We drive the deal, you enjoy the ride
Selling your home in Brisbane
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Kathleen Luck
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Thinking of selling but not sold on an agent?
We appreciate that. Except for yacht-owning billionaires, property is the most valuable thing most folks will ever own. Selling your home’s a significant undertaking; not just financially, but emotionally as well. That’s why it’s essential you find an agent with the energy, experience, and resources needed to get you the maximum price (with minimum stress).
You’ll also want to
like
laugh with
trust
them.
“This lady made me feel like my house was the only house that she was selling.”
Attention to detail, knowledge about all things selling and buying, professionalism with a dose of humour and fun. Kathleen has a team that makes you feel that all you need to do is look pretty… I would recommend them to anybody, any day.
Jannine, The Gap
Why sell with us?
Taking the wheel while you enjoy the journey
Please feel free to yell out directions! Afterall, it’s your property. We’re just the ones steering a course for your desired destination. We’ll first gauge your preferred level of involvement, setting out the nice-to-haves, non-negotiables, and anything else you need us to know.
Laid back to chat to, tenacious on the job
Don’t be fooled by our casual vibe, we approach the marketing and sale of your property with the energy of a Jack Russell terrier! No stone’s left unturned, no paver out of place, no stray leaf un-blown in our quest to get you the best result.
There’s a ‘me’ in home, but no ‘I’ in real estate
Agents working for conventional agencies can get caught up in competing for work and forget who they really serve. Everyone in Team Loyle is fully committed to their colleagues’ and clients’ success, offering you transparency and around-the-clock support.
Communication’s our key to smoother property sales
Whether you prefer a phone call or texting on WhatsApp (emojis anyone? ?), we’ll keep you in the loop. That means reports on open homes, updates on offers received, and occasional check-ins to keep things hunky-dory. Too much information? Tell us – we won’t be offended!
Done deals
What to expect when you’re selling
Every property sale is a little different, there are some standards and non-negotiables. Let’s step through a breakdown of selling a property in Brisbane, from picking an agent to pocketing the profits.
1. Pitching for your business
2. Welcome aboard
3. Getting our ducks in a row
4. Launch day
5. Let’s get selling!
6. Picking a winner
7. Unconditional love
8. Settling for more
1. Pitching for your business
Great to meet you! Thanks for hearing our pitch for marketing your property. During the proposal stage, you’ll give us the story of the place, the features you’d like to highlight, and dish your details of what a dream sales result looks like to you. Armed with past sales data and our expert insights, we’ll give you an appraisal of the price you can expect.
2. Welcome aboard
You’ve chosen to go with us – thanks so much! Let’s start with some housekeeping like getting the paperwork (title deeds and compliance docs), and sorting out a lockbox for the keys for easy access during the marketing stage.
3. Getting our ducks in a row
Time to get your property looking its best so we can show it off. This means:
- Booking in any required repairs or maintenance.
- Organising photo and video shoots.
- Conducting a pre-sale building and pest inspection (if you choose to).
We’ll get going on the online listings, plan the social media ads, and produce signboards. Got tenants in the house? No worries, we’ll organise the sales process with them.
4. Launch day
Once you’ve approved the advertising content and scheduling, we’ll press the go button. Time to break ground with the signboard stakes, push your property into thousands of Facebook feeds, and upload your listings to key websites like realestate.com.au.
5. Let’s get selling!
Team Loyle will be a fixture at your property, running open homes, working the phone, and turning expressions of interest into solid offers. In keeping with REIQ best practice, you’ll only receive formal offers from us. Signed by the buyer, these contracts are the result of our negotiating on your behalf for the maximum price with minimum conditions.
If you choose to auction your property, we’ll generally entertain offers in the lead up. If you sell under the hammer, the rules of sale are different than when negotiating contracts with buyers individually (known as selling by private treaty). The main difference is that at auction, if the bidding goes past the reserve price (the minimum you’ll accept), the property must be sold to the highest bidder, who’s legally required to sign an unconditional contract of sale. Nice!
