Off market sales report: Selling your home in Geelong privately could cost you almost $42,000

Cost-cutting Geelong homeowners have been warned taking selling property into their own hands could be costing them about $42,000.

Buyers and vendor advocate Tony Slack, centre: “I know there are some benefits to a vendor to selling off market, but I still feel that the benefit is not price.”

A new report has revealed what selling your home off-market could end up costing you.

PropTrack’s Off-Market Sales Performance report shows that houses, on average, sell for 4.3 per less off-market nationally.

In regional Victoria, sellers risk losing out on an extra $42,000, according to the analysis which looked at 2022 sales when home price growth slowed rapidly.

“In all regions, the average price differential from selling off-market is far more than typical listing costs, suggesting most sellers will still make a bigger return despite the cost of listing by selling through on market campaigns,” the report said.

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PropTrack senior economist and report author Paul Ryan said that selling off-market could come at a significant cost to sellers.

Comparing transaction information from state and territory Valuer-Generals to listed sales, the analysis found that in most cases sellers lost more by selling off-market than via traditional sales methods.

Excluding conveyancing and lender fees, sellers can expect to pay agents commission (typically between 1.6% to 2.75% or a flat fee), marketing costs (between $1000 and $10,000 depending on the approach), home staging if required (basic package starts around $2500) and auction fees (between $400 and $1000), according to Canstar.

PropTrack senior economist Paul Ryan.

“While some sellers might try to save money by not advertising online, this analysis shows the potential earnings lost in the final sale price far outweighs the initial cost of advertising,” Mr Ryan said.

“These results are based on sales in 2022, when home price growth slowed in many regions, reflecting the potential costs of selling off-market in current conditions, where strong buyer demand and limited supply is pushing prices up in most markets.”

Hodges Geelong West agent Jeff Begg, who is a big auction advocate as the best way to draw out potential buyers, said sellers should only entertain selling off-market if they could be assured of getting a price equal or higher than if they advertised the property.

Mr Begg said off-market sellers could reach potential buyers through agent databases and often went down that path because they wanted to protect their privacy.

Auctioneer Jeff Begg: “We would sell off-market if we believed that the result or the outcome was at a level that would be the same as if we went to auction.”

“We do more so with our premium stock and those active buyers that are in the market for something specific.

“At the top end in the market, the buyer might be actively looking with us for one to two years before the right property comes up.

“But our advice as an agent would be that if they were going to sell off-market it would need to be for a figure that we truly believe would be higher or thereabouts what they would get if they went through a full campaign.”

“We would sell on market if we believed that the result or the outcome was at a level that would be the same as if we went to auction.

Geelong buyer and vendor advocate Tony Slack said he liked dealing off-market for buyers as the lower competition often led to favourable prices, but would never recommend selling off-market, except in rare circumstances.

“Your buyer could come from next door, they could be local, they could be interstate, they could be overseas and you just don’t know,” he said.

“On the other side, I love buying off market because I know I’m not going to have as much competition.

“And the ability to buy on your terms because there isn’t others as much competition. As a buyer, you genuinely have got the upper hand.”