Don't waste time asking businessman Wayne Hamel who's best qualified to sell his home. He made up his mind four years ago and sees no reason to change it.
"It's simple logic that the person who knows my home best and who is most qualified to show it is me," he says. "I figured out early on that agents were working only in their own interest, not in mine. I decided the commission they charge is out of line and I could do the job myself."
The home he sold through ComFree Private Sales four years ago went in just 10 days and he got his $143,000 asking price. He pocketed the $8,580 an agent would have taken in commission.
This winter he sold the home he built in West St. Paul in 2002 in short order for $325,000, very close to asking price. "Even with a commission at five per cent I would have had to pay out about $16,250, so that's money in my pocket, not an agent's," he says. "Between the two houses, I saved about $25,000 by selling without an agent and I really enjoyed the process and met some interesting people."
That saved money will come in handy. He's in the process of building a new home on the river.
Hamel, 51, a successful businessman who is manager and part-owner of a thriving IGA store on Main Street, says ringing up sales is in his blood, but the sale of his last home was especially satisfying.
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"The ComFree package only cost a few hundred dollars and it provides real value," he says. "They did a really fine write-up on the house and I had great colour photos on their website. I even got an inquiry from Edmonton and didn't even need an Open House because plenty of qualified buyers were eager to come round."
The key to a quick sale and a good price, he says, is to do a little research and price the home fairly. "A neighbour had sold his home six months earlier so I took that into account and looked at other prices for similar homes," he says.
Wayne says he finds some advertising by real estate agents insults his intelligence. "There is no big mystery to selling your own home, even though their ads imply you can't do it yourself," he says. "What you need is common sense and the kind of helpful advice ComFree offers. No one is better qualified to discuss or show a home than the person who lives in it."
He says the people who viewed his home were friendly, interesting and qualified. "They were all nice folks and I had no time-wasters," he says. "I got a lot of traffic from the ComFree ads and I enjoyed meeting them all and answering their questions."
Through its signage, website, magazine and TV and radio advertising, he says ComFree reaches a large audience of serious buyers for a fee that's extremely modest for the value provided. And they don't talk down to you as some house sale agents do. For Wayne, that was very important.
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