Success Stories: Sharon and Lindsay from Hodgson Vale, QLD

“It was very empowering and felt awesome, especially knowing how much money we saved on agents’ fees.”

Sharon and her husband Lindsay sold their five-bedroom home on 4,000 square metres at Hodgson Vale, just south of Toowoomba, privately through PropertyNow, for $1,125,000. The listing went live on 18 March 2026 and sold on 11 September, so this was a campaign of nearly six months, a lot longer than the 27 to 57 days in the other recent stories in this series, and it finished $115,000 above the automated valuation of $1,010,000 we’d recorded for the property back in February.

What the sale is paying for is a move to Maryborough and semi-retirement, with the commission they didn’t pay going with them. Queensland agents charge around 2.8% at the state median, and more in some regional towns, so on $1,125,000 the commission would have run to roughly $31,500 to $39,000 before GST and the agent’s marketing package. Sharon and Lindsay paid PropertyNow’s flat listing fee instead, so call it a saving of more than $30,000. If you’d like to see what it would come to on your own place, the commission savings calculator takes a few seconds.

Sharon answered our questions after the sale, and her answers are below as she gave them.

Sharon’s answers

What services did PropertyNow provide that assisted you most?

“PropertyNow was available 7 days a week. I only had to email them if I had a question or concern, and the response time was excellent. They were friendly, encouraging and very helpful throughout the whole process.”

Were you hesitant before trying private selling? What made you decide to give it a go?

“No, not really. After we spoke to PropertyNow and went through the guide they provided, it looked like a fairly simple process and it was very affordable. We thought it was definitely worth trying.”

Do you have any interesting, fun or unique stories to share about your experience?

“We met some really nice people along the way. It was also great to see the reactions from buyers who were very supportive and gave us some wonderful feedback about our home.

What I really loved about PropertyNow was that [they] did not hassle or put any pressure on us throughout the whole process.”

When you sold your property yourself, how did it feel?

“It was very empowering and felt awesome, especially knowing how much money we saved on agents’ fees. It was a great feeling to know that we could successfully sell our home ourselves.”

What do you plan to do now that you’ve sold, and how will the sale benefit you?

“We are moving to Maryborough and looking forward to semi-retirement. Selling our home ourselves has allowed us to save a significant amount of money on agents’ fees, which will be a great benefit as we move into this next stage of our lives.”

If you could go back in time and give yourself some advice before selling your own home, what would it be?

“I think the only advice I would give myself is to make even more use of PropertyNow during the negotiation process. They were always there to provide guidance and support, so I could have made more use of that service.”

What was the hardest part for you personally, and how did you overcome it?

“The hardest part was trusting the process. Whenever I needed reassurance or had a question, PropertyNow was only an email or sometimes a phone call away. My experience with PropertyNow was excellent, and I can absolutely recommend them to anyone considering selling their home privately.”

What Sharon’s story shows

Close to six months is a long time to have a sign at the gate. Acreage homes tend to draw a smaller pool of buyers than a three-bedroom house in town, and a campaign like this one can run well past the month or so that’s typical nationally. Our article on how long it takes to sell a house has the current figures by state and what to look at if your own listing has been up longer than you expected. Sharon says the hardest part was trusting the process, and nearly six months is a lot of trusting. The home sold in September, $115,000 above the valuation on our file.

She also says PropertyNow didn’t hassle them or put any pressure on them along the way. That’s how it should be. It’s your home and your timeline; our job is to be on the other end of the email or the phone when you need us, seven days a week, and otherwise to let you get on with it.

Her one piece of advice to her past self is a useful one for anyone reading this before they list. She’d have leaned on the team more during the negotiation, and you can: a sanity check on an offer before you respond, or help wording a counter. Our guide to negotiating when you sell privately covers the ground before you’re in the middle of it.

If you’re in Queensland and weighing it up, our nine-step guide to selling your own Queensland home covers the state-specific parts, including the seller disclosure statement you now need before a contract is signed, and the full guide to selling your house privately walks through the rest.

Sell your home yourself, with a licensed agency behind you

Sharon and Lindsay sold without paying an agent’s commission and are taking the saving into semi-retirement. Our team is on the other end of an email or the phone seven days a week if you’d like the same.

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