6. Picking a winner
Unless you sold under the hammer, you’ll now consider the offers on the table. Even if your auction bidding doesn’t meet the reserve, often we’ll negotiate with the highest bidder/s after the auctioneer’s concluded, trying for a better price in a contracted offer.
Many assume the offer with the highest $ figure is automatically the best, but things aren’t always that simple. That’s because property contracts vary in the conditions and other terms they contain. We’ll consider things like deposit amount, the finance clause, building and pest inspection clause, and even if the offer’s conditional on the buyers selling their current home. We’ll help you navigate the nuances and pick the strongest option to countersign, making the contract ‘live’.
7. Unconditional love
The buyer’s transferred the deposit, gotten the tick of approval from their bank, signed off on the building and pest inspector’s report, and checked any other boxes outlined in their contracted offer. The contract’s gone unconditional – hooray!
Now both parties (buyer and seller) – along with their solicitors and financial institutions – need to ensure everything’s in place for settlement to go ahead on the contracted date. We’ll arrange a pre-settlement inspection with the buyers roughly for the morning of settlement – pretty much a formality to assure them the property’s in a similar condition to when they last saw it.
8. Settling for more
Around 3–4 days before settlement, your conveyancing solicitors will give you a Disbursement Schedule document, breaking down where the money will go, and giving you a clear idea of how much you’ll pocket from the deal.
Unless you own the property outright, you’ll need to notify your financial institution of your intent to sell, requiring payment of any outstanding mortgage. To do this, you’ll need to send them a document called a Discharge Authority.
Today, practically all settlements are conducted via PEXA – a national online system that facilitates the transfer of funds to all the parties involved in property transactions. Depending on the banks, you can usually expect the funds hit your account within 2-3 days of the settlement date. We’ll arrange the transfer of house keys, and will send you reminders of any inclusions that should remain with the property, so don’t worry about it.
All you’ll have on your mind is planning what to do with all that money!
Time to talk it through?
Whether you’ve outgrown your first house, want to downsize after many happy years in the family home, or need to offload an investment, our door’s always open.
Let’s exchange ideas
What’s my property worth?
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Raising the ceiling for property sales
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The upsides of resizing
Yallamurra Street, The Gap
Case study
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Family matters
Pavonia Street, Ashgrove
Case study
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2nd time’s a charm – switching agents
Hatia Grove, Ferny Grove
Case study
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Division of assets
Bott Street, Ashgrove
Case study
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Selling a tenanted investment
Payne Road, The Gap
Case study
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First-time sellers
Pendine Street, Gaythorne
Case study
FAQs
Questions sellers always ask us
The extra questions you should ask
What’s my property worth?
The 64-million-dollar question (just an expression by the way)! Obviously, the answer varies for each property, depending also on market conditions.
When you approach us for help selling your property, we’ll go through our appraisal process to give you a realistic picture of the price point you can expect. In addition to recent sales data for similar properties, we have a wealth of inside knowledge we use to give you deeper insights. This includes withheld sales price information accessed via our industry-only data services, and knowledge of what prospective buyers offered for other properties we’ve sold previously.
Sometimes, there are straightforward improvements you can make to your property that will increase its value. If they’re likely to yield a good return on investment in a timely manner, then we’ll advise you to go ahead with them.
In-app or desktop valuations only go so far. We’ll give you a credible and well-informed estimate that’s as close to bankable as possible.
What do I need to do to get it ready for sale?
Every home’s different, but here are a few essential checklist items to tick off.
Paperwork:
- Certificates for any renovations you’ve don’t to the property.
- Pool safety certificate.
- Smoke alarm compliancy.
- Body corporate documents (if applicable).
Utilities and appliances:
- Plumbing and electricals in good working order.
- Kitchen cooktop and oven functional.
- Fixed appliances working (e.g. garage door openers).
Cleaning and minor fixes:
- Replace any broken/missing light switch covers.
