blog

For Sale

Posted: 01-07-09

I've got a bit of time on my hands and the summary of Bear Grils' adventures over his previous episodes of Man Vs Wild, just aren't doing it for me right now.

So that mammoth task that Tasia and I had chosen to fill all our spare time with been over the last 2 and a half years is finally complete. When I say "Complete" I mean: Finished, no more jobs, no more pencil-scrawled and never-ending lists attached to the fridge.

We were originally going to seek advice and information from as many sources as possible before marketing and selling the house by ourselves to save on the huge cut Real Estate Agents like to leverage out of their vendors.

After having spoken to two local agents however, and without alerting them to our possibly wishing to go down the home-sell route, we pretty much dissuaded ourselves anyway. From what we can tell there is a need to answer potential buyers' questions in a manner which is necessarily positive and allows for the greatest amount of flexibility in the interpretation of an answer.

Buying and selling property is an inherently inexact science with a heck of a lot of effort required on the part of the seller, be they home-selling like were going to do or an experienced agent. We decided that we were not able to confidently and satisfactorily answer the queries of potential buyers, deal with the hassle of being around for open homes and all the rest of it, all without any kind of recourse to experience. So we've engaged the services of a popular local agent who has been more than forthcoming as to how to price a property, deal with inquiries and all the rest of it.

It's a bit of a pain the arse right now given that we have to be able to present the house to prospective buyers at the drop of a hat. So, getting up earlier than usual, we have to clean surfaces, vacuum and mop floors, neaten up towels, cupboards, and sofa cushions.

A colleague at work, who is actually looking to buy property elsewhere in Wellington, said to me today how he hated it when vendors prettied up their properties with flowers and cushions. While I agreed with him on the grounds that it just isn't real or representative of the house or even as to how the owners really live, I also stated that we need to sell the house and the difference between a clean house and clean and well-presented house, wasn't too much in terms of energy. It's just the frequency with which this thoroughness needs to be carried out that I can imagine would start to do your head in after a few weeks on the market - and we've only been on for two days!

Have a look at the Tommy's Real Estate Agent website for our home's listing.

Cheers for now folks,
Russ