Selling my House privately on Daft.

good vibes · 07-04-2025 02:27AM #1

Hi..

If I engage with my Solicitor to sell my house privately on Daft.ie ( no mortgage ) what are the do's & don'ts of selling a house privately on Daft.ie ? & Any tips to get the best offer/ buyer...or as I'm new to this.. would it be better selling through an Estate agent ?

Thanks in advance..

Buddy Bubs · 07-04-2025 05:28AM

If I was selling I'd assume a good estate agent would earn their commission, what is it about 2 to 3%? On a 400/500k house it's 10 to 15k, I'd expect an estate agent would generate interest and negotiate this amount and more for me. And remove a load of hassle of viewings and negotiation.

Just my thought, I'm not an agent!

magicbastarder · 07-04-2025 06:23AM

Less than that. Typically 2% or under. Selling privately is penny wise, pound foolish. You'd need to be able to do at least 98% as good as someone who does it for a living and who people actually approach when they want to buy a house.

That's not saying that all estate agents are going to do a good job.

Seth Brundle · 07-04-2025 07:52AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058405329/selling-my-house-privately-on-daft

When you say that you will engage your solicitor to sell your house on Daft, what do you mean? Are you saying that they will be actively selling the property for you? If so, this would not be a wise route to follow (who will do the showings and talk to bidders?)

As for you selling it yourself privately, there is nothing wrong with that approach but you've no experience in it. We bought our first house in 2000 via Buy & Sell and I reckon despite the market then, we saved money on the purchase because they weren't very savvy.

My advice would be to get someone experienced to sell it i.e. an estate agent!

Calahonda52 · 07-04-2025 08:23AM

~~Selling my House privately on~~ Daft.

One exception, when you actually know the person who is buying it.

eg, When I was selling my first house, went into neighbour as a courtesy to tell him.

He asked how much had I in mind: I said 33,000. [1985: Dublin 14]

He said he would buy it for his son, gave me 1000 cash there and then as deposit and we closed in 3 weeks .

House sold in 5 minutes!

paulpd · 07-04-2025 08:51AM

I recently got a quote of 0.85% from a very reputable estate agent. They're building stock at the moment. I pay for their photographer separately. 2% to 3% is crazy.

paulpd · 07-04-2025 08:52AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123333699#Comment_123333699

They also show the current offers on their website.

good vibes · 07-04-2025 03:03PM

Hi... thanks.. can you tell me who that Estate agent is please ?

Hooked · 07-04-2025 03:33PM

I tried the DIY route via Daft a few years back… a learning experience but not one I'd repeat.

Firstly, a LOT asked why are you selling yourself? As if something was 'wrong' with the house! And all the legwork - answering calls, taking bids, getting back to the under bidder… and arranging viewings - which were also awkward - as they know they are walking around YOUR house!

The same house was eventually sold 3 years ago (initial move fell through). We expected a figure. The EA got us 20% more than we had expected. And handled the bidding perfectly between the last 2 bidders.

EXAMPLE: They may make 2% on a 300K sale (6,000) - but if they get you 20% over asking (60K), it'll be the best money you've ever spent!

It's a sellers market. Employ an EA and stay away from daft!

JVince · 07-04-2025 03:45PM

where on earth are people getting Estate agent rates of 2% & 3%?

I've recently put my parents house on the market after probate and the HIGHEST quote was 1.5% + advertising costs.

We settled on 1% + costs with a "big name" agency.

I'm also selling an investment property in a rural area and agreed 1.25% (one offered under 1%) and again the highest initial quote was 1.5%.

DO NOT do it yourself unless you really really know what you are doing and can spot chancers. The 1.25-1.5% you spend will be well worth it.

good vibes · 08-04-2025 01:39AM

Thanks.. could you tell me the names of the estate agents please..

good vibes · 08-04-2025 01:52AM

Thanks for the replys guys..I appreciate it..

Anybody work with Auctionerra ? Also can anyone recommend a reasonable & reputable estate agent in Dublin.. ie Fee =1 % ?

thank you.

kirving · 08-04-2025 02:35AM

I don't personally have much, if any time, for estate agents, but why do you care about 1 vs 2%?

A good estate agent, with the right buyer (potentially someone they are already selling a house for), will easily net you far more than their fee.

Go with someone local to the area, who has a good reputation above all else.

Seth Brundle · 08-04-2025 06:30AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123336507#Comment_123336507

Just contact the ones selling within your area and ask them their rates, etc.

HeidiHeidi · 08-04-2025 07:15AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123336507#Comment_123336507

I've noticed around my area and areas I hang around in that estate agents, bar the few big national ones, are quite localised and seem to specialise in small enough areas.

