What do buyers perceive when they see a 'Sell It Yourself' sign verus an 'EA' sign?

Just put up our house for sale in Dundrum D14 and was wondering what buyers in south Dublin (or anywhere for that matter) perceive when they see a 'Sell It Yourself' sign verus an EA sign?

I for one would be happy to buy from an owner direct, as I think that if they are saving a lump of cash on the sale, then that'll effect the price they'll take in the end (a little lower than with an EA surely as money in pocket will be same/better after)

So just interested in the gut-feel opinion from buyers as to what you / would think when you see a FOR SALE BY OWNER versus EA SALE?

Cheers

Re: Selling Yourself - Buyers Perception?

Fair play I always wonder that more people do not do this. I would be a bit apprehensive (being a first time buyer) about making an offer as I would go in lower and I would wonder how the seller would react and would it be more difficult to deal with the seller etc as the agent is a bit more neutral

Re: Selling Yourself - Buyers Perception?

I've two friends who sold this way in the past year. Seemed to work fine for them and saved them a couple of grand.

Re: Selling Yourself - Buyers Perception?

I had two friends who had very mixed experiences - both based on the personalities of the sellers.

One friend thought it was great being shown around the house by the owner, as they got a lot more info about the house, area, schools etc.

Another friend was stuck dealing with quite a difficult lady, who trailed round after her when they were inspecting the house and made her feel a bit uncomfortable. Any questions or querys she had were taken as a personal insult against the owner. And when she offered a low price the woman took huge offence!

Re: What do buyers perceive when they see a 'Sell It Yourself' sign verus an 'EA' sig

Personally would much much prefer to deal with an auctioneer than a private seller to the extent that a private seller sign would put me off. But that might be because I have a lot of experience of sales and purchases and I think the bigger distance between buyer and seller the better.

Re: What do buyers perceive when they see a 'Sell It Yourself' sign verus an 'EA' sig

Remember, the EA is a sales negotiator, hopefully highly experienced, maybe even trained.

He should be highly skilled in striking a deal which is what everyone wants at the end of the day. He should be able to manage seller and buyer to ensure a sale.

Even then, some buyers are downright unreasonable / unrealistic, and some sellers are too, and sometimes both. Even the best EA can't make a deal there.

Any decent EA should make money for the seller at least = his fees, plus he is providing a service and saving the seller lots of time and effort in taking calls, doing viewings etc.

If I see a private sale, my first thought is: can I get a bargain here i.e. a below market price from a naive seller, or because other buyers are not aware the house is for sale?

My second is: would it be worth it / messy / waste of time / will this seller be a total pain to deal with?

I would definitely ring them up, and have done, but if I got any time-waster or highly emotional / defensive vibes off them I would walk away. People are funny about their houses, and its great to have the buffer of an EA between the person who thinks its a dream home, and the person who thinks its OK but needs work / redecorating / price reduction.

For all the reasons above I would never sell privately. A good EA is worth the fee.

Selling privately when it works is brilliant, but when it doesn't, its got a lot more scope to be messy.

Re: What do buyers perceive when they see a 'Sell It Yourself' sign verus an 'EA' sig

Thanks for all the replies to date
I guess it does come down to who you are and your own skills - I think if you feel that you do not have the appropriate skills it may be a waste of your time trying to save

I already work in sales and marketing and have bought 4 properties over the years myself - I am yet to meet an EA (having seen maybe 50+ properties with them) who actually ever SOLD me a property nor forced or 'negotiated' anything over what I offered and was willing to pay

From all the comments above it seems that buyers are happy to make contact, but if the seller was wierd, defensive etc. they would back off - and that makes sense ... hopefully I don't fall into that! As for EAs being skilled/trained, my own experience begs to differ

Ultimately I think it comes down to where the house is -if it is in rural Ireland I'd say an EA would be better as you are going to need the myhome.ie presence and a database / local office enquiries etc. However, if it is in city / suburb where the sign attracts and people are actively looking then the 'sellityourself' approach may indeed work

I'm giving it a go anyway for a bit - if after 6/8 weeks it hasn't resulted in enough viewings/ interest I can always hand it to an EA for hopefully more contacts. No harm in trying in case there is a buyer that can be flushed out with a sign in the garden - it only takes one to buy...

Again Tx for the responses to date - still interested to hear from other prospective buyers ...

Re: What do buyers perceive when they see a 'Sell It Yourself' sign verus an 'EA' sig

Can't you put your own house up on Daft.ie which is snapping at the heels of myhome.ie anyway?

Re: What do buyers perceive when they see a 'Sell It Yourself' sign verus an 'EA' sig

It would make no difference to me whether it was sold via the owner or estate agent. I prefer when it's through an estate agent as I do not wish to meet the owner at all. In fact I prefer when estate agents let me see property on my own, I let a property sell itself. If you are doing the selling yourself, give the buyers a bit of room, leave them walk around themselves (go make a cup of tea or something), make them feel at ease, this is so they can criticise or admire things without you hearing. Better for you better for them. And get your house in a saleable condition - no purple walls etc.

Re: What do buyers perceive when they see a 'Sell It Yourself' sign verus an 'EA' sig

daddycool said:

I already work in sales and marketing and have bought 4 properties over the years myself - I am yet to meet an EA (having seen maybe 50+ properties with them) who actually ever SOLD me a property nor forced or 'negotiated' anything over what I offered and was willing to pay

Click to expand...

I hear what you are saying but maybe the EA got you to go to your limit more effectively and more quickly than a private seller would have. With a private sale I feel there is more room for a standoff / stalemate between the parties, with no buffer / mediator between them.

Also, maybe I am a mug but I have found that EAs are very good at getting buyers off the starting blocks with a viewing, then a bid, and then getting them to increase the bid up as far as their real limit.
Meanwhile they are managing the expectations of the vendor, which may not be realistic. In the end they usually get a sale at roughly the market price, as they are incentivised to do.

I doubt if a private seller would be as skilful at moving the buyer through the lifecycle of a purchase.

But your plan makes sense, you sound reasonable, and its definitely worth a shot, hope you get a great price and a smooth sale, best wishes.

Re: What do buyers perceive when they see a 'Sell It Yourself' sign verus an 'EA' sig

Thanks Eamon - don't suppose you fancy buying a house in Dundrum?

Re: What do buyers perceive when they see a 'Sell It Yourself' sign verus an 'EA' sig

I personally would hate to be shown around a house I was interested in buying by the current owners. I would feel that I was unable to properly check out the house or express an opinion for fear of offending. Buying a home should be first and foremost a business transaction and when you are dealing directly with the family this makes things that bit more personal.