Real Estate Investor Magazine South Africa May 2014 | Page 66

LESSONS

BY TRACEE HARVARD

Selling your home?
Take great care in using this position of power wisely

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oday’s residential property market seems to
lie favourably with the seller as the demand
for property increases. However, just because
this may be the case, doesn’t mean as a seller that you
are in the pound seat necessarily.
There are a few valuable points you should remember
before even placing your property on the market.

1

When searching for an estate agency, do
your homework. Find out which estate
agencies operate in your area, find out how
reputable they are and how successful they
are in terms of helping people to buy and
sell property in the area. Ask around, speak
to neighbours and friends in the area who
have perhaps sold or are in the process of selling their
properties to see what their experiences have been like.
Word of mouth is a powerful tool. But most critical is
making sure your chosen estate agent provides you with
a marketing plan to help sell your property. Agents
operate on commission, but just because they may offer
you a lower commission rate doesn’t mean that you will
be in good hands and in fact could be a sign that things
like not having a market plan in place and not knowing
the area very well will come into focus.

2

Read the contract thoroughly with the
estate agent. It is vitally important that you
understand exactly what you are getting
yourself into. Once you have signed, you
are legally bound to meet its requirements.
If there are things unclear to you, ask and
ask again to have them repeated until you
have full understanding of what is required of you as
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