Despite the changing property marketing homes in Mosman and across Sydney’s lower north shore are holding strong in terms of value and demand. With Mosman remaining as the most highly sought after suburb in Sydney, the question of whether selling now is a good idea is yes. So the next question to ask is how to sell.
When it comes time to sell your Mosman home, you have two choices, by public auction or by negotiation through your real estate agent, which is also known as a private treaty sale.
Why sell your property at auction?
When selling a prestige property in Mosman, Neutral Bay, Cremorne and Balmoral, an auction can be an excellent sales strategy.
Auctioning your property can work effectively when buyers are all sitting around the same price point. Mosman buyers are commonly ‘in the market’ for some time. Those who have done their research (and possibly missed out of a few properties) will be the most motivated to make a purchase.
If you don’t feel comfortable accepting initial offers, setting an auction date helps create a deadline for buyers and provides an open and transparent forum in which buyers can negotiate. Having a deadline also prompts property buyers to sort out their finances, as they know the offer they put in at auction will be non-retractable.
In an auction scenario, the timeline is under your control. Selling by negotiation keeps your sales price private.
As the home seller, you have better peace of mind, knowing there is likely to be a firm end-date for your property sale.
What’s most important to understand, however, is that by setting an auction date, doesn’t necessarily mean you will sell by auction. In actual fact, a property auction had three separate sales opportunities
Selling prior to auction
The marketing period prior to your auction date provides your agent with the chance to put their ‘feelers’ out. They will invite prospective buyers to view your home, which helps gauge interest levels. Conversations with buyers pre-auction help your agent determine its price point in the market and how much competition there is likely to be on auction day.
You may find a purchaser is motivated to pull out all stops and make a strong offer before they have to face the competition at auction. In this case, you will save yourself the cost of holding an auction and can potentially negotiate terms that better suit you.
Selling at auction
On auction day, with the help of the right agent and an effective property marketing campaign, you will be able to gather a healthy crowd of enthusiastic bidders. A talented and experienced auctioneer will encourage a nervous and excited crowd to keep those bids coming beyond the reserve.
When you sell your home at auction, there is no cooling-off period. The buyer’s offer is final. Even if there is no successful bidder, current legislation gives the agent until midnight to secure an unconditional offer for you, which will come without a cooling off period.
Selling post-auction
With demand being so high for properties of all sizes in the highly sought-after area of Mosman, it is rare for a property to fail to sell at auction due to lack of interest.
In my experience, a reserve set too high is usually the main reason for a property being passed in at auction. When this does occur, it provides the opportunity to talk to buyers about why they didn’t bid higher and establish the true value of the property. Quite often, a reconsideration of expectations means a sale can be negotiated very quickly after auction day.
On other occasions, there have been interested buyers but they have failed to secure finance or complete their due diligence ahead of the auction day. A passed-in property provides them with a second chance to get organised and make an offer.
Selling your property by private treaty
In some circumstances, your agent may recommend that your property be marketed for sale via private treaty. This tends to happen with unique properties at the prestige end of the market, where the property is unique and there will be less buyers at that premium price point.
Before you choose your selling agent, have a discussion with them about your feelings around selling at auction versus private treaty. If you feel strongly about either method good agent will respect this and suggest an alternative strategy personalised to your requirements.
For most vendors, auction day is an excellent way to sell their home. Plus there is nothing more exhilarating than hearing that all-important ‘SOLD’ call and the drop of the hammer.
