The real estate secrets to making more money when you sell your house

This simple strategy is not something you do to your property, it’s actually something you offer to the buyer. LISTEN to the podcast for more property advice.

Selling property involves more focus on emotion rather than logic, says a leading agent.

One of the nation’s leading real estate agents has a simple piece of advice for anyone looking to maximise their profit when selling their property.

McGrath’s Tony O’Doherty says it’s easy to overlook, but when it comes down to what people are prepared to pay emotion beats logic every single time.

“You want them to buy with emotion and justify with logic … because logically I can get you a better price through emotion than I can through logic,” O’Doherty says in the latest episode of The Australian’sThe Money Puzzle podcast.

O’Doherty has sold more than $270m worth of residential property over the past year alone, mostly in Brisbane.

He’s lucky to be selling in a hot market, and his specialist patch of the city along the Brisbane River around Bulimba is highly desirable.

His message to property owners, whether they are owner-occupiers or investors, is universal. You’re not selling a house, you’re selling a home.

“When you think of the most important things in a campaign, there is optimisation of the sale price, there is presentation … but how do you bring emotion into a property?

“So at the start, it might be a lick of paint, a new carpet, someone to fix the imperfections. You get a pest report. You find anything a buyer might find in advance of their viewing … and you fix it,” he says.

“Then there is styling a home. Almost every home that we sell now is styled. But the reason for all this is emotion.

“You want that husband and wife to walk in the door and really want it.”

McGrath’s Tony O'Doherty

According to O’Doherty when it comes to the final decision on whether to make the purchase or not, more often than not it’s a woman who’ll make or break the deal.

“Women make the fundamental decision when buying homes,” he says.

“You want them to walk in and buy it as a home … not as a property. You need to appeal to them.

“And if they want it then the price becomes less (of an issue),” he says.

How to choose an agent

As for selecting which real estate agent to sell your property, O’Doherty tells The Money Puzzle to focus on performance.

“Who’s the main guy or girl in your geographical area? Remember, this is a geographical sport,” O’Doherty says.

“You hire somebody who is quite dominant in your area.

“You sit them down. And you talk to them and see who it is you feel that you can trust in a more holistic way.”

Many sellers focus on the cost to sell the home, but O’Doherty warns to be careful making a decision purely on an agent offering the lowest fees.

“You should disregard fees, disregard marketing, because all too often, a vendor will say to me, ‘Oh, we want to work with you, but your marketing budget is $8000 and this guy is $4000,” O’Doherty tells The Money Puzzle podcast.

“But I’ll suggest that’s not a reduced marketing budget. That’s a reduced level of exposure.”

You can listen to more episodes of The Money Puzzle podcast here.

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