Selling off-market to a developer can be costly

A Camp Hill property worth $1,060,000 was sold off-market for $970,000. At the same time, a Kedron property worth at least $915,000, sold off-market for $850,000.

If these owners had taken their properties to market, they would have sold for almost 10% more.

In this report, to learn why selling off-market to a developer can be costly we speak with Lawyer turned property investor, Phil Richards, and former Ray White Chief Auctioneer, Sam Kelso, as they reveal the dangers in selling a property off-market to a developer before it has had a chance to go to market. Selling a development site is no different from playing a game of chess. You only win the game if you understand the rules and study the moves the other player is likely to make.

To give you some insight into how developers play the off-market game, we spoke with Lawyer turned Property Investor, Phil Richards.

Phil shared his thoughts, “Owners get lured by the idea of not paying commission, but they end up paying significantly more than that due to the lower price.

“In one case, a Brisbane seller thought they saved $18,000 in commission costs by selling off-market, only to see their property sell for $50,000 less.”

“The sale of Frank Sheehan’s Gaythorne property is an excellent example of why you should never sell off-market to a developer (see over). 

“Developers did their best to secure this property for a low price, but as Brad Walker knew the game inside and out, he sold the site for an extra $30,000.”

“That’s why I am happy to recommend Brad Walker and Best Use. They have achieved 31 price records from 65 sales.” 

These comments on how developers play the game was backed up by Best Use Real Estate, Development Site Expert,
James O’Dwyer.

“Homeowners would be shocked to see the length developers will go to buy a property under market value,” says James O’Dwyer.

“I’m constantly being offered extra $$ by developers if we can find under-priced sites.”

How do you protect yourself from getting ripped off?

The buying and selling of development sites is not new. But if this is your first time, you can gain access to a free ebook that will put you in the driver’s seat when it comes to selling a development site. 

The insights contained in this ebook have saved many Brisbane property owners from losing out.

Why do people keep on falling for the trap of selling off-market to a developer?

Most people, when selling property act out of fear. They say to themselves, “a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.” What they don’t know is the real value of the property they are selling and are vulnerable to being ripped off.

Developers play on the fear the seller has that they may miss out, by offering them a price that could quickly lose them up to $110,000.

No sooner has the developer made the offer, they create a sense of urgency by demanding a quick sale or the offer is withdrawn.

Sellers not knowing the real value of their property, fall for this trick by agreeing to sell off-market fearing that nobody else would want their site. This approach by developers is nothing but a complete rip-off.