Mount Isa home selling timeline

Understanding the steps and timeline involved with selling any Mount Isa home or investment property is important right from the outset. Our local real estate market has its unique dynamics, so here is our detailed Mt Isa home selling timeline. It covers every step from initially preparing your home to be sold through to closing the sale.

Preparation phase (1 to 2 months)

This phase typically has three steps:

  1. Assessing your property
  2. Hiring a great real estate agent
  3. Preparing your home for sale.

Let’s look at each step in turn:

1. Assessing your property
Before listing your home, take the time to assess its condition. Identify any repairs or improvements that might be necessary. This could range from minor cosmetic upgrades like painting walls to more significant repairs such as fixing plumbing issues or replacing outdated fixtures. A well-maintained home not only attracts more buyers but can also command a higher price.

An experienced local real estate agent like one of our residential sales team at Jays can provide you with great advice during this phase.

2. Choosing the right Mount Isa real estate agent
Choosing the right Mount Isa real estate agent is crucial. Look for an agent with local market knowledge, a strong track record in Mount Isa, and a good understanding of your needs. They can provide valuable insights into market conditions, pricing strategies and marketing approaches. An experienced agent will also help you negotiate the best possible selling price in the shortest possible time frame.

Make sure you ask a real estate agent plenty of questions before you hire their services to assess their suitability to sell your Mt Isa home or investment property.

3. Preparing your home for sale
Once you’ve decided to sell your property, it’s essential to get it in the most marketable state possible BEFORE you list it for sale. Clean and declutter your home, do any necessary repairs or maintenance, and consider getting professional photography and/or video done to make your listing stand out online.

Listing and marketing phase (up to 180 days or more)

Firstly, it’s important to understand that it can take longer to sell a home in a small outback town like Mount Isa than it does in highly populated cities across Australia. The latest industry statistics show that almost half of the homes sold in Mount Isa are on the market for 180 days or more.

However, you can take proactive steps to speed up your Mt Isa home selling timeline.

Like the preparation phase, the listing and marketing phase also typically has three steps:

  1. Determining the right listing price
  2. Listing your home
  3. Marketing your home.

Once again, let’s look at each step in turn:

1. Setting the right listing price
Pricing your home correctly is key to a successful sale. Your agent will conduct a comparative market analysis to determine a competitive price based on recent sales of similar properties in Mount Isa. Setting the right price from the start can help attract serious buyers and reduce the time your home spends on the market.

2. Listing your home
Your agent will handle this, ensuring that your property is featured on major real estate websites, social media platforms and within local networks. They will also arrange for open houses and private showings to attract interested buyers.

3. Marketing your home
Effective marketing can make a significant difference to how quickly your home sells. Your agent should implement a marketing strategy that includes online listings, social media promotion, and possibly traditional advertising methods. Engaging potential buyers through various channels increases the visibility of your property.

Receiving offers and negotiating (up to 3 weeks)

This phase usually has two steps for each offer:

  1. Reviewing the offer
  2. Accepting or negotiating the terms of the offer.

1. Reviewing offers
Your agent will help you evaluate each buyer offer that you receive, considering not just the price offered but also other factors such as the buyer’s finance status, any buying conditions requested and proposed settlement dates.

2. Accepting or negotiating offer terms
Negotiating is a normal part of the home-selling process. You may receive counteroffers or requests for concessions from buyers. Your agent will assist in negotiating terms that meet your needs while keeping the process moving smoothly.

Once you accept a buyer offer, your home goes “under contract”.

Under contract phase (1 to 2 months)

Once again, this phase usually has three steps:

  1. Building and pest inspection
  2. Property valuation.

1. Building and pest inspection
The buyer will usually arrange for a building and pest inspection to be done. If the inspection reveals problems, you may need to negotiate for repairs to be done or offer selling price concessions.

2. Property valuation
Buyers will secure their financing during the under contract phase if necessary. If they are taking out a loan to buy the property, their lender will usually arrange for a property valuation to be done by a third party. This valuation is done to ensure the home’s value aligns with the agreed-upon purchase price. If it does, the final step is finalising/settling the sale.

Assuming everything goes smoothly with inspections and appraisals, the next step is to finalise the sale. This involves signing closing documents and transferring ownership. You will need to hire the services of a conveyancer to ensure your legal compliance with the terms and conditions of the contract of sale. Your conveyancer will liaise with the buyer’s conveyancer to complete the sale.

Both your agent and conveyancer will guide you through this process, ensuring all necessary paperwork is completed.

Finalising the sale (settlement day)

On settlement day, your sales transaction is finalised. The property title will be transferred to the buyer by your conveyancer, and the buyer’s conveyancer will arrange for the agreed-upon payment for your home to be transferred to you. Your conveyancer will ensure that all this happens. Once this has occurred, you’ll need to vacate the property if you haven’t already done so and hand over the keys to your agent.

Don’t forget to update your address with relevant institutions such as banks, utility providers and postal services. This ensures you receive all necessary correspondence and bills at your new address.

About us

Jays Real Estate has been Mount Isa’s premier commercial and residential real estate agency since 1981.

If you’re thinking about buying, selling, renting or leasing any Mt Isa property, or you need your property professionally managed, then contact our team today for an obligation-free chat!

We’d be happy to provide you with advice and to answer any property questions you have.