10 top tips when trying to sell
If you're about to sell your home or even if you're on the market already, here are 10 tips that will help you achieve a premium sale price.
Top tips when trying to sell
1. Price at the portal trigger points – I’ve seen homes advertised at £430,000 but you would be better having OIEO £425,000 as you will be seen in searches up to £425,000 and in searches with a minimum of £425,000. At £430,000 you won’t be seen in both.
2. Price to compete not based on what you ‘need’ to sell the home for or what you’ve spent on it. Don’t price £20k higher than the other house in the road because you have a new kitchen. Price to compete with the other house, use an ‘Offers in Excess of’ strategy and your home becomes more sought after. Your price should entice buyers.
3. Never sign a long contract. 8, 10, 12 week agreements are too long and should set your alarm bells ringing. If they’re as confident as they’re telling you, they shouldn’t need to hold you to a long agreement.
4. You must have professional photos taken to grab the attention of buyers. An estate agent with a fancy camera that has been on a 1 day photography course does not take professional photos.
5. Check the stats such as days on market, % of price achieved, average number of offers per sale, success rate of sales agreed to completion. In this market some agencies are having a higher amount of sales fall through especially if they’re not financially qualifying buyers correctly.
6. Make sure the agent explains their step by step sale process including their social media strategy. Taking a few photos and putting the home on Rightmove is not a sales strategy.
7. Ask the agent to explain their ‘Plan B’. Many owners will accept an offer in a short space of time at the moment but what if you haven’t received the offer you want in the first 4 weeks of marketing?
8. Will the agent help you to negotiate on the property you wish to buy?
9. Try not to fixate on a sale price (I know this is hard) but instead focus on the overall outcome. Eg, if you accept an offer £10k less than you ‘want’ but the agent can negotiate £20k off the price of your next home, you’re actually financially better off overall.
10. Don’t list your home with multiple estate agents. It gives the impression your property is hard to sell. It also weakens your position when negotiating as you can’t really say ‘thanks for your offer but we’re not desperate to sell’. You need 1 agent with a great plan/strategy not several agents without a plan.
As always, if you have any questions or if you’d like some general advice about the Romford property market, get in touch using the details below.
07969 638349
duncan.kaye@keysandlee.co.uk
