Hello

The answer to this question is not really or not very much. That is a generalisation of course, but my point is that 90% of real estate agencies will present properties in around the same manner. The remaining 10% are B-Grade operators that you probably wouldn’t use to sell your house. Almost all agencies will recommend professional photos, copy writing, a floor plan, a brochure, sale board and most importantly, the main internet portals. Every now and then it could be useful to use property videos, an interactive floor plan or international internet sites. Some agents suggest these “extra” things just to show a point of difference. I believe that they are often a waste of money. Think about it, does your buyer need any of these extras to be motivated to see your home?

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You need to be careful of agents offering freebies. They might say that they can do the photography, or they can produce a brochure at their office. It’s just not worth it. Professional photography is usually around $300 and 100 brochures might cost you another $150, whereas the internet portals are likely to cost you $3,000 to $4,500. So why risk the presentation of your home over a “saving” of around $450? They might even offer the internet portals for half the price, but that is fraught with risk. That saving could mean that you have a smaller advertisement or start on page 3 or that the agent is excluding one of the important sites.

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So, in theory the cost of advertising shouldn’t vary too much from office to office. They are allowed to charge a service fee. That is for advertisement placement, system costs and staff costs. From agency to agency the costs should be within 10-15% of each other. Of course, some get better deals with their suppliers than others and some get a bit cheeky on the service fees. In general, I recommend a basic campaign that includes just the important items. A lot of the other stuff does more for the agent’s profile than it does for selling the house.

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Overall, many sellers aren’t too worried about the out-of-pocket advertising prices as they may believe that once the property has sold the amount won’t really matter. However, what if the property doesn’t sell? Then you are left with a debt that could be quite significant. Or you might sell but for your bottom-line price so that $1,000-$2,000 might feel more important then. Like anything it’s important to get the deal that represents the best value for you.