Edward Church
Senior Director, Estate Agency
If you’re preparing your home for a sale in the New Year, congratulations, you’ve decided to bite the bullet and enter the housing market early with determination. Ed Church, our Head of Agency for Kent, lists five things that early bird sellers should think about
If you’re preparing your home for a sale in the New Year, congratulations, you’ve decided to bite the bullet and enter the housing market early with determination. Ed Church, our Head of Agency for Kent, lists five things that early bird sellers should think about
1. Selling your home is like a marketing campaign
If you want to sell your home, having an effective selling strategy is crucial. You’ll likely be facing some stiff competition, so a carefully planned campaign is critical if you want to attract the right sort of buyer.
Once you’re preparing your home for the market, it becomes a marketing campaign, and not a valuation exercise.
The most important thing about selling your house is getting people to come and look at it in the first place, so focus all your efforts on encouraging buyers to come and view. Of course finding a suitable guide price is important, but don’t let the tail wag the dog.
Think about advertising in trade magazines, the press, property brochures and online. Provide as much detail about your property as possible and try and tell a ‘story’ – about you and your home and what it offers to a potential buyer.
Present it well – think professional brochures and photographs, and be prepared to invest in order to show your house in its best light.
2. Have a realistic pricing strategy
When it comes to pricing, it’s tempting to go gung-ho and seek the highest deal. But this isn’t necessarily the best tactic. You want to get a good deal, but you need to be realistic too.
People tend to think that if you’re seeking £100,000, you should add £10,000 on. In fact, you want to get it just right.
When it comes to pricing, it’s about striking the right balance so that your house is just that little bit better priced than the other houses you’re in competition with. Strike out wanting £40,000 more than your rivals and you’re unlikely to get a sale. Price yourself just a very little under the competition and you will sow the seeds for a productive marketing campaign.
And remember that when determining the value of a property, there’s no exact science about it. As the term ‘guide price’ suggests, there is no way to objectively quantify the value of a house. It’s a guide, not a definite maximum selling point. With the right approach, you can easily get offers in excess of the guide price.
3. Have a relationship with potential buyers – but be careful
Your property marketing campaign can extend to your dealings with potential buyers. After all, you’ve encouraged them to come to your home, so don’t take the foot off the gas when they come and view.
Do enough to show buyers your personality, but be wary of getting too close to them.
We talked in point one about the importance of telling a story. Providing a narrative can be one way to build a successful relationship with a buyer – and secure a sale. For example, you might be able to showcase certain parts of your home – such as a swimming pool, wedding photos, nursery, a gazebo in the garden – through which buyers could visualise moments in their life and think ‘this is us’.
People buy lifestyle, not necessarily property.
So - do welcome buyers into your home and introduce them to your personality.
But do not get involved with negotiation…
4. Let the agent negotiate
Let the agent be both good cop and the bad cop as required at different times. When it comes to negotiation, leave that to the agency. They’ll act in your best interests and try to secure the best deal for you. Ensure that you make it clear to the agent what you want to get out of it, but don’t be afraid to let them do the talking. It’s what they’re there for, after all.
You can concentrate on making the buyer feel welcome when they return to visit for a second or subsequent time, but if you have been closely involved they will feel less comfortable when viewing, sometimes with obvious consequences.
5. Keep at it
Selling a house isn’t always easy. It can take time and can be stressful for all involved. But if you really want to sell your home, you’ll need to keep your spirits up and you’ll need to stick to your strategy with rigour.
Keep your eyes fixed firmly on your long-term aim and don’t let little niggly details get in the way of the bigger picture. If you’re selling up to move to a bigger property, think about how great it’ll be once you’re settled in. If you’re selling to move overseas, visualise your life in your new country.
Remember that all the hard work will, in the end, be well worth it.