Who pays for marketing when selling a house in New Zealand?

The seller, in almost all cases. Vendor-paid advertising is the New Zealand norm: the campaign cost is agreed in the agency agreement and is usually payable whether or not the property sells. Some agencies will contribute or defer it, which is a negotiable point before you sign.

How much should I spend marketing my house?

There is no reliable national figure, and any single number quoted without a source should be treated carefully. What you can do is break the package into its parts, portal listing, photography, signage, print and staging, and price each one against what it does. Portal listings and photography carry most of the effect for most campaigns.

Is staging worth it when selling?

It depends on the property. Staging tends to earn its cost where a house is empty, where the existing furniture dates the rooms, or where the layout is hard to read without furniture. In an already well-presented occupied home the return is much smaller, and cleaning and decluttering will do most of the same work for far less.

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Marketing Your Home for Sale

Q: Can I sell privately and still list on the main property portals?

Yes, though not always directly. The main portals are structured around agency membership, so private sellers typically use a private sale listing service or a portal's private seller option where one is offered. The photography and the listing itself matter more than which route you take to get there.

Step 8 of 14 in the pathway Selling your home

Previous: The paperwork a buyer will check · Next: Auction, deadline sale or negotiation

General information, not legal advice. Selling a property in New Zealand turns on the exact wording of the documents you sign, and this guide describes how the process generally works rather than what your agreement says. Have a property lawyer read any agency agreement and any sale and purchase agreement before you sign it, not after. That review costs far less than either document going wrong. If you have a problem with a licensed agent, the Real Estate Authority runs a free complaints process, and settled.govt.nz is its independent consumer guidance.

📢 What You Are Actually Buying

A marketing campaign is not one thing, it is a bundle, and the bundle is usually presented as a single price. Breaking it into parts is the only way to tell whether it is good value, and it is also the only way to compare an agency package against what a private seller would spend.

                Key point: In New Zealand, marketing is normally paid by the seller. It is agreed in the agency agreement, and in most agreements it is payable whether or not the property sells. That makes it a cost you commit to at the start rather than one that comes out of the proceeds at the end.
            

The parts of a campaign

Portal listings, which for most campaigns are the largest single cost.
Photography, and sometimes floor plans, video or drone.
Signage at the property.
Print advertising, which has declined in importance but has not disappeared.
Staging or furniture hire, if the property is empty or dated.
The agency's own database and window display, which usually costs nothing extra.

Model a package against its parts with the vendor marketing spend calculator.

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📱 Where Buyers Actually Look

Almost every New Zealand buyer starts online, and most start on a property portal rather than on an agency website. That single fact should drive the shape of the budget: the listing, the photographs and the headline are doing most of the work, and everything else is supporting.

A buyer filters by suburb, price bracket and bedrooms

They scan a grid of photographs, not text

The first image decides whether they open the listing at all

Only then do they read anything you have written

                The first photograph is the whole campaign in one decision: It is the only piece of marketing that every buyer in your bracket will see. Professional photography is the least contested spend in a selling campaign for exactly this reason, and it is cheap relative to the effect.
            

What upgraded portal placement buys

Portals sell enhanced listings that appear higher or larger in results. Whether the upgrade is worth it depends on how many competing listings there are in your bracket. In a thin market your listing is visible anyway; in a crowded one, position matters more. Ask the agent how many comparable properties are currently listed before agreeing to the premium tier.

💰 Who Pays, and When

This is the part of the agency agreement that sellers most often skim, and it is the part that produces the most unpleasant surprises.

Question to ask	Why it matters
What is the total marketing commitment?	It is a fixed cost, not a percentage
When is it payable?	Often up front or on invoice, not at settlement
Is it payable if the property does not sell?	In most agreements, yes
Is any of it refundable?	Usually not once spent
Does the agency receive a rebate from suppliers?	You are entitled to ask

                Marketing and commission are separate negotiations: An agency may hold firm on commission and be flexible on marketing, or contribute to the campaign. Both are negotiable and both are set in the same document, so negotiate them together rather than one at a time.
            

🏠 Marketing a Private Sale

A private seller buys the same components, just directly. The main difference is access to the portals, which are structured around agency membership, so a private seller either uses a private-sale listing service or a portal's private seller option where one exists.

Photography: hire the same photographers agencies use. This is the spend to protect.
Listing: through a private sale service or a portal option for private sellers.
Signage: available directly, and it works, because passing traffic is genuinely local demand.
Open homes: you run them yourself, which is a time cost rather than a money cost.
Legal: your lawyer takes on some of what an agent would otherwise coordinate.

                The saving is real and so is the workload: Selling privately removes commission, which is the largest single cost, and replaces it with your own time and judgement across pricing, negotiation and process. That trade is a genuine choice, and the honest version of it is in the private sale guide rather than a slogan.
            

Compare the two routes on your own numbers with the private sale vs agent calculator, and read selling privately or with an agent.

✅ Presentation, Cheapest First

Presentation is marketing, and the order of return is consistent enough to be worth stating plainly. Do the cheap things first and stop when the next item costs more than it plausibly returns.

Declutter and remove excess furniture, which costs nothing but time

Deep clean, including windows, which is the highest return per dollar

Garden and entrance tidy-up, because it is the first and last thing seen

Small repairs a buyer would otherwise price against you

Staging, if the house is empty or the furniture dates it

                Do not renovate to sell: A new kitchen or bathroom rarely returns its cost at sale, because the buyer prices it against their own taste rather than your invoice. Fix what is broken, clean what is dirty, and let the price reflect the rest.
            

Next in this pathway: choosing between auction, deadline sale and negotiation.

🎯 Test Your Knowledge

Quiz on Marketing Your Home for Sale in NZ (10 Questions)

1. In New Zealand, marketing a property for sale is usually paid by:

The agency

The buyer

The seller

The portal

2. In most agency agreements, marketing is payable:

Only if the property sells

Whether or not the property sells

By the buyer at settlement

Never

3. For most campaigns the largest single marketing cost is:

Signage

Print advertising

Portal listings

Business cards

4. The first photograph matters most because:

Agents are judged on it

It decides whether buyers open the listing

Portals require it

It sets the price

5. Whether an enhanced portal listing is worth it depends mainly on:

The season

How many comparable listings compete with you

The agency brand

The photographer

6. Marketing and commission are:

The same thing

Both negotiable and set in the same agreement

Fixed by law

Set by the portal

7. A private seller reaches the main portals by:

They cannot list at all

A private sale service or private seller option

Becoming a licensed agent

Paying commission anyway

8. The spend a private seller should protect is:

Print advertising

Professional photography

Drone video

Brochures

9. The highest return per dollar in presentation is usually:

A new kitchen

Deep cleaning and decluttering

New carpet throughout

An extension

10. Renovating specifically to sell usually:

Returns double the cost

Rarely returns its cost

Is required by law

Shortens settlement

Related guides

Selling privately or with an agent, who does the marketing work.
Agency agreements, where the marketing commitment is set.
Pricing your home, the decision marketing supports.

Official New Zealand sources

The rules described on this page come from these bodies. Each link goes to the page used, and each was checked on 15 August 2026.

Settled.govt.nz, selling your property, marketing, agency agreements and the selling process.
Real Estate Authority, agency agreements, what an agreement must disclose about expenses.

This guide explains how the rules work. It is not legal advice about your own sale, and a property lawyer should review any agreement before you sign it.