| |
|
Team Howe Weekly
7 September 2026
|
|
The Monday Newsletter · Real Insight Weekly
|
|
|
| |
|
Lower North Shore · For Sellers
What Are You Actually
Paying an Agent For?
The fee is visible.
The value — or the cost — often isn’t.
|
| |
|
Dear Readers,
|
| Most sellers think they’re paying an agent to put up a signboard, advertise online and run a few open homes. They are not. They are paying for the judgement, strategy and negotiation required to protect their result — from the initial appraisal through to settlement. |
| Yet the first question many sellers ask is, “What do you charge?” Commission is a cost, and it should always be examined. But comparing fees without comparing what sits behind them is where some of the most expensive decisions in real estate begin. |
|
The Fee Is the Headline — the Work Is the Fine Print
|
| The fee should pay for a disciplined process designed to achieve the strongest price, on the safest terms, with the greatest probability of settlement. Not a signboard. Not a few Saturday opens. Not photographs uploaded to two portals on launch day. |
| A premium result rests on five disciplines. |
1 |
Pricing judgement before launch |
|
| A high appraisal doesn’t create higher market value — it merely postpones the difficult conversation until after the agreement is signed. Sound price advice weighs comparable sales, current competition and buyer behaviour against your home’s location, land, aspect, condition and accommodation. The goal isn’t to predict the final price to the dollar. It is to establish an evidence-based position from which the campaign can succeed. |
2 |
A campaign that reaches qualified buyers |
|
| Listing online is the starting point, not the strategy. A strong campaign combines presentation, photography, digital targeting, database communication and direct contact with buyers already active in your price range. Clicks alone don’t produce a premium result — reaching the right buyers, and creating competition between them, does. |
3 |
Offer assessment and negotiation |
|
| Price is the headline. Terms are the fine print. A $3.5 million offer carrying substantial uncertainty can be weaker than $3.45 million from a buyer with confirmed finance, completed due diligence and the ability to exchange immediately. We assess the finance, conditions, cooling-off, deposit, settlement terms and readiness behind every offer. A good agent doesn’t simply pass on an offer. They test the buyer, improve the price, strengthen the terms and drive the transaction through exchange to settlement. |
4 |
Feedback assessment and interpretation |
|
| An adjustment in week two looks decisive. The same adjustment in week six can look desperate. During the opening weeks we track enquiry-to-inspection conversion, repeat inspections, contract requests, building-report orders and price patterns among qualified buyers. One flattering comment shouldn’t inflate expectations, and one low opinion shouldn’t derail a campaign. Isolated opinions are noise; recurring patterns among qualified buyers are evidence. |
5 |
Local expertise that finds buyers others miss |
|
| Local expertise means more than knowing recent sale prices. It means knowing who missed out on comparable homes, which upgraders have already sold, which downsizers are preparing to move, and which buyers may reconsider after their first choice falls through. A property portal advertises your home to the market. A genuine local specialist identifies the people most likely to compete for it. |
| Miss any one of these five disciplines and the eventual cost can far exceed the difference between two commission quotes. |
| Before comparing commission alone, ask: |
| Who will personally manage my campaign? |
|
| Who will contact and follow up every buyer? |
|
| What targeted database and direct outreach will be used? |
|
| What evidence, not merely opinions, will I receive each week? |
|
| What happens if the initial strategy underperforms? |
|
| Who will conduct the final negotiation and stay accountable through settlement? |
|
|
|
| The gaps between two proposals often stay invisible until week three or four, when correcting them is far harder. What disappears between the quotes can cost far more than what appears between them. |
|
Final Checklist for Sellers
|
| Capacity — How many active campaigns is the agent personally managing each week? |
| Discipline — Does the agent arrive early to prepare your home, or rush in at the advertised time, or later? |
| Duty of care — Will the agent you appoint conduct the inspections and buyer follow-up? If work is delegated, exactly who is responsible for what? |
| Fee — If one quote is materially cheaper, ask why. There may be a sound reason, but compare what has been removed, not just what you will save. The cheapest and the most comprehensive are rarely the same proposal. |
| Feedback — How often will you speak directly with the agent, and what meaningful evidence will they report? |
| Inspections — Are the times chosen to suit your property and its likely buyers, or squeezed around too many other listings? Constant changes can signal an overloaded schedule. |
|
|
| These may look like small details. But with your most important asset on the line, they reveal the agent’s capacity, accountability, communication and discipline — the qualities that matter most when a campaign comes under pressure. |
| Next week: The preparation before the launch (Price maximisation) |
| |
| |
| |
|
The Lower North Shore at a Glance
|
|
Where the market sits now
|
|
41
New listings
Avg $7,698,000
|
16
New sales
Avg $4,846,000
|
603
Total sales 2026
60% of 1008
|
166
Withdrawn 2026
16% of 1008
|
239
Current listings
24% of 1008
|
1,008
Total 2026 listings
100% of 1008
|
|
| Of every 100 homes brought to market across our Lower North Shore area so far this year, approximately 60 have sold, 16 have been withdrawn and 24 remained available at the time of this snapshot. |
|
Current stock by price band
Where the 239 homes on the market sit.
