When you are selling your home you want to make sure that you get the best price and quickest sale that you can for your property. However, sometimes in their eagerness to achieve that end, some home owners make a few easy to avoid mistakes.
1. Sticking Around for the Viewing
Although some estate agents do what is referred to as "unaccompanied viewings" where the estate agent does not attend the viewing themselves and allows the homeowner to show a prospective buyer around the property, Northfields Estates does not recommend this option. At Northfields, a negotiator will always attend the viewing to show a buyer around. In fact, the owner's presence at the viewing can actually have a detrimental effect. How is a prospective buyer to express their true opinion of a property with the homeowner present? It is difficult for the buyer to say that the location is turning them off or that they are having trouble seeing past the hideous colours that the property has been painted. Nobody wants to offend the homeowners. However, it is necessary that your estate agents knows exactly why the buyer does not like the property so that the objection can be overcome.
If the same objection comes up over and over again from every prospective buyer that views the property then we may encourage the homeowner to make a change. If the problem is that the current decor is stopping people from making offers then it might be worthwhile for the home seller to paint the property in neutral colours. If location is constantly brought up as a negative quality in the property then a drop in price might help buyers overcome their objection.
Whatever the issue, we need to know what is preventing prospective buyers from offering for your property and the need to be polite might keep those buyers from revealing the truth of their objections if the homeowner is right there to hear it, warts and all.
2. Limiting the Estate Agent's Access to the Property
As estate agents we do understand that having to keep your property in a constant state of presentability and then having strangers continually tromping through your property can be inconvenient and tiring. It can be especially hard if you have a young family, work from home or are very busy.
Given that having viewings can be stressful, it is best to get the property under offer as quickly as possible. The best way to do that, is to try and give your estate agent as much access to the property as possible. Giving your estate agent a copy of the keys and allowing viewings while you are out or at work is one way to ensure that they can get viewings booked and over with quickly. We find that getting a prospective buyer out to view your property as soon as they register generally yields the best results - striking when the iron is hot. In fact, at Nothfields most of our offers come from people who have registered within the last two weeks.
Of course it isn't always possible to book a viewing immediately, so another way that Northfields suggests to minimise disruption for our home sellers, while at the same time creating excitement about a property is to hold a "block viewing". For a block viewing, a date and time range is set and as many viewings as possible are booked within that set time-frame. This means that you don't have the inconvenience of having to prepare for each of those viewings separately. Block viewings also increase the chances that several prospective buyers might compete for your property.
As inconvenient as viewings may be, they are a necessary to get your home sold as quickly as possible. Those home owner's who make the most of their viewings by trying to give the estate agent the most convenient and quick viewings will find that they won't need to grin and bear it for quite as long.
3. Assuming the Estate Agents Sets the Price
Although an estate agent will give you an indication of what your property might be worth at the valuation, the figures that the estate agent gives you are based on what they believe people will be willing to pay for your property in the current market. While some agents will do you a dis-service and tell you an inflated figure that is what they think you want to hear, a good agent will be honest and base their valuation of your property on what price they feel the property will realistically fetch in the current climate. The best agents will give you "comparables", properties that are similar to yours that have either recently sold or are currently on the market.
Even with good research based on comparables, sometimes the price of a property needs to be adjusted after it goes on the market. A good agent will ask everyone who views your property what they think the property is worth. The feedback from actual people searching for your type of property is the best Litmus test of the market available. So when your estate agent gives you that feedback from the viewings and recommends a price reduction, remember that your property is only worth what other people are willing to pay for it. As estate agents we want to get you the best price possible for your home, but at Northfields we also feel it is vital to be honest and realistic about what that price may be.
Want to know what your property might be worth in the current market? Call Northfields today to arrange for your free valuation now on 0208 840 6666 or click the link to request your free property valuation online.
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