Some agents will give inflated prices to put the property on the market, says Knight Frank’s Richard Hardie.
“It’s always good to go for the agent in the middle. I so often hear clients say, ‘Well, you know we didn’t think it was realistic, but we went for it.’ If you feel the valuation is too much then it probably is. Make sure you are realistically priced and you will have buyers coming through.”
While it’s tempting to privately sell your home to avoid paying an agent commission, Adrian Goslett, regional director and chief executive of Re/Max of Southern Africa, warns that what you save in commission fees, you’re likely to lose in market value.
“The longer a home stays on the market, the more likely its price will have to drop to attract buyers. Because private sellers don’t have the same marketing reach as estate agents, their homes are likely to stay on the market for longer.”