How to sell your Melbourne home remotely

Selling your home can be stressful enough. Now, imagine doing it from another city, state or even country.

It’s not ideal, but there are instances when you may need to sell your Melbourne home remotely. Maybe you need to move overseas for work or return home for a family emergency. You may be tasked with selling an estate or have simply decided that you no longer want to hang onto a certain investment property.

If you’re considering selling your home from afar, there are a number of things to consider – perhaps foremost of which should be who you can count on to do the dirty work.

There are certain challenges to selling a home remotely.

Ask yourself: could this be a valuable investment property?

You may have never seen yourself becoming a landlord, but before putting the for sale sign in the ground, ask yourself: could I rent out this property? This means determining if:

• The property is in an attractive and profitable rental market
• Renting the property would be less hassle than selling it

If your property is in Melbourne’s northern suburbs, hanging onto it may be a very good option. That’s because the north of Melbourne has a surging rental market, with suburbs regularly ranking among Real Estate Institute of Victoria’s (REIV) top performers for rental yields.

Of course, managing a rental property in a city you no longer live in is no easy feat either. Comprehensive property management will be key, and you’ll want a team like Nelson Alexander’s with thorough market knowledge and a collaborative network of managers.

If you can’t hold off, determine your motivation level

Depending on your circumstances, you may be in a rush to sell, or you may be willing to give it a bit more time. Your motivation will determine both your price as well as your method of sale. If things need to be expedited, selling at auction is likely your best bet.

Just because you’re ultra motivated to sell quickly, however, doesn’t mean you need to lower your standards for pricing. A real estate agent who knows the market well will help you determine a price that will be competitive for buyers but also desirable for you.

Make the right changes – but don’t overcapitalise

To sell your Melbourne home remotely, it needs to be in tip-top shape. Getting it there, however, can be particularly challenging when you aren’t nearby.

Certain changes will need to be made to get your home ready for sale.

Again, this comes down to building a relationship with the right real estate agent. You want to work with someone who knows the market inside and out – only that kind of agent can recommend you make the changes your target buyers are actually looking for. This ensures your renovations will add real value and minimise the risk of overcapitalising, which can occur when you renovate a home beyond the value your prospective buyers are willing to pay for it.

At Nelson Alexander, our real estate agents can even help recommend tradespeople and cleaners to come in and get your property ready for inspections. That’s because we have a well connected network and regularly need to find such services for properties we manage.

To find out more about how we can help you sell your Melbourne home remotely, reach out to the team at Nelson Alexander today.