Drive around your local area, see which signs are up, and contact them all and see what they have to say.

I sold an apartment a couple of years ago, had decided on principle to go with one agent (he was selling the next door apartment and plenty others around the area) - but when I met him and one other, the other one won hands down on professionalism and just gut feeling - gave the other one the contract and he got me a great price and was an absolute pleasure to deal with.

Put a little bit of time and effort into it, pay the 1-1.5% to whoever you feel best about, and it'll be well worth it

magicbastarder · 08-04-2025 07:26AM

Many years since we sold. Big variation in the quality of the EAs we approached. One nationally known agency was shocking. The funny thing was I'd been warned about them and they did exactly what we were told they'd do, which was want to flip it quickly. This was in late 2011, near the bottom; they wanted to sell it quickly too an investor for 80% the price we eventually got.

TheWonderLlama · 08-04-2025 08:08AM

Honestly, If i see a house being sold privately, i assume 1 of 2 things.

Vendor is a cheapskate so expect the same of the property with lack of investment/maintenance.
There is something badly wrong with the property and vendor wants to offload it quickly.

Either way, i'd avoid it like the plague. Nothing personal, just my 2c.

mykrodot · 08-04-2025 08:13AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123333636#Comment_123333636

love it! Those were the days, before fees and middle men for everything, before engineers reports, compensation claims, professionals screwing the ordinary person.

My sister went Sale Agreed in October last, she is in the process of trying to get the sale closed. The buyers are now trying to get discount on trees that have Ash die back and they want them cut down and removed!!! They also want a discount on a garage that is part of the house but has not been extended?. They agreed to buy the house as they saw it, now 6 months later deposits are still not paid. Estate agents in this case have been appalling. No wonder people think they could do it themselves.

Don't sell a house yourself if this is the first time you are doing it, you have zero experience.

If going for an EA, get one who is an expert in your area, they can sell it far better than someone who isn't. Don't scrimp on the difference between 1%-1.5%- at the end of the day it's nothing and you'll get that back in the price they get for you. I have NEVER heard of a fee over 1.5% and I sold 6 houses in my lifetime, the most recent just 2 years ago.

brokenbad · 08-04-2025 08:14AM

Sold my previous house privately on Daft back in 2017 - i think it cost @ €250 at the time to place the ad. Took all my own photos with a decent camera, copied and pasted some wording and auctioneers spiel from ads for similar houses for sale in the same estate and requested viewings strictly by appointment at weekends only.

Had a total of 5 viewings over a 2 month period which i conducted myself with the prospective buyers. Within 3 months i had sale agreed €8k above the asking price due to the fact 2 couples were actively bidding against each other and when one dropped out, i shook hands with the others on the deal.

At that point, solicitors details were exchanged to handle deposits, contracts, etc. The whole process went very smoothly start to finish with minimum stress. I happened to be lucky with the buyers though, who were genuine people and didn't mess me about - they were keen to close the sale as quickly as i was.

I estimate i saved myself @ €4k in auctioneers fees. Would certainly do it again if i had to.

magicbastarder · 08-04-2025 08:18AM

you've no idea what the house might have gone for if there had been auctioneers involved. you know what you saved, but you can't quantify what you might have lost. if there had been auctioneers involved, perhaps there would still have been two couples actively bidding. or three. or four…

BorneTobyWilde · 08-04-2025 01:07PM

It's a sellers market. I know someone in UK was selling, multiple estate agents valued it, 650k - 700k , he sold privately for 1.6m

t5max · 08-04-2025 07:15PM

Hi,

I wasn’t aware that you could actually use Daft or Myhome without being a registered estate agents ? . . . guessing I’m wrong if this thread exists . .

That said, I’ve used Auctioneea 3 times as a seller over the past 9 years and found them very good. The only real difference I could see was a huge saving in fees compared to the larger well known estate agents.

Generally when people look at houses for sale, they typically don’t care who’s selling it.

It’s a sellers market out there at the moment so estate agents have an easy job.

Houses sell themselves at the present time so why pay 1.25% + VAT @ 23% if there’s an opportunity to sell yourself and save the 7 or 8,000 euro ++ in fees

There's not really much work in taking a few phone calls, and, arranging viewings and taking some bids.

Regarding an actual sale price, everyone has a reasonable idea of what their house is worth. Daft, Myhome and the property price register can be utilised to get a good idea of what a realistic sale price should be

The important legal side of property sales in terms of searches, deeds etc is carried out by solicitors. The selling part is easy peasy in my opinion

Musicrules · 08-04-2025 07:37PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123338915#Comment_123338915

You're not wrong. You can't use daft unless you're a registered estate agent.

Selling my House privately on Daft.

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