property,know the local real estate market well, and have good knowledge of planning and building.

Valuation is not an exact science,but usually gives the most accurate indication of the price to expect for your property

Valuers areatarm’s length from asale and do not have vested interests aboutwho you list the property with and how much it ultimately sells for

Your real estate agent can adviseon whether to sell your property with an asking price, or use other methodssuch as auctions, tenders and deadlines sales with no set price. Even so, you will need to know how much you arewilling to accept to sell the home.

Bewareofexpecting too high aprice. If your price expectations aretoo high you may struggle to find abuyer.Sometimes the best offer is the firstoffer

Using areal estate agent with good negotiating skills is often the best way to achieve the sales price you want.

Preparing ahouse for sale and staging it can make it moreappealing to buyers and help create competition.

3Calculate thecosts of sellingyourhome

It usually costs tens of thousands of dollarstosella home in NewZealand. Mostofthosefeesaretakenout of the saleprice. They include advertisingcosts,

photography andvideography,repairsand maintenance, additional cleaning, staging, estate agent listing fees, aLIM (land informationmemorandum), auctioneer costs, conveyancing (legal) fees, moving costs, bridgingfinance if youbuy anew home beforeyou sell yourexistingone, and storage (ifnecessary)

If you don’t sell, youmay need to pay the cost of the marketing and advertising, and any legal fees you’ve incurred along the way

4Sell first or buyfirst?

If you’reselling to movehome, you must choosewhen to buy your new home. Selling your existing home first, then buying the next one can make sense. The other option is to find ahouse to buy then put your existing one on the market.

Should you sell your property before you buy the next one? Selling firstgives you peace of mind knowing you have the money from your existing home sale. The risk is you can’t findthe right home to buy you may end up renting for aperiod of time. If house prices arerising, this could be problematic.

Youmay only want to move if you find the right house. In that case you may want to buy first. Thereare mortgage