- Clean or replace dirty tile grout.
- Ensure lightbulbs and fixtures work.
- Dust and clean all internal surfaces and objects. Walls, windows, baseboards, blinds, ducts, AC vents, ceilings (including ceiling fans) – make it all sparkle!
Declutter and style:
- Remove excess furniture and rearrange to maximise visual floorspace.
- Box up all personal belongings: knick-knacks, figurines, family photos, fridge magnets. The future buyer wants to imagine it’s their
- Add lamps to any dark spaces.
Depending on the market, availability of tradesmen, and your personal circumstances, it may be worth doing some more major enhancements like kitchen and bathroom renovations, or maybe landscaping. You’ll get honest advice from us on whether it’s worth the time and money, and how to strategically draw attention away from your property’s shortcomings.
Our fee structure is something we explain to prospective clients when we present our proposal for the marketing of their property. Our commissions aren’t the lowest, nor are they the highest.
Hunting a bargain makes sense for your energy provider, but when it comes to the biggest transaction you’ll ever make, you’ll want to consider what you get for your money.
How a ‘cheaper’ agent costs you money
Let’s run some numbers. Imagine you’ve found two different agents you’re considering using to sell your home. One is just finding their feet in the business and has adopted a relatively low 2% commission structure to entice business. The other has many years of experience and a proven track record of attracting high prices for properties sold. The more experienced agent’s commission is 3%.
If you went with the cheaper, less qualified agent (let’s call him John), we’ll assume you’d net $920,000 for your 3-bedroom home. Alternatively, we’ll assume the more expensive veteran realtor (let’s call her Kim) would be able to negotiate a price creeping into the 7-figures, say $1,020,000.
The cheaper agent’s final fee is $18,400. The dearer one’s is $30,600. But the cheaper agent got you $100,000 less for your property.
The formula for True Sale Price (factoring in agent’s fee) = Sales Price – Agent’s Commission.
So John’s True Sale Price = $920,000 – $18,400 = $901,600
But Kim’s True Sale Price = $1,20,000 – $30,600 = $989,400
“Hang on…” we hear you chime in, “You can’t just assume the veteran will get $100K more for the place, can you?!”
Well, maybe not every time, but…
In this example, Kim would only need to outsell John by $10,000 for you to be better off going with her. Every dollar over $930,000 would mean extra cash in your pocket.
Some very smart people assure us as a rule of thumb, for each 1% higher the commission, the ‘more expensive’ agent needs to achieve a price a smidge over 1% higher to justify their higher commission.
So now you see how going with the ‘cheaper’ agent can actually be more expensive.
How much will the advertising cost?
Quality marketing materials and strategic advertising placements are critical to getting a good result. When we first meet you to present our plan for the marketing of your property, we’ll present you with a ‘menu’ of marketing options to choose from. You’ll be presented with recommendations (a bit like at a flash restaurant), but ultimately the dishes you pick are up to you.
There are a few staples of a successful property marketing campaign you’d go hungry without: photography, floorplans, social media exposure, signboards, and listing on realestate.com.au. That kind of 5-course meal will cost you around the $2,000 mark. Hey, you could spend that much at a fancy restaurant…
Beyond the fast talking and wooden hammers (not really a thing these days), auctions can be a great component of a property marketing strategy. Selling at auction is one of two main modes of property transaction, the other being via private treaty.
Adding an auction can:
- Speed up the sales process: Adding an auction date adds urgency, giving your potential buyer a serious case of FOMO (fear of missing out). Remember, you can always take offers in the lead up to the auction. You might have to pay the auctioneer a fee if you cancel the auction, but if you get a great price, it’s worth it.
- Guarantee you an unconditional sale: Once the hammer comes down on the highest bid, it’s sold, no ifs, ands, or buts. Registered bidders will have seen the contract of sale you’ve drawn up, putting you in the driver’s seat regarding the terms of the deal. If they win the bidding, they are legally required to immediately sign the contract.
