CASE STUDY · SEBASTOPOL VIC · 3 MIN READ
Multiple offers, $20,000 past the AI estimate
A three bedroom house on 694sqm on the southern edge of Ballarat, sold in 14 days for $675,000 on a $6,900 flat fee.
The result
Sold with multiple offers · 14 days to accepted offer · $675,000. The owners paid $6,900.
| Detail | |
|---|---|
| Address | 11 Jess Way, Sebastopol VIC 3356 |
| Property | 3 bed plus study, 694sqm, triple garage |
| Method | Private sale |
| Campaign opened | 2 September 2026 |
| Days to accepted offer | 14 |
| Result | Sold with multiple offers |
| Sale price | $675,000 |
| Unreserved fee | $6,900 · Unreserved Plus, $2,000 to go live and $4,900 on sale |
The property
A three bedroom house with a study on a 694sqm block in a Sebastopol cul de sac, on the southern edge of Ballarat. Triple garage, a separate workshop with an office fitted out in it, and data cabling through the house.
The owners chose Unreserved Plus: we built the listing, wrote the copy, put it on realestate.com.au, Domain and three other portals. The owners ran the inspections themselves.
What the valuation said
The owners ran their first free AI valuation on 26 June. The automated comparable model returned $550,000 to $730,000. The Unreserved layer refined that to $575,000 to $675,000, a midpoint of $625,000 at high confidence, reading the house as largely original.
They ran it again on 8 July with more detail on the house: the refresh, the workshop office and the data cabling. The refined range came back at $605,000 to $705,000 with a midpoint of $655,000. Telling the model what the comparable sales could not show it was worth $30,000 on the midpoint.
The price guide went out at $620,000 to $680,000.
| Valuation, 8 July 2026 | Figure |
|---|---|
| Automated comparable range | $540,000 to $720,000 |
| Unreserved refined range | $605,000 to $705,000 |
| Refined midpoint | $655,000 |
| Confidence rating | Medium |
| Advertised price guide | $620,000 to $680,000 |
| Sold for | $675,000 |
Running their own open homes
The listing went live on 2 September, and the owners opened the door themselves. No agent standing in the hallway, no clipboard at the front door.
This is the part of selling without an agent that worries owners most. Most people have never run an inspection, and the agent at the open home is the service they think they are paying commission for.
Two days after launch we sent the owners our open for inspection guide. It comes down to five rules:
1. Talk to every buyer one on one, inside the house. Nobody else should overhear a buyer’s objections.
2. Never hand out the contract. Wait for buyers to ask for it. The request is the buying signal.
3. Ask every buyer who says no what they would have paid. That answer is the most honest price feedback you will get.
4. Ask everyone if they want to hear about offers. It keeps every interested buyer in play.
5. Qualify on the spot. Finance, timing, what else they have bid on. Ask while they are standing in front of you, because follow-up calls often go unanswered.
Nobody knows the house better than the people who live in it. Ask an owner about the workshop, the morning light or the neighbours, and the answer is real. Unreserved handled the rest of the campaign behind them.
The process was smooth
The process was smooth, the boys got back to me in a timely manner whenever I had a query. I had all the help I needed at each stage. Would highly recomend
Damien CumminsSold 11 Jess Way, Sebastopol · 8 October 2026 · Read on Trustpilot
What the campaign did
It drew multiple offers, and the sale was agreed 14 days after launch at $675,000. That is $20,000 above the AI midpoint and inside the refined range. Contracts were signed on 18 September, and the sale went unconditional on 24 September.
Competition between buyers is the main thing sellers think they need an agent for. This campaign had it without one, and none of the extra $20,000 went to a commission.
What it cost
| Amount | |
|---|---|
| Sale price | $675,000 |
| Commission at about 2.2%, a typical Victorian rate | $14,900 |
| Up front advertising package a traditional agency typically bills | $5,000 |
| Unreserved Plus fee | $6,900 |
| Kept by the owner | $13,000 |
$8,000 of the difference is commission ($14,900 less the $6,900 fee) and $5,000 is the advertising package the owners never bought. Unreserved Plus includes the portal listings; photography and signboards are priced separately. Actual agent rates vary by suburb and by negotiation.
Key takeaways
- Multiple offers from open homes the owners ran themselves, agreed 14 days after going live.
- Sold $20,000 above the AI midpoint and inside the refined range.
- Giving the AI valuation the full picture moved its midpoint from $625,000 to $655,000.
- The owners kept about $13,000 against a typical agency commission and marketing bill.
How the days are counted: from the listing going live on the portals on 2 September to the day the sale was agreed, not to the day contracts were signed. Contracts on this sale were signed on 18 September and it went unconditional on 24 September.
What would the AI say about your place?
The same free valuation these owners started with, reading every comparable sale in your suburb. About 60 seconds, no agent, no obligation.
Get my free valuationSee all Unreserved case studies or read do private sellers sell for less?, which tracks what happens when sellers launch above the AI estimate.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Ben Williams
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Ben spent 15+ years as a licensed estate agent and conducted over 2,000 auctions before founding Unreserved. He holds a Bachelor of Applied Science (Property & Valuation) from RMIT and is licensed across VIC, NSW, QLD, SA, and WA.