Selling your home

Most agents charge a commission of 1.5-3.5% of the sale price plus a marketing budget you pay separately. Metro Sydney and Melbourne usually sit at 1.8-2.2%; regional areas often run 3% or more. Some agents offer tiered or bonus-tied structures — for example, a lower base fee with a bonus if the final price beats an agreed target. Always have the fee in writing in the listing agreement.

An appraisal is an agent's market opinion of what your home should sell for, usually given as a range. It's free and there's no legal weight to it. A valuation is a formal document prepared by a registered property valuer, costs $300-$600, and is what banks and courts rely on. For most sellers, two or three independent appraisals from local agents give a more useful range than a single bank valuation.

Auctions work best in hot, competitive markets — they create urgency and can lift the final price by 5-10%. In flat or buyer's markets, auction clearance rates often fall below 50% nationally and a public pass-in can damage buyer confidence. Look at clearance rates and median days on market in your specific suburb for the last 90 days, not last year's headlines.

Usually no. The main residence exemption means CGT does not apply when you sell the home you've actually lived in. Partial CGT applies if you've rented the property out for part of the time you owned it, or if the property is on more than two hectares. The full CGT applies if it was an investment property held in your name (with a 50% discount if held over 12 months).

The national median is 28-45 days on market, depending on state and market conditions. Hot markets like Perth and Adelaide in 2025-26 are seeing 18-25 days; flatter markets like Melbourne and Hobart often run 50+ days. After contract exchange, settlement takes another 30-90 days depending on what's negotiated and the buyer's finance approval timeline.

Yes. For-sale-by-owner (FSBO) is legal in every state and saves you the agent commission. The trade-off is that you handle the marketing, the inspections, the negotiation, and the contract management yourself. Most FSBO sales achieve a lower final price than agent-sold equivalents, and the savings on commission often don't make up for it. Worth considering if you have negotiating experience or a buyer already lined up.