Advertising your Property

Effectively marketing a property to attract interest is integral to achieving an optimal selling price. The sales representative will typically offer a range of recommended options and advice about the most appropriate avenues of marketing the property. These recommendations will depend on the individual circumstances and will generally incorporate the location of the property, the property type, the price range, market conditions and the vendor’s requests.

Unless otherwise specified, the vendor will be responsible for the costs of marketing and advertising and these agreed estimated costs must be itemised and contained in the Sales Agency Agreement. Any variations to the marketing and advertising must be in writing and signed and dated by both the vendor and agent. Vendors should not agree to a general marketing levy or expend any money without having seen a marketing plan of how the money is to be expended.

Vendors should carefully read any advertising and promotional materials prepared by the agent and approve it before it is published.

The price or price range that the agent uses to advertise a property has to follow strict legislative guidelines. These guidelines have been devised to combat underquoting - or bait advertising - where the agent advertises a price lower than the vendor is willing to accept to lure buyers to the property.

Under current South Australian legislation, phrases such as ‘offers above’, ‘high $500s’ and ‘over $300,000' are now not allowed. The property can be marketed in three ways:

• Set price
• Price range
• No price

In using a price range, the upper figure cannot exceed 110% of the lower figure. For example $500,000-$550,000 or $250,000-$275,000.

While the means and methods of advertising can vary, it still remains the most powerful tool to sell properties. With the latest technology, advertising techniques can reach a large proportion of people through the internet and mobile phones, as well as the traditional forms such as newspapers, signboards and brochures.