When Should You Start Talking to a Real Estate Agent?

Start talking to a real estate agent about three months before you want your home on the market, and earlier if you are considering any work on the property. You are not committing to anything by having the conversation. The point of talking early is to find out what is worth doing and what is a waste of your money, while you still have time to act on the answer.

Most Perth sellers ring an agent when they have already decided to sell, often only a few weeks out. By then the useful decisions have been made without any market input, and usually made expensively.

Why three months, and not three weeks

The sale itself is fast. The preparation is not.

In July 2026, the median Perth house sold in 23 days, according to REIWA. That is quick by any historical measure. But the things that determine what you sell for happen well before that campaign starts: what you fix, what you leave, how the home is presented, when you launch, and above all what you list it at.

A three month lead time lets you make those calls deliberately. Three weeks means you take whatever advice fits the timeframe, which is rarely the advice that makes you the most money.

The Perth market has changed, and it changes the timing

This matters more in September 2026 than it did eighteen months ago.

Perth spent 2024 and 2025 in a market where almost anything sold, quickly, often above expectation. Sellers got away with minimal preparation because buyer competition covered for it. That is no longer the case.

REIWA's July 2026 figures show active listings in Perth at 6,718, which is more than double the same time a year earlier. Selling times have stretched: 23 days for houses in July, ten days slower than a year ago. Prices are still up strongly, with the median house sale price at $960,000 for the twelve months to August 2026, but the growth is moderating and buyers now have choice.

When buyers have choice, presentation and pricing stop being optional. The homes that sell well are the ones that were prepared properly, and preparation takes lead time.

What actually happens in that first conversation

An early appraisal is not a listing pitch, or it should not be. A useful first meeting covers four things:

• What your home is worth today, with the comparable sales attached so you can see the reasoning rather than take a number on trust.
• What is worth doing before you list, and just as importantly what is not. I have talked plenty of people out of a new kitchen.
• Timing, including whether waiting a few months would genuinely serve you or whether that is just procrastination with a market theory attached.
• What the whole thing costs, in writing, so there are no surprises at settlement.

If a first meeting is mostly the agent talking about themselves and ends with an agency agreement on the table, you learned something useful about the agent and very little about your home.

The timeline, working backwards

A realistic run for a Perth seller who wants to be settled and moved by a particular date:

• Three to four months out: first appraisal and honest conversation. Decide what work is worth doing.
• Two to three months out: do the work. Repairs, gardening, decluttering, any trades. This is where the lead time earns its keep.
• Five to six weeks out: compare agents properly and choose one. Most Perth sellers do this far too late to compare anyone meaningfully.
• Two to three weeks out: styling, professional photography, copy, launch preparation.
• Launch to sale: currently averaging around three weeks in Perth, though the long-term average is closer to 44 days and there is wide variation.
• Sale to settlement: typically eight to twelve weeks in Western Australia.

Add that up and the gap between "we are thinking about selling" and "we have the money and the keys are handed over" is comfortably six months. People are consistently surprised by that.

What talking early does not commit you to

Nothing. You can have an appraisal and not sell. You can have three appraisals and sell through none of them. You can decide the timing is wrong and do it next year.

The only thing that commits you is a signed selling agency agreement, and no reasonable agent will push you toward one at a first meeting when you have told them you are months away. If they do, that is your information.

The one case for waiting

To be fair to the other side of this: if you are genuinely undecided about whether to sell at all, and an appraisal would push you into a decision you are not ready to make, then wait until you have decided. An agent's job is to sell homes, and a conversation with one naturally nudges you toward selling.

Decide whether you want to move first. Then get the market information early. In that order.

Questions sellers ask

Does an appraisal cost anything?

A market appraisal from an agent is normally free and carries no obligation. A formal valuation from a licensed valuer, which is a different document used for finance and legal purposes, does cost money. If you are simply working out what your home is worth to sell, an appraisal is what you want.

Will an agent pressure me if I say I am not selling for six months?

Some will, and you should treat that as a preview of how they will handle a negotiation on your behalf. Say plainly that you are months away and want information, not a listing. A good agent will be perfectly happy with that, because sellers who prepare properly are better clients.

How many agents should I talk to?

Two or three is enough to see a pattern. More than that and you are collecting opinions rather than making a decision. Be wary of whoever gives you the highest number, because the highest appraisal frequently belongs to the agent most willing to tell you what you want to hear.

Is spring still the best time to list in Perth?

Spring brings more buyers, and it also brings more competing listings. With Perth listings already double what they were a year ago, launching into the busiest window is not automatically the advantage it is often described as. The condition of your home and your pricing matter more than the month.

Should I do the work before or after getting an appraisal?

After. That is the whole argument for talking early. Sellers who renovate first and get advice second regularly spend money on work that returns nothing, and the money is gone by the time anyone tells them.

The honest summary

Three months minimum, longer if there is work to do. Have the conversation before you spend anything on the property. Ask for comparable sales, ask what is not worth doing, and ask for the costs in writing. Then take your time choosing who lists it.

The sellers who do best in Perth are almost never the ones who moved fastest. They are the ones who started the conversation early enough to have real choices.

If you would like a straight appraisal with the comparable sales attached and an honest view of what is worth doing before you sell, I offer that free and with no obligation, whether you are selling next month or next year. You can also download the free Perth Property Guide, which covers pricing, preparation and choosing an agent in more detail.

General information only. This content is not financial or legal advice. Market figures cited are from REIWA and reflect the periods stated. Your own timeline will depend on your property and circumstances.