How to sell an investment property and maximise your sale price

We write frequently in API Magazine about the many and varied aspects of buying the perfect investment property.

But there’s another task which is just as important for investors who want to make money: successfully selling your property.

It sounds straight forward but even the perfect house in the most promising hotspot can leave tens of thousands, even hundreds of thousands of dollars, on the table if the person selling it, the vendor, doesn’t follow a reasoned approach.

Assess the real estate market

For many investors, the timing of a sale chooses itself, often when life intervenes and impacts an owner’s plans.

For investors with more latitude, watching market indicators can give them guidance on whether it is a good time to sell.

The property market is in large part driven by supply and demand. We can get a good picture of how that is playing out by comparing the listings of properties for sale in our major capital cities.

The chart below illustrates how varied supply and demand conditions are at the moment.

Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra are showing a jump in new listings over the year to February 2026, and in these cities, price growth has been low or moderate.

Now compare that to Brisbane and Perth. The strong performance in these two metros is being largely driven by markets starved of supply.

For investors in these cities, tight listings suggest it may be best to wait and continue to reap the rewards of a hungry market.

In Adelaide, the question becomes a little more nuanced: is the lack of new supply starting to ease?

If it is, the timing for a long-term Adelaide investor may well be moving closer to an optimum sale date.

Conversely for Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra investors, the supply equation appears to be signalling that the time for a pickup in growth lies a little way ahead.

Localised property conditions

Now you need to consider how sales are travelling in the suburb or town where your property is located.

It often surprises people to find out that indicators like the volume of listed properties, successful sales, price performance and rental income can vary markedly from location to location within the same metro or regional area.

A vendors agent (a buyer’s agent acting on behalf of the seller) will be able to advise an investor on what conditions are like in a local market.

Prepping your property for sale

It’s often the last thing an investor wants to do when it comes time to sell their property.

Yet some of the best dollars investors will spend on a property are those committed just before its sale.

Here again, it’s worth checking with your vendors agent before making hard and fast decisions.

Typically speaking, bringing a property up to a good “presentation standard” with some fresh paint and small, relatively inexpensive fixes is great idea.

If your investment property will be vacant, it’s generally worthwhile spending some money on staging, using select furniture to give buyers an appreciation of how liveable the property is.

It’s also worth paying attention to the garden.

For houses, ensuring the outdoor areas are presentable with trees and shrubs pruned, mulch applied, flowers blooming and lawns trimmed adds to initial appeal.

If you’re selling a unit with a courtyard, presenting an attractive outdoor space is even more important.

Selecting the right agent

Choosing the right real estate agent to market your property is another essential step to get right.

If you have a vendors agent, work with them and leverage their inside knowledge of the industry.

They will help you interview, appoint and manage the right selling agent to market your property. A vendors agent will also help negotiate fees, provide expert input into the campaign and ensure accountability from all parties throughout the selling process.

The real estate agent you should choose will typically have a substantial presence in the area, offices in nearby locations and an experienced team used to marketing the type of property you have.

What happens if a home doesn’t sell?

Even in red hot markets, something like 20 to 30 per cent of properties fail to sell after their initial campaign.

There are many reasons why this might happen but the most common is that the owner and the marketplace disagree about what price is appropriate.

If that happens to your property, it will be time to ask yourself where your price expectation is coming from. If it’s a case of your dad telling you what he thinks it’s worth or a friend urging you to hold out for your price, it’s time for a reset.

The golden rule in real estate is your property is only worth what someone will pay for it on the day.

Real estate agents refer to properties that linger on the market after an auction or private treaty campaign as “cooked”. They are often reluctant to arrange inspections, reasoning that the sales negotiation is likely to be difficult with a smaller chance of a successful result.

So if a gap remains between the price you want and what the market is willing to pay, withdraw your property from sale.

This will give you time to reassess the campaign, pricing and the selling agent.

You should then reintroduce the property months later with a different approach and importantly, when a new set of buyers has entered the market.

The property is sold; then what?

A final note for investors. Many people buy investment properties through entities like trusts, superannuation funds and companies.

That means selling a property often brings up multiple issues with tax and other financial considerations.

Before you commit to a campaign, get solid advice from your accountant or financial adviser to ensure capital gains tax and other financial implications are understood before they affect your family’s finances.