Q&A

Your questions answered...

Selling my house myself

I am considering selling my house myself. It is a three-bed semi in a six-year-old estate. Two houses sold last year - one through an agent, the other by owner, so I have an idea of the price I should expect. Auctioneers fees will be around €5,500. I know I'll have to pay advertising fees but still, it should be much less expensive. It's a big decision so any advice would be great.

During the boom years most estate agents had an easy ride with eager buyers, high prices and quick sales. Many buyers will admit to only seeing a house once before lobbing in a bid over the asking price and signing on the dotted line a couple of weeks later. However in this market you do have some considerations beyond fees to weigh up. Ask yourself what an estate agent does for you. Basically he values your house, gets buyers in - through advertising, signage or his own agency contacts (i.e. buyers' lists etc) - shows the house, and then negotiates with the buyer to get the best price for you, his client. Getting a house valued is no problem, you can do some advertising yourself through the web or the newspaper. You could write a brochure, get snaps taken and get it printed. But are you up for showing your house yourself, following up on telephone calls and viewings and generally keeping on top of the campaign? Buyers will get nervous if you are not on the end of a phone and professional sounding - they are making the biggest purchase of their lives so want to deal in a professional manner. More crucially, how do you feel about negotiating? Most of us are oddly mortified about talking about money, so how would you feel about playing hardball about a few thousand euro with some lovely young couple? A good agent doesn't get emotionally involved so has no trouble squeezing the last few cents out of a buyer. Remember: be realistic about your own skills and house prices. What your neighbours sold for last year might not be the price you can get this year. Get a couple of agents in, explain your reservations and find out what they can do for you.

We want to auction

Last week in your property supplement, a number of houses were up for auction. In preliminary discussions with agents about the sale of our house we have been advised that an auction is not a viable option in this market - although it is our preferred option.

What the agents doubtless mean is that an auction is not a viable option for your house because of its price range, type or location. Buyers feel in a stronger position now than they have in many years and are taking a long time to make a decision - longer than the traditional three-week auction campaign and they are not interested in the pressurised environment of the auction rooms.

Scan through this supplement and you'll notice that the houses going to auction are almost without exception at the very high end of the market - but even at that you'll also notice that a large number of very expensive houses are being sold by private treaty. Your best bet is to take the professional advice of the sales agent.

Send your queries to Property Questions, The Irish Times, The Irish Times Building, 24-28 Tara Street, Dublin 2 or email propertyquestions@irish-times.ie. Unfortunately, it is not possible to respond to all questions. The above is a representative sample of queries received. This column is a readers' service and is not intended to replace professional advice. No individual correspondence will be entered into.