over in a flash leaving me stunned with the result but dancing on the inside. Now I am even more excited to be back looking at upgrading to the next PPOR probably a unit either in Inner West or Gladesville but firmly with adding value (I want to do my own renos). Who'd think 6 mths could make $100K difference?

 

Congrats Cia!

 

Well, there you go, well done !

 

Congrats Cia

Cliff

 

I'm trying to sell at the moment, Northern Beaches 2 bedroom unit. Scheduled for auction this weekend, was hoping to sell before auction but interest so far is minimal.

If I do proceed with auction, there is only like 2-4 known possible bidders and with maybe 1-2 serious one. Very stressful, should I cancel the auction or proceed with auction and hope for a miracle on the day?

There is very little competition (if any) so I am very curious why the interest is so low. The only competition out there are older units with only 1 bath or similar spec unit but asking for higher price.

 

I've seen good results in bne in feb. People come back refreshed and determined to buy

 

We were a little surprised and concerned at the lack of multiple serious bidders but it didn't stop us getting what we thought was a very good price .

I think what's happening is that a number of buyers have been burnt by missing out so are reluctant to bid so they can avoid the frustration of " missing out again " .

We had feedback from some potential buyers who said they expected our unit to go well over the quoted price range so they didn't try to buy it . It went 20 k over the upper limit , not the 100-200 that they thought it would ( and we dreamed it would .....) .

I'd still go ahead with the auction , but as long as your price is realistic , stick to it . We didn't sell at auction , but on the Monday after .

I've seen a few places not sell at auction but sell shortly after . Many buyers seem to be reluctant to bid at auctions as they don't want to pay over the top at a time when there is a general perception the market is close to the top.

BTW , it is a frustrating , stressful situation , and we were surprised at how stressful we found it . Normally we don't sell at auction , but in the current market in Sydney , it seemed the way to go .

Cliff

 

Not a great position to dind yourself days out from the auction.

• Are there any real contenders?
• What is the agent telling you?
• Do you have one party who the agent can negotiate with preauction?
• Are you set on going to auction?
• It's hard to hold an auction without a crowd or bidders.

 

@See Change has said it too. Now I'm buying, I'm too scared to go to an auction on because I've seen how prices get inflated on my own property and on this one in Ashfield - which I didn't imagine would be more than $825 let alone $928K they got yesterday:

11/25-27 Chandos Street Ashfield NSW 2131 - Apartment for Sale #123558926 - realestate.com.au

It's amazing what good photos do for an auction. I inspected this property and felt it didn't look as good as its photographs - impractical renovations ie huge BLACK bathroom, no bathtub and tiny basin - no storage, and views across a run down rooftop from the main balcony. The bathroom had the best view of the city. The quality of the finishings was great, but the kitchen reno was out of proportion for the size of the apartment ie it was too big for 2 brms. Massive kitchens in 2 brm apartments are not necessary.

 

The interesting thing about our auction is that no one bid , BUT , every one intersted knew it would sell , simply because there was very little on the market

They all knew there were lots of people seriously looking , but there seemed to be a group decision not to fight it out at auction because it would push the price up to a silly price and even if they missed out on it they didn't want to push prices up further ....

Does that make sense ?

Cliff