Success Stories: Cathy Sells Her Apple Tree Creek Block to a First-Time Buyer
“My lady who bought was a bit more challenging as she had never bought a property before, so patience and lots of explaining with many things and processes. But we got there in the end and she was grateful for my patience and help.”
Cathy is living in her van at the moment. Selling her block of land at Apple Tree Creek, five minutes from Childers in Queensland, has given her the money to buy a house again, and as she puts it, “any house will be a palace.”
The block was 2,200 square metres, cleared, with no building covenants, underground power at the boundary and a sealed road out the front. Her listing also promised the buyer roses, which she wrote had bloomed most of the year. Cathy sold it privately through PropertyNow.
Why did Cathy sell it herself?
Asked whether she’d been hesitant about selling privately, Cathy kept it short. “Not hesitant, as I always wanted to try real estate, so this gave me the chance to have a go.”
What helped was having a person to talk to, and the information and forms. “The phone assist was great to talk to a friendly person. I also like all the information on hand to go through that helps and the forms etc.”
Selling it herself also meant no agent’s commission. The median agent commission in Queensland is around 2.8%, and some regional towns reach 3.5% or more. Cathy paid PropertyNow’s flat listing fee instead. If you’d like to see what that difference comes to on your own property, the commission savings calculator takes a few seconds.
A buyer who’d never bought before
Her stories from the sale were short. “A couple of scammers… be aware of! Mostly normal.”
The buyer needed more of her patience. “My lady who bought was a bit more challenging as she had never bought a property before, so patience and lots of explaining with many things and processes. But we got there in the end and she was grateful for my patience and help.”
Someone buying for the first time may never have seen a contract or a disclosure statement before, and when you sell privately, their questions come to you. Our guide to the questions buyers ask at inspections covers the common ones. In Queensland you’ll also need the seller disclosure statement ready before anyone signs, and that applies to vacant land too.
As for the scammers, the usual rules apply. Never send money or personal details to someone you haven’t met, and have the deposit paid into your solicitor’s trust account, not to you. Our guide to telling serious buyers from tyre kickers helps with the rest of your enquiries.
Definitely empowering
Asked how selling it herself felt, Cathy didn’t hold back. “Definitely empowering!!!! I now have money to buy a house again (presently living in my van, so any house will be a palace haha) somewhere! May be a shitty old house, but I can reno it and if I choose to stay I will or I’ll sell again (for a profit of course) and find somewhere else I may like to live.”
“No advice, just experience,” she says, when asked what she’d tell herself before starting. And the hardest part? “Nothing really… of course the first time was a bit nervous, just thought of it as a new learning and a challenge, second time much simpler.”
If you’re in Queensland and thinking about selling a block or a home yourself, our guide to selling your own Queensland property covers the state-specific steps, and the full guide to selling your house privately walks through the rest.
Sell your property yourself, with a licensed agency behind you
Cathy sold her block without paying an agent’s commission, with a friendly person on the phone. Our team is a call or an email away if you’d like the same.
More seller stories
- Success Stories: Sharon and Lindsay from Hodgson Vale, QLD
- Success Stories: Angela from South Stradbroke Island
- Success Stories: Odette from Lower Wonga, QLD
- Success Stories: Christopher from Thrumster, NSW
By the PropertyNow team. Cathy’s answers are published as she gave them, lightly tidied for spelling and punctuation. The commission rates above are typical Queensland figures and are not a quote from any agent.