Selling your own home has just become easy and with real estate agent fees averaging around $18,000, the savings are very significant.

Now anyone can do it. Everything you need is on-line right here at: www.tradeplaces.co.nz.

Property valuation, professional photography, high-quality signage, brochures, online advertising and paperwork; - it can all be done quickly and cheaply on-line. Even access to a solicitor for any legal advice and for conveyancing can be done from the comfort of your armchair.

The seller pays for their chosen package of tools, plus any add-on services they would like, and that’s it. No commissions, no administration fees, no on-going marketing bills.

Imagine if agents invoiced you for selling your home after the fact rather than deducting the commission from your deposit and/or on settlement day, when, with legal and other fees going out you are less aware of the shear size of the commission...

For the current national average house price of around $402,000, this would mean an invoice arriving in the post for around $18,000 - ouch! And all that after you have already paid handsomely for marketing. Just take a minute to imagine what you could spend that amount of money on - holiday? mortgage? new car? renovations? The list is endless!

The majority of people are more than capable of negotiating their own sale and purchase agreement and will often achieve a better result than working through an intermediary or agent. From our market research it became apparent that what people want is for the whole process to be de-mystified and to be given the marketing tools and the steps of the process to work through. Trade Places does just that.

Trade Places also ensures that buyers have not been forgotten. All buyers have their 'check list' of what they want in a property - it doesn't matter who is selling (agent, private, etc), if the property ticks the boxes, the buyers will come. Further, many buyers welcome the opportunity to work directly with the seller, rather than getting second-hand answers to their questions. It’s a classic win-win for both parties.

Trade Places has launched and is offering the majority of tools nationwide. While certain packages are currently available only in Auckland and Wellington, other centres will follow very shortly.