- Protect you (the vendor) via a reserve price: With our help, you’ll set the reserve price – the minimum acceptable amount for the sale. During bidding, the property goes ‘on the market’ if that threshold is met (after which the unconditional rules apply).
At Team Loyle, we think a collaborative approach works best (the hint’s in the name ?). You’ve no doubt noticed many agents all about the personal branding. Those individuals working under the big brands are essentially competing with their colleagues for sales.
What you might not know is that a huge portion (up to 50%) of the agent’s commission gets eaten up by franchise fees. That’s why many agents get caught up playing the numbers game, racking up listings and knocking them off as quickly as they can. With a big chunk of their commission getting siphoned off by head office, a lot of agents choose to go solo, not wanting to take advantage of the benefits of a support team, simply because it would mean more mouths to feed.
We do things differently. As an independent agency, we reinvest our profits directly into our team. You can be confident that every Team Loyle member is aligned towards a common goal, getting the best result for our clients collaboratively.
You’ll only get the unvarnished truth form us – it’s part of our no BS policy. We’ll always let you know from the outset any challenges or complications posed by current market conditions. We don’t do this just because it’s the right thing to do. Even if you don’t sell straight away, once we’ve established trust there’s every chance you’ll knock on our door again when it is the right time to sell.
I’m looking to sell my home, what are the risk areas I need to be aware of?
When agents are pitching for your business, keep your eyes out for ‘too goo to be true’ offers and promises. Overpricing your property is a key area to watch out for. Some realtors will indulge the seller and inflate their expectations in order to secure the deal, with the ultimate plan of conditioning them down to a more realistic pricepoint over time.
Another carrot they’ll dangle is free marketing. The cliche ‘you only get what you pay for’ applies here. Gimmicks like this are often not worth the paper or pixels they’re published on. It’s something inexperienced or unskilled agents fall back on to win work.
If a prospective agent slashes their commission in an attempt to close a deal, you have to assume they’ll do the exact same thing when it comes to negotiating a deal for your place. As discussed in our How much are your fees? FAQ, ‘cheaper’ agents often cost you money, because they settle for lower end prices, either due to inexperience or lack of full effort.
Agents who focus on churning through a volume of sales to hit their KPIs can afford to lower their commission a few clicks on each one. But can you afford a realtor who’s just going through the motions and pushing you to take the first offer, without dedicating the time and effort required to get the maximum price?
What’s this ‘high volume’ approach you keep banging on about?
It’s a key difference between us and the big franchise competition. The big brand agencies have big overheads and lots of people taking their cut. They pressure agents to hit volume KPIs and push the pace of sales (trust us, we used to work for one of them). This ‘tick and flick’ model is essential to the success of their business model, but it’s a recipe for poor results for you – the seller.
At a boutique agency like Team Loyle has lower overheads and a smaller tight-knit team dedicated to mutual success. Our focus is on educating sellers and offering a long-term approach. This can mean giving advice that would never be heard at a franchise, like “Maybe you should wait a few months before putting your property on the market.”
We believe in a sustainable approach that fosters lifelong relationships with our clients. It’s not just the right thing to do, it’s the smart business decision.
Have they acted as both a sellers advocate and a buyers advocate?
It is a grey area in real estate and something that is not regulated yet. We decided a long time ago to only advocate for sellers. Our primary focus is to find the owner as many buyers as possible, to achieve the best possible price. We will never represent or take money from a buyer, so you can be sure in the transparency and ethical foundations of our dealings with you.
Do you have a connection with local tradies?
Yes, we have a vetted directory of qualified tradies who can help with with repairs and maintenance needed to get a property up to speed for smoother sales. We see this as an important inclusion in the selling process (something not all agencies offer).
What is part of your daily / weekly service to us?
We have comprehensive checklists from pre launch, on market, and post contract. This includes:
- Central location for all correspondence and everyone on their sales team, including Kathleen as director of sales, Hayley and Trudy as co-agents, Megan in contracts and compliance.
