Understand the costs of selling real estate

Selling fees for Real Estate Agents have been deregulated for some time. Real Estate Agents are required by law to make prospective vendors aware that their fees are negotiable.

Generally when selling in Stonnington the better credentialed agents will charge a fee in the vicinity of 2% of the sale price of a property. This may vary if a vendor prefers to remunerate their appointed agent with a performance based selling fee structure (eg. 1.75% of the sale price up to $1,000,000 plus an incentive of 10% of any price in excess of $1,000,000)

As Real Estate is a service based industry GST also applies to agents fees and most Stonnington agencies charge a marketing or file establishment fee for properties they are actively marketing through the print media.

Whilst advertising costs and establishment fees are payable regardless of the property selling Agents fees are only payable if the property is sold. When appointing an agent also ensure that they are a member and bound by the rules of the Real Estate Institute of Victoria.

The deregulation of Real Estate fees was put in place to encourage competition within the Real Estate industry. Whilst a competitive fee is important be aware that the cheapest agent may not be the best agent to achieve the ultimate goal of selling your property for the best possible price.

The little you may save yourself by appointing the cheapest agent could cost you 10’s of thousands of dollars at the time of selling. If they are willing to give their own money away as a professional negotiator what sort of job will they do in getting the best price in the end for your property?

For further information on selling fees contact Mark Williams on (03) 9832 1122 or 0417 189377

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