Selling Privately and Not Getting Enough Enquiries? How to Reach More Buyers

Last updated 12 September 2026 · By Esther Yong

If you’re selling privately and enquiries have dried up, the fix is rarely a bigger ad on the same site. Check the price against recent sales, lift the photos and first line of copy, answer enquiries within the hour, and add at least one channel that reaches buyers who don’t search the major portals — such as Chinese-language and international sites.

Most private sellers who come to us with a quiet listing have done everything right. The photos are decent, the price is close to the market, and the listing is on the site everyone checks first. And that last part is usually the problem.

Why does a private listing go quiet after the first two weeks?

A new listing gets its best attention in its first couple of weeks. The portals push it to buyers who have saved searches in that suburb and price band, those buyers look once, and they either book an inspection or move on. After that the listing sinks down the results, and the only people still seeing it are buyers who were already searching that suburb in the first place.

In other words, a listing on the major portals reaches the same pool of people again and again. If that pool has already said no, repeating the ad to them doesn’t change the answer. That is the part most advice on “getting more enquiries” skips.

Is the price the problem?

Sometimes, and it’s worth ruling out first. Pull the last three to six months of comparable sales in your street and the surrounding streets, not the asking prices of what’s still listed. If your price sits clearly above where similar homes have actually sold, most of the silence is explained, and no amount of extra marketing will fix it. If you’re inside that range, the price is doing its job and the issue is reach.

Do photos and the first line of copy really change enquiry numbers?

They decide whether someone stops scrolling. Buyers judge a listing on the first photo and the first sentence, usually on a phone. A bright, straight, uncluttered front photo and an opening line that says what’s genuinely different about the home — the north-facing yard, the walk to the station, the school zone — earn the click. A dark photo and a line that begins “Welcome to…” lose it. Professional photography costs a few hundred dollars and is the one upgrade almost every private seller should make.

How fast should I reply to an enquiry?

Within the hour if you can, and the same day at the latest. A buyer who enquires on several homes on a Saturday morning will inspect the ones that answered first. Agents have systems for this; private sellers usually don’t, so set up notifications on your phone and keep a short reply ready with inspection times, the contract status and your phone number.

Who isn’t seeing your listing at all?

This is the question that changes the result. The major portals are built around suburb search in English. That works well for buyers who already know which suburbs they want. It works poorly for buyers who search in another language, on different apps, or who haven’t yet narrowed down a suburb.

The size of that group is not small. At June 2025, 8.8 million people living in Australia were born overseas, 32 per cent of the population (ABS). At the 2021 Census, Mandarin was the most common language spoken at home after English, used by more than 685,000 people, with Cantonese a further 295,000. A large share of those households search for property in Chinese first — on WeChat, on Chinese-language portals and on social apps like RedNote — and only check the English portals once they’re already interested.

For a private seller, that means a group of motivated buyers may never see your home unless it appears where they are actually looking.

What does adding another channel look like in practice?

Keep your listing on the major portals, because they still reach most local buyers. Then add one channel that reaches a different audience rather than the same one again. For many homes, particularly near universities, good school zones, train lines and established Chinese-Australian communities, that channel is Chinese-language distribution.

That is what ACproperty’s private-seller campaign is for. Your listing is published in Chinese on ACproperty.com.au, posted on ACproperty’s WeChat account, and sent to Fang.com and more than 50 partner portals, for a flat $550 over three months with no commission. It sits alongside your existing listing rather than replacing it. About 60 per cent of the buyers who search ACproperty are already living in Australia.

It’s not the right fit for every property, and no channel can promise a number of enquiries. But if your listing has gone quiet, the most useful question isn’t how to shout louder. It’s who hasn’t heard you yet.

Related questions

How long should a private sale take in Australia?

Well-priced homes in active markets often sell within four to eight weeks. If you’ve had little interest after three or four weeks, review the price against recent sales and look at who your listing is reaching, rather than simply waiting longer.

Should I drop my price if I’m not getting enquiries?

Only if comparable recent sales say you’re above the market. If your price is in line with what similar homes have sold for, a price cut mostly signals urgency. Improving photos, response times and reach usually comes first.

Can I list on realestate.com.au without an agent?

Not directly. The major portals only accept listings from licensed agents or approved private-sale platforms, so private sellers go through a for-sale-by-owner service to get there. See where you can advertise a property besides realestate.com.au.

How do I reach Chinese-speaking buyers when selling privately?

Your listing needs to appear in Chinese, on the platforms those buyers use, with a way for them to enquire in their own language. Read how to sell your house to Chinese buyers in Australia.

Esther Yong is the founder of ACproperty.com.au, Australia’s leading Chinese property portal. She has spent 15 years connecting Australian real estate with Chinese buyers locally and internationally.