- House profiling and matching to the ideal buyer profile – creating this through the photo storyboard, ad copy creation, video creation and retargeted marketing.
- Full Contract Of Sale preparation in conjunction with solicitor, including exclusions and chattels list, any body corp requirements and easement / encumbrance investigation.
- Full tenant management as Secondary Agent requirements.
- Project management of trades timing and scheduled events, including styling, handyman, cleaner, gardener (if needed), and all marketing collateral.
- Compliance and risk management advice.
- Marketing condition changes and weekly advice on recommended campaign changes.
- Full proofing and advice around marketing collateral selection.
- Weekly campaign reports detailing each buyer profile, with online activity reports, feedback and data analysis from major online hostings.
- Advice around Contract Of Sale risk in conjunction with your appointed solicitor, including continued management during ‘under contract’ period.
- Pre-settlement advice for smooth transition and buyer management right up to settlement date.
Do you have a strategic launching plan – what makes it strategic?
It’s important to consider the unique circumstances of each individual property and its owners when planning the marketing approach. Foactors we take into consideration include:
- Your needs as the client – Is there a time pressure? What are your plans for the proceeds of the sale? Are you going to be living in the property throughout the sales campaign? All these considerations are important.
- The property profile – What are its strengths/weaknesses and how can these be highlighted/mitigated through clever marketing? What’s the ideal type of buyer who’ll see the most value in your place?
- Market conditions – How do broader trends and the economic climate potentially influence the sales process?
With decades of experience, we’ve learned a lot about how to strategically craft marketing collateral and time campaigns to get the best result for the seller. Whatever your circumstances, whatever type of property you own, and whenever you plan to sell, we’ve got the tactics and hacks to max your final price.
First comes understand the client and their needs, then the house profile, then market conditions on when they are planning their launch. The timing of launch day in the week is critical. And then the week in the month and other external factors that play to when buyers are active / dormant.
That’s where the team-first culture comes in! No matter what an agent says, noone can be 100% available to you 24/7. We don’t pretend to be superhuman, but we are part of a dream team that’s greater than the sum of its parts.
Our joint comms group is invaluable for clients, ensuring they have what they need quickly. If you have a contract or compliance question for example, we’ve got multiple informed staff who can field it for you at any time. Need an update on offers received? Our systems ensure our team all have visibility of that info, and can pass it on directly.
We have a saying in our office that while real estate is imporant, we aren’t saving lives. We rarely deal with emergencies (although some things are urgent). Those crucial decisions should be made thoughtfully and with tact. Our advice to you will always be timely, considered, and in line with the end goal for the sale of your property.
The last word from satisfied sellers
From the moment we met Kathleen we were blown away by her enthusiasm and professionalism. In her beautifully tailored outfit, she got under the darkest depths of our family home, assessing the quality of the floorboards! Kathleen surrounds herself with a highly skilled team and together they supported us throughout the entire process. They are professional, reliable, knowledgeable, dedicated, incredibly sensitive, supportive, fun, great communicators and got us the price we’d hoped for. Thanks!
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Carmel (Seller) Pavonia Street, Ashgrove
Kathleen is an absolute powerhouse! She has a deep knowledge of the market, as well as a real passion for what she does. Her guidance and that of her amazing team, made the process of selling our house as painless as it could possibly be. We got the price we wanted, and would not hesitate to recommend Kathleen and the Loyle team for either selling or buying property
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Anne & Rob (Sellers) Glenella Street, The Gap
I had been following Team Loyle and Kathleen’s social posts (BTW which are personable, funny and real!), so therefore when the time came to list my Ashgrove property Kathleen and team were front of mind. My experience with Kathleen was genuine and no b..shit, very easy to contact at any time, and just an all-round nice person. Having a “unique” property was not an issue and Kathleen took up this challenge with a great sale result AND RECORD being achieved! Highly recommend Kathleen and her very competent team.
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Cass (Seller)Bott Street, Ashgrove
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