Where to List Your Property When Selling Privately in Australia

Last updated 3 October 2026 · By Esther Yong

If you’re selling without an agent in Australia, the main way onto the big portals is a for-sale-by-owner service such as For Sale By Owner, PropertyNow, Buymyplace or Sale By Home Owner, with packages from roughly $500 to $2,000. That gets you in front of local English-speaking buyers. To reach buyers who search in Chinese, add a Chinese-language channel on top.

Most private sellers spend an evening comparing packages and pick on price. That’s reasonable. But the more useful question is which buyers each option actually reaches, because two packages at the same price can put your home in front of very different people.

Prices below were checked in September 2026 and change often. Check each provider’s site before you buy.

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

Not directly. The major portals only take listings from licensed agents or approved private-sale platforms. A for-sale-by-owner service is that bridge: you pay a flat fee, write the listing yourself, and the service publishes it to the portals under its account. You handle inspections, enquiries and negotiation, and usually use a conveyancer for the contract.

What do the main for-sale-by-owner services cost?

These are the four names most private sellers come across. All of them get your listing onto the major portals. Where they differ is package size, extras and price.

Beyond price, the real differences are how much support you get, whether professional photography is included, and how long the listing runs.

Which buyers does a for-sale-by-owner listing reach?

Mostly buyers who already search the major English-language portals by suburb. That’s a large group, and it’s the right starting point. But the portals are built around English suburb search, so the listing mostly reaches the same pool of local buyers who were already looking in your area.

Buyers who start their search in Chinese behave differently. At the 2021 Census, more than 685,000 people in Australia spoke Mandarin at home and around 295,000 spoke Cantonese. Many of them read listings on Chinese-language portals, follow property accounts on WeChat and swap notes on RedNote before they ever open an English portal. Some for-sale-by-owner packages now include a single Chinese portal, which helps. A single listing in one place is a start, not a strategy.

How do I add Chinese-speaking buyers to a private sale?

Keep your for-sale-by-owner listing exactly as it is and add a Chinese-language channel alongside it. ACproperty for private sellers does that for a flat $550 including GST: your listing is published in Chinese on ACproperty.com.au, posted twice on ACproperty’s WeChat account, and sent to Fang.com and more than 50 partner portals in over 40 countries. It runs for three months, with no commission and no auto-renewal, and you manage it from your own dashboard.

It works alongside any of the services above, including ones that already list you on another Chinese portal. More places in Chinese means more chances that the right family sees it, forwards it and books an inspection.

So which one should I choose?

Pick the for-sale-by-owner service that fits your budget and how much hand-holding you want, because they all do the core job of getting you onto the major portals. Then decide separately whether your home suits Chinese-speaking buyers. If it’s near good schools, a train line, a university or an established Chinese-Australian community, it usually does. For more on that, read how to sell your house to Chinese buyers in Australia.

The cheapest listing isn’t the one with the lowest price. It’s the one that reaches the buyer who pays the most.

Related questions

Do for-sale-by-owner services include Chinese-language listings?

Some do. A few packages include, or offer as an add-on, a listing on one Chinese-language portal. That’s a good start. To reach more Chinese-speaking buyers, add distribution in Chinese across more channels, such as WeChat and Fang.com.

Do I still need a conveyancer if I sell privately?

Yes. You need a contract of sale (and in Victoria a vendor’s statement) prepared before you market the home, and a conveyancer or solicitor to handle settlement. This is separate from the listing service.

Can I use more than one private-sale service?

You can, but most sellers pick one for-sale-by-owner service for the major portals and add specialist channels, such as Chinese-language distribution, on top. Listing the same home twice on the same portal usually just confuses buyers.

What if my private listing isn’t getting enquiries?

Check the price against recent sales, then the photos, reply speed and who your listing is reaching. Read selling privately and not getting enough enquiries?

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.