|
|
47
20%
|
95
40%
|
49
21%
|
9
4%
|
39
16%
|
| $0–3.0m |
$3.0–5.0m |
$5.0–8.0m |
$8.0–10.0m |
$10.0m + |
|
|
Lower North Shore · 239 current listings · Team Howe, Raine & Horne
|
|
|
Current stock by days on market
How long the 239 listings have been on the market.
|
|
93
39%
|
36
15%
|
8
3%
|
49
21%
|
53
22%
|
| 0–30 days |
31–60 |
61–90 |
91–180 |
180+ days |
|
|
Lower North Shore · 239 current listings · The darkest bar marks the stale 180+ day stock · Team Howe, Raine & Horne
|
|
| There are 239 homes for sale across the Lower North Shore today. Two patterns deserve every seller’s attention. |
| The first is where the stock sits. Four in ten listings — 95 homes — are priced between $3 and $5 million. This is the most competitive segment of our market. A home listed here is competing not only on price, but also for buyer attention against dozens of alternatives. |
| The second pattern is how long the available homes have been on the market. The chart does not show a smooth curve — it shows two distinct groups: homes that secure a buyer while they are still fresh, and homes that carry into extended days on market. |
| The evidence suggests that well-positioned homes have their best opportunity during the opening month. Those that miss that window can enter the stale group, where 43% of current stock now sits in the older age brackets shown in the chart. Without a meaningful change to price, presentation or strategy, many may remain there for some time. |
| There is little comfortable middle ground. A home is either fresh and attracting competition, or ageing and waiting. Which side of that line it lands on is heavily influenced before launch — by the price position, preparation and campaign strategy. |
|
The market never lies. This week, it is saying it in two words: fresh or forgotten.
|
|
|
The September–October Auction Pipeline
|
|
The auction calendar — next six weeks
|
| 12 Sep |
19 Sep |
26 Sep |
3 Oct |
10 Oct |
17 Oct |
|
|
86 auctions / EOI campaigns scheduled — 36% of the 239 homes currently on the market.
Almost two-thirds of vendors are choosing private treaty over auction.
|
|
| Private treaty appears to be the flavour of the month. Many vendors seem reluctant to expose their price expectations under auction conditions. That caution is understandable in a selective market — but private treaty is not a hiding place for an unrealistic price. |
| Price according to the evidence, prepare the property properly and then select the method most likely to create competition. Where the buyer pool is broad enough and the price position is credible, auction remains a powerful way to bring urgency and transparency to the campaign. |
|
How homes sold in 2026 — auction campaign results
85% of sales came through an auction campaign — but only 16% under the hammer.
|
| Sold pre-auction |
|
| Sold post-auction |
|
| Sold AT auction |
|
| Private treaty |
|
|
|
Lower North Shore · 603 sales, 2026 year to date · median sale price $3.90m · Team Howe, Raine & Horne
|
|
| The above tells us that auction is still the option for Lower North Shore houses: 85% of sales came through an auction campaign, but only 16% actually sold under the hammer. Pre-auction (41%) is the single biggest path, post-auction (28%) next — so the deadline is doing the heavy work before and after the day, not on it. The “Sold AT auction” bar is shown in charcoal to make that small slice pop. |
|
Selling This Spring?
Considering selling this spring or within the next 12 months? Reply with your address and I’ll prepare a concise, evidence-based update showing the recent sales, current competition and likely price position of your home — without the sales pitch.
|
|
| |
| |
|
New · Team Howe Website
Our new website is now live.
Read every edition of the Team Howe Weekly Newsletter, explore current market insights and find out more about who we are and how we work.
→ Visit Team Howe Website
|
|
| |
| |
|
Explore The Area
Northbridge Interactive Map
→ Click to Explore the Interactive Map
|
| |
|
David Howe
Partner Agent · Raine & Horne Lower North Shore
|
Charles Tang
Team Howe · Raine & Horne Lower North Shore
|
|
|
Lower North Shore
140 Sailors Bay Road, Northbridge NSW 2063
The Monday Newsletter · Real Insight Weekly
© Raine & Horne Lower North Shore. You are receiving this because you have previously been in touch with our office about Lower North Shore property.